R. Allen Brown selects original material - literature, legal documents, letters and objects -to present the Norman Conquest.
This selection of documents offers an insight into the Norman Conquest of England from a variety of perspectives. It is divided into four parts, each dealing with evidence of a different kind: literary and narrative sources (including Norman, Old English and Anglo-Norman texts); documentary sources, such as charters, writs and leases; letters; and the art of the period, principally, though not exclusively, from the Bayeux Tapestry. Both Anglo-Saxon and Norman England are represented, and Normandy itself is the subject of one section. R. Allen Brown's general introduction supplies a broad context for the material, and commentaries are provided with the documents where necessary, explaining points of particular significance, while a select bibliography gives suggestions for further reading. All documents are provided in translation. Reprint; first published in 1984. R. ALLEN BROWNwas professor of history at King's College, London, and founder of the annual Battle conference on Anglo-Norman studies.
The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936-1978
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Travel diaries reveal musical inspiration, personal encounters, notes on performances.
This volume brings together all the travel diaries of Sir Peter Pears (1910-1986), principal interpreter of Britten's works. Pears accompanied Britten on many of his trips and the record of their tour of the Far East in 1955 is ofspecial interest. Here the sound of the gamelan orchestras enchanted Britten and deeply influenced his musical development.
Britten and the Far East
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Investigation into the influence of Eastern music on Britten's composition.
Benjamin Britten's interest in the musical traditions of the Far East had a far-reaching influence on his compositional style; this book is the first to investigate the highly original cross-cultural synthesis he was able to achieve through the use of material borrowed from Balinese, Japanese and Indian music. Britten's visit to Indonesia and Japan in 1955-6 is reconstructed from archival sources, and shown to have had a profound impact on his subsequent work: the techniques of Balinese gamelan music were used in the ballet The Prince of the Pagodas (1957), and then became an essential feature of Britten's compositional style, at their most potent in Death in Venice(1973). The No drama and Gagaku court music of Japan were the inspiration for the trilogy of church parables Britten composed in the 1960s. The precise nature of these influences is discussed; Britten's sporadic borrowings from Indian music are also fully analysed. There is a survey of critical responses to Britten's cross-cultural experiments.
Dr MERVYN COOKE lectures in music at the University of Nottingham.
Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century
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DeVries has focused on an intriguing problem, and his detailed analysis of battles provides an important reassessment of the way in which infantry and dismounted cavalry achieved such striking successes. HISTORY
His detailed analysis of battles provides an important reassessment of the way in which infantry and dismounted cavalry achieved such striking successes. HISTORY This remarkable study confirms [DeVries's] emergence as one of themajor scholars of his generation. JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY This study departs from the conventional view of the dominance of cavalry in medieval warfare: its objective is to establish the often decisive importance of infantry. Kelly DeVries employs evidence from first-hand accounts - a major feature of this study - to examine the role of the infantry, and the nature of infantry tactics, in nineteen battles fought in England and Europe between 1302 and 1347, in most of which it was the infantry which secured victory. The battles analysed in detail are: Courtrai Arques Mons-en-Pevele Loudon Hill Kephissos Bannockburn Boroughbridge Cassel Dupplin Moor Halidon Hill Laupen Morlaix Staveren Vottem Crecy Neville's Cross, and the infantry ambushes: Morgarten Auberoche La Roche-Derrien.
Arthurian Poets: Matthew Arnold and William Morris
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The great vogue in Victorian times for matters Arthurian owes much to the poetry of Matthew Arnold and William Morris. Unlike Tennyson, however, neither of these poets is now remembered primarily for his Arthurian poems; as a result there is no modern anthology devoted to this area of their output. This is a major gap which the present volume seeks to rectify. Arnold's Tristram and Iseultis the first modern English retelling of the Tristram legend,a melancholy interpretation of the theme, reflecting the poet's pessimism about his own age; Morris's different approach - the rich sensuality of his The Defence of Guenevere and other poems -clearly reveals the allure thatthe middle ages held for the pre-Raphaelites.
The Age of Sutton Hoo
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Comparative studies on the age of Sutton Hoo (5c - 8c) with English and European focus, plus summary of the latest site excavations.
`The Sutton Hoo `princely' burials play a pivotal role in any modern discussion of Germanic kingship.'EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE The age of Sutton Hoo runs from the fifth to the eighth century AD - a dark and difficult age,where hard evidence is rare, but glittering and richly varied. Myths, king-lists, place-names, sagas, palaces, belt-buckles, middens and graves are all grist to the archaeologist's mill. This book celebrates the anniversary of the discovery of that most famous burial at Sutton Hoo. Fifty years ago this great treasure, now in the British Museum, was unearthed from the centre of a ninety-foot-long ship buried on remote Suffolk heathland. Included in this volume are 23 wide-ranging essays on the Age of Sutton Hoo and director Martin Carver's summary of the latest excavations, which represent the current state of knowledge about this extraordinary site. That it still has secrets to reveal is shown by the last-minute discovery of a striking burial of a young noble with his horse and grave goods. M.O.H. CARVER is Professor of Archaeology at York University, and Director of the Sutton Hoo Research Project.
The Archaeology of Weapons
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A history of arms and armour in Europe from pre-history to the 15th century.
In The Archaeology of Weapons, Ewart Oakeshott traces the development of European arms in logical sequence, showing how changes were wrought by the use of new materials and the ever-shifting demands of war and fashion. This history begins nearly two hundred years before the Christian era, covering among other subjects the charioteers of the Near East, the Roman attitude to arms and the Bronze Age weapons of Europe. The core of the book, however, is the middle ages: a general survey of the institution of chivalry, an understanding of which is vital to the appreciation of all the arms of the high middle ages, is followed by a classification covering all sword types from about 1050to 1500. Oakeshott draws on a variety of sources, from the archaeological evidence provided by existing weapons to the clues to be found in literature as diverse as the Old Testament, the works of Homer, Norse sagas and medieval romances. The symbolic importance of the sword is treated as an essential part of this lucid study and adds much to its archaeological interest. The late EWART OAKESHOTT was one of the world's leading authorities on the arms and armour of medieval Europe. His other works on the subject include Records of the Medieval Sword and The Sword in the Age of Chivalry.
The Medieval Traveller
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An updated edition of this classic study of travelling in the middle ages, demonstrating that our ancestors moved about far more than one might expect.
How did people travel in the middle ages? Evidence shows that despite all the likely deterrents - danger from man and beast, uncertainty of lodging and food, even the basic matter of finding the way -our medieval ancestors moved about far more than we might expect. They set out even on major journeys with a confidence which argues the existence of a network of major routes and minor tracks, the arteries by which new ideas entered Europe's fast-changing civilisation: the knowledge brought back by travellers played an important part in the development of the medieval world. Norbert Ohler lets the travellers speak for themselves, and from the many sources builds up a picture of what travel was really like.
The Rule of the Templars
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Both monastic rule and military manual, the Rule is a unique document and an important historical source.
The Order of the Knights Templar, whose original purpose was to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land, was first given its own Rule in 1129, formalising the exceptional combination of soldier and monk. This translation of Henri de Curzon's 1886 edition of the French Rule is derived from the three extant medieval manuscripts. Both monastic rule and military manual, the Rule is a unique document and an important historical source. It comprises thePrimitive Rule, Hierarchical Statutes, Penances, Conventual Life, the Holding of Ordinary Chapters, Further Details on Penances, and Reception into the Order. There are details of clothing, armour and equipment; instructions on conduct while on campaign; information on the daily life of members of the order and on the discipline which made it a formidable fighting force. The Rule evolved over almost 150 years of the Order's history, and is thus a dynamic piece of work, showing how the Templars adapted to political change and formulated their disciplinary code. An introduction gives the historical background to the Rule and summarises the various sections. An appendixby MATTHEW BENNETT discusses the military implications.
J.M. UPTON-WARD gained her M.Phil. at the University of Reading.
Arthurian Poets: Edwin Arlington Robinson
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`Traditional yet original, realistic but not in the reductive sense, he is too good to be forgotten.' ROBERTSON DAVIES Robinson's Arthurian poems, published between 1917 and 1927, won him a Pulitzer prize and yet are almost unknown today. With his introspective New England style and quiet tone, he brilliantly catches the tension between reason and passion that drives the characters of the Arthurian stories: these are modern lovers, with the philosophical and psychological concerns of the early 20th century. The sense of vision, and the feeling that the world of Arthur mirrors the fate of all mankind, binds the diverse characters together, and makes Robinson's poems essential reading for everyone interested in the Arthurian legend in the twentieth century.
Knights and Peasants
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`Succinct survey of how war was experienced by ordinary people in late medieval France ... very welcome addition to the literature.' INTERNATIONAL HISTORY REVIEW [Michael Jones]
This alternative account of peasant life during crisis is a welcome addition to the historiography of late-medieval France... a useful corrective to most standard interpretations of warfare and peasantry. SPECULUMThis work examines the soldier-peasant relationship in the context of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), aiming to bring out more closely the realities of the situation. It seeks an understanding of different attitudes: how aristocratic soldiersreconciled the ideals of chivalry with exploitation of non-combatants, and how French peasants reacted to the soldiery, drawing on the late-medieval literature of chivalry and political commentary in England and (especially) in France. Employing additional documentary material, including the largely unpublished records of the French royal chancery, the book also describes the ways in which individual peasants and village communities were exploited by soldiers, and how, in order to survive, they adjusted to and reacted against their treatment.
Thomas Cranmer: Churchman and Scholar
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Cranmer's career set within the intellectual and theological context of 16c England.
Fascinating collection of essays - Cranmer's career is set within the context of European politics and religion and his contributions to English liturgy and theology. The scope of the various essays is wide, encompassing his intellectual relations with Erasmus and Luther, his period of ambassadorial service on the Continent, his remarkable command of the English language at one of the most important periods in its development as a vehicle for intellectualand religious debate, and his extensive redrafting of a new code of law in place of the old ecclesiastical canon law. NOTES AND QUERIES Dr PAUL AYRIS is Director of Library Services at University College London; Dr DAVID SELWYN is Reader in Ecclesiastical History, University of Wales, Lampeter.
Records of the Medieval Sword
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The origins, development and use of the two-edged knightly sword of the European middle ages, from the great migrations to the Renaissance.
Forty years of intensive research into the specialised subject of the straight two-edged knightly sword of the European middle ages are contained in this classic study. Spanning the period from the great migrations to the Renaissance, Ewart Oakeshott emphasises the original purpose of the sword as an intensely intimate accessory of great significance and mystique. There are over 400 photographs and drawings, each fully annotated and described in detail, supported by a long introductory chapter with diagrams of the typological framework first presented in The Archaeology of Weapons and further elaborated in The Sword in the Age of Chivalry. There are appendices on inlaid blade inscriptions, scientific dating, the swordsmith's art, and a sword of Edward III. Reprinted as part of Boydell's History of the Sword series.
Domesday Studies
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`A scholarly feast... a milestone in the history and historiography of medieval England. Its essays are without exception authoritative and well-written and it indicates not only the progress made in Domesday studies in the last hundred years but also the continuing significance of the pioneer work of the great Domesday scholars such as Maitland and Galbraith.' PROGRESS IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY `An enduring contribution to historical scholarship.'AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW name studies, palaeography and topography.
Church Bells and Bell-Ringing
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A case study of the development of bell-ringing in one county, Norfolk, from the earliest records through to the present day, revealing much which is of general, as well as local, interest.
A new era of scholarship in campanological research and writing.' RINGING WORLD
The beginnings of scientific changeringing now seem most likely, from the considerable body of evidence which has emerged, to havetaken place in the eastern counties: and in this classic study Paul Cattermole examines the development of bell-ringing in one county, Norfolk, from the earliest records through to the present day. What he has to say is of general, rather than local, interest, but his information is necessarily drawn from local records. He explores bell-ringers' links with the church and with local communities, using documentary evidence dating back in some cases to the 14th century, and he studies in detail the technical development of church towers and bell frames, identifying and illustrating a number of early examples.
PAUL CATTERMOLE, who died in 2009, was for many years Adviser onBells to the Diocese of Norwich.
William of Malmesbury
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William was a historian, biblical commentator, biographer and classicist; his intellectual achievement is studied here.
William of Malmesbury (c.1090-c.1143) was England's greatest historian after Bede. Although best known in his own time, as now, for his historical writings (his famous Deeds of the Bishops and Deeds of the Kings of Britain), William was also a biblical commentator, hagiographer and classicist, and acted as his own librarian, bibliographer, scribe and editor of texts. He was probably the best-read of all twelfth-century men of learning. This is a comprehensive study and interpretation of William's intellectual achievement, looking at the man and his times and his work as man of letters, and considering the earliest books from Malmesbury Abbey library, William'sreading, and his "scriptorium". Important in its own right, William's achievement is also set in the wider context of Benedictine learning and the writing of history in the twelfth century, and on England's contribution to the "twelfth-century renaissance". In this new edition, the text has been thoroughly revised, and the bibliography updated to reflect new research; there is also a new chapter on William as historian of the First Crusade.
RODNEY M. THOMSON is Professor Emeritus and Honorary Research Associate in the School of History and Classics, University of Tasmania.
Brief Lives
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Full edition in modern spelling of Aubrey's racy portraits of greatfigures of 16-17c England, from Sir Walter Raleigh to John Milton.
John Aubrey's racy portraits of the great figures of 17th-centuryEngland stand alongside Pepys's diary as a vivid evocation of the period. Aubrey was born in 1626, the son of a Wiltshire squire; at the age of 26 he inherited a family estate encumbered with debt, and finally went bankrupt in the 1670s. From then on he led a sociable, rootless existence at the houses of friends - from Oxford and the Middle Temple -pursuing the antiquarian studies which had always obsessed him. At his death in 1697 he left a mass of notes and manuscripts, among them the material for Brief Lives. He never managed to put even a single life into logical order; all we have are the raw materials, scribbled down -`tumultuously as they occurred to my thoughts'. With this full, modern English edition, which reproduces Aubrey's words as closely as possible, Richard Barber introduces us to Aubrey and his world, tells how the Lives came into being and enables many new readers to enjoy this eccentric masterpiece.
The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages
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The medieval kitchen revealed; facilities, seasonal foods, strictures of the church, and the interweaving of foodstuffs with medical theory.
The master cook who worked in the noble kitchens of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries had to be both practical and knowledgeable. His apprenticeship acquainted him with a range of culinary skills and a wide repertoireof seasonal dishes, but he was also required to understand the inherent qualities of the foodstuffs he handled, as determined by contemporary medical theories, and to know the lean-day strictures of the Church. Research in original manuscript sources makes this a fascinating and authoritative study where little hard fact had previously existed.
Bishop Aethelwold
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[This] exemplary interdisciplinary approach to Aethelwold and his impart on the cultural, religious and political life of southern England in his own day is to be applauded. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
Æthelwold's life and his political and ecclesiastical importance in the 10th-century reformation receive thorough scholarly scrutiny in this appraisal of his life and work. The studies include a comparison of Æthelwold's career with that of other European monastic reformers; a study of Æthelwold's foundation at Abingdon; and of his involvement with the political crises of the 10th century. Æthelwold's skills as a scholar are assessed through surviving Latin and Old Englist texts, and as a teacher from the writings of his pupils. The scholarly work of his foundations is highlighted by a detailed study of the text of the Benedictional of St Æthelwold; other essays look at themusic and sculpture performed and produced at Æthelwold's foundations. Contributors: PATRICK WORMALD, ALAN THACKER, BARBARA YORKE, MICHAEL LAPIDGE, ANDREW PRESCOTT, MARY BERRY, ELIZABETH COATSWORTH
The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England
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This book is an invaluable exploration of the significance of the sword as symbol and weapon in the Anglo-Saxon world, using archaeological and literary evidence. The first part of the book, a careful study of the disposition of swords found in peat bogs, in graves, lakes and rivers, yields information on religious and social practices. The second is concerned with literary sources, especially Beowulf.
Pilgrimages
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The first book to give an account of the major pilgrimage traditions of all the great religions of the world.
Pilgrimage, the journey to a distant sacred goal, is found in all the great religions of the world. It is a journey both outwards to hallowed places and inwards to spiritual improvement; it can express penance for past evils, or the search for future good; the pilgrim may pursue spiritual ecstasy in the sacred sites of a particular faith, or seek a miracle through the medium of god or saint. Throughout the world, pilgrims move invisibly in huge numbers among the tourists of today, indistinguishable from them except in purpose. In England each year 000 pilgrims make the journey to Canterbury cathedral and the shrine of Thomas Becket; the great festival at Prayaga on the Ganges attracts over fifteen million men and women. This is the first book to offer a survey of the great pilgrimage traditions. It outlines the history of different customs and brings together some of the common themes, revealing in the process surprising similarities in practice among pilgrims of widely differing beliefs and times. RICHARD BARBER's interests range widely over the middle ages. He is the author of The Knight and Chivalry and the Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe;he has also written biographies of the Henry II and the Black Prince, and a history, The Pastons: A Family in the Wars of the Roses, as well as two classic Arthurian books, Arthurian Legends and King Arthur: Hero and Legend.Cover illustration: The scallop shell symbol of pilgrims to the shrine of St James at Santiago de Compostela. This scallop shell, still showing simple colouring, was found inthe grave of a young man buried in Keynsham Abbey in the 12th century; the holes in the beak, for attaching the shell to the pilgrim's scrip, are clearly visible.
The Conquest of the North Atlantic
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The story of how the fearsome Atlantic Ocean was explored by early sailors, including the Vikings, whose brilliant navigation matched their bravery.
The early voyages into the deep waters of the Atlantic rank among the greatest feats of exploration. In tiny, fragile vessels the Irish monks searched for desolate places in the ocean in which to pursue their vocation; their successors, the Vikings, with their superb ship-building skills, created fast, sea-worthy craft which took them far out into the unknown, until they finally reached Greenland and America. G.J. Marcus looks at the history of theseexpeditions not only as a historian, but also as a practical sailor. Besides the problem of what these early explorers actually achieved, he poses the even more fascinating question of how they did it, without compass, quadrant, or astrolabe. From the opening descriptions of the launching of a curach on the Aran Islands, through the great pages of the Norse Sagas describing the first recorded sighting of America, the author brilliantly conveys theexcitement and danger of the conquest of the North Atlantic in a narrative that is based equally on scholarly research and sound seamanship. G.J. MARCUS's previous books include The Maiden Voyage, on the sinking of the Titanic.
Dictionary of Medieval Heroes
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A guide to both familiar and not-so-familiar heroes from the middle ages and their stories.
A treasury of medieval tales about the great heroes of the time is unlocked in this volume. Some are familiar figures, like Charlemagne and his paladins, Arthur and his knights, or Tristan and Isolde, but there are many other lesser-known, but equally fascinating, stories to be found, ranging from the medieval versions of the exploits of Alexander the Great and Aeneas to the parody of heroism in Reynard the Fox. The different cultures from which themiddle ages drew its inspiration are represented: Cu Chulainn from the Celtic world, Apollonius of Tyre from Greek romance, Attila the Hun and Theodoric the Ostrogoth from the struggle of the Roman empire against the Barbarians.Each entry gives an outline of the story, how it spread through Europe, its modern retellings and appearances in art, and a selective bibliography. WILLEM GERRITSEN is Professor of Medieval Literature in the University of Utrecht; ANTHONY van MELLE is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education, School of Languages, Utrecht.
The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince
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Letters, reports, campaign diaries and the chronicles of Geoffrey le Baker and Chandos Herald document the life and dazzling exploits of the legendary Black Prince.
Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III, known as the Black Prince, is one of those heroes of history books so impressive as to seem slightly unreal. At sixteen he played a leading part in the fighting at Crécy; at twenty-six he captured the king of France at Poitiers; and eleven years later he restored Pedro of Castile to histhrone at the battle of Najera. His exploits were chronicled by Jean Froissart, but Froissart was writing three or four decades after the events he describes. There are other sources much closer to events, and it is on these that the present volume draws. Most immediate are the reports sent home by the prince's companions-in-arms and his own letters, which graphically convey the hardships and difficulties of campaigning, its dangers and sheer fatigue. These are followed by campaign diaries and the story of Crécy and other exploits of the prince's from Geoffrey le Baker's chronicle (c.1358-60), itself drawing on similar letters and diaries. Finally there is the chronicle of Chandos Herald, which shows the prince as he appeared to an English writer in the 1380s. Each of the sources is discussed in detail in the introductions to the extracts. RICHARD BARBER's books on the age of chivalry include The Knight and Chivalry, Edward Prince of Wales and Aquitaine, King Arthur: Hero and Legend and Arthurian Legends. He has also written the Companion Guide to Gascony and the Dordogne, the background to so many of the Black Prince's exploits, and the Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe.
The Normans and the Norman Conquest
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Classic work assessing the impact of the Norman Conquest in European context.
The introduction of Brown's book should be made compulsory reading- LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKSThe `English' who faced the forces of William duke of Normandy on 14 October 1066 were by no means a pure-bred and unified race, norwas the flower of England's manhood laid low by an army of self-seeking Norman opportunists. R. Allen Brown traces the forces and influences that shaped both England and Normandy in the decades before 1066, and shows how the new order, emerging from the aftermath of the battle of Hastings, produced a degree of political unity and social dynamism previously unknown in England, bringing a reinvigorated nation fully into the mainstream of the dynamic expansion of western Latin Christendom.R. ALLEN BROWN was professor of History at King's College, London and founder of the annual Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman studies.
Slavery in Early Mediaeval England from the Reign of Alfred until the Twelfth Century
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This important study seeks to assemble the evidence, drawn from a variety of sources in Old English and Latin, to convey a picture of slaves and slavery in England, viewed against the background of English society as a whole.
At last a major topic in early medieval English history has found its author, who deals with it comprehensively and systematically.ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW "A landmark teatment...immensely enriches the debate about early medieval working classes." SPECULUM
Slaves were part of the fabric of English society throughout the Anglo-Saxon era and the twelfth century, but as the base of the social pyramid, they have left no known written records;there are, however, extensive references to them throughout the documents and writings of the period. This important study seeks to assemble the evidence, drawn from a variety of sources in Old English and Latin, to convey a picture of slaves and slavery in England, viewed against the background of English society as a whole. An extensive appendix on the vernacular terminology of slavery reveals the concepts of enslavement to be embedded in the religiousimagery of the period.
DAVID PELTERET is Senior Research Fellow, Department of History, King's College London.
The Sword in the Age of Chivalry
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A comprehensive history and typology of the European knightly sword from c.1050 to c.1550, that draws on evidence from literature and art as well as from archaeology.
The resplendent image of the medieval knight is symbolised by his sword, a lethal weapon on the battlefield and a badge of chivalry in that complex social code. Ewart Oakeshott draws on his extensive research to recount the history of the sword from the knightly successors of the Viking weapon to the emergence of the Renaissance sword - roughly from 1050 to 1550. Evidence for dating is adduced from literature and art as well as from archaeology, and a detailed chronological typology of swords is developed, based on entire swords, pommel-forms, cross-guards, and the grip and scabbard. With clear illustrations and invaluable photographic plates The Sword in the Age of Chivalryoffers first-class reference material for all weapons enthusiasts. The late EWART OAKESHOTT was an authority on the arms and armour of medieval Europe. His other books include Records of the Medieval Sword and TheArchaeology of Weapons.
Opera for a New Republic
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An exploration of avant-garde music and operatic form in Weimar Germany
Weimar Germany -- the age of Bauhaus and Brecht -- was a time of significant activity in all areas of the artistic avant-garde. Musicologist Susan Cook explores this intriguing period in a look at Zeitoper (topical opera)and its primary exponents, Ernst Krenek, Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith. Zeitoper has proved to be of importance as an experimental form that broadened the definition of modern opera and musical theatre, incorporating elements previously thought unsuitable. Celebrating modern life in its libretti, its scores borrowed heavily from American dance music and jazz. Opera for a New Republic is the first book to provide a broad historical,cultural and artistic context for the development of this operatic genre. Through it we learn that Zeitoper, although short-lived, has proved to be a vital component in the development of twentieth-century operatic style.
Susan Cook is Professor of Musicology at the University of Wisconsin.
The Performance of the Basso Continuo in Italian Baroque Music
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Demonstrates how the basso continuo line has an independent musical funxtion in ensemble music of the Italian Baroque period.
Covers the Italian Baroque period (1600-1730). Borgir rejects the notion that the basso continuo line is doubled by bass instruments and shows how these have an independent musical function in ensemble music. He untangles their confusing terminology and also explores the unexpected uses of the large lutes. Italian continuo practice included elaborate training in improvisation described in detail here for the first time.
Tharald Borgir is Professor Emeritus in the Music Department at Oregon State University. His principal performance activities have been on the harpsichord and the fortepiano.
No Pasarán: Art, Literature and the Civil War
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The six essays collected in this volume are a selection from a number of papers which were given at a one-day colloquium on 'Art, Literature and the Spanish Civil War' which was held in Westfield College on 18 July 1986, preciselyfifty years to the day after Franco's military coup in the Canary Islands, which was destined to have such a decisive effect on the course of Spanish history. Though this date subsequently became a Francoist celebration - the so-called 'Dia del Alzamiento' (Day of the Uprising) - the papers collected here do not demonstrate a Francoist bias. The overall approach is intertextual and interdisciplinary, thereby stressing the international nature of the artistic response to the war. For the benefit of the English reader, all foreign quotations are followed by an English translation.
Arthurian Poets: John Masefield
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Collected edition of Masefield's Arthurian poetry including previously unpublished material. Introduction by the author.
At the end of the nineteenth century, a homeless runaway teenager in New York found a job in a bar and discovered Malory. So began the lifelong interest of the future Poet Laureate, John Masefield (1878-1967), in the story of KingArthur. After becoming a popular, successful narrative poet and playwright, Masefield turned to the Arthurian material in earnest, producing the verse drama Tristan and Isolt in 1927 and Midsummer Night a year laterwith its Arthurian cycle. All29 of Masefield's previously published Arthurian poems from the Ballad of Sir Bors (1903) to Caer Ocvran (1966) are collected here in addition to the full-length tragi-comedy When Good King Arthur. Also included are nine poems never before published which, together with prose notes, reveal Masefield undertaking an ambitious retelling of the Arthurian myth.
Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War
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`Careful, original and wide-ranging study of many different aspects of late medieval military history.' HISTORY
The Hundred Years War embraced warfare in all aspects, from the grand set pieces of Crecy and Agincourt to the pillaged lands of the dispossessed population. What makes this book different from previous studies emphasising the great battles is its use of less familiar evidence, such as administrative records and landscape archaeology, to gain a truer picture of the realities of medieval warfare. From a general review of battle tactics, the book turns to examine (at points enlisting computer analysis) a number of issues: the composition of the English army, the management of affairs in Aquitaine, the response in England at large to the war and the consequent propaganda and hardship,and the impact of warfare on local communities. Close study of surviving artefacts - weapons, fortifications - also allows realistic assessments of military and naval experiences. Contributors: ANDREW AYTON, MATTHEW BENNETT,ANNE CURRY, IAN FRIEL, ROBERT HARDY, MICHAEL HUGHES, MICHAEL JONES, BRIAN KEMP, JOHN KENYON, MARK ORMROD, ROBERT SMITH, MALCOLM VALE.
Anglo-Norman Warfare
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Articles fundamental to the study of warfare in England and Normandy in the 11th and 12th centuries collected here in one volume.
The influence of war on late Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman society was dominant and all-pervasive. Here in this book, gathered together for the first time, are fundamental articles on warfare in England and Normandy in the 11th and12th centuries, combining the work of some of the foremost scholars in the field. Redressing the tendency to study military institutions and obligations in isolation from the practice of war, equal emphasis is given both to organisation and composition of forces, and to strategy, tactics and conduct of war. The result is not only an in-depth analysis of the nature of war itself, but a study of warfare in a broader social, political and cultural context. The Themes dealt with largely span the period of the Conquest, offering an assessment of the extent to which the Norman invasion marked radical change or a degree of continuity in the composition of armies and in methods offighting. This important collection, with an introduction and select bibliography, will be is essential not simply for the student of medieval warfare, but for all studying Anglo-Norman society and its ruling warrior aristocracy whose raison d'être was war.
Contributors: NICHOLAS HOOPER, MARJORIE CHIBNALL, J.C. HOLT, J.O. PRESTWICH, R. ALLEN BROWN, JOHN GILLINGHAM, JIM BRADBURY, MATTHEW STRICKLAND, MATTHEW BENNETT.
Paganism in Arthurian Romance
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Investigation of literary and archaeological evidence in search of pagan sources for the Arthurian legend.
`Darrah makes the valid point that episodes in the Arthurian romances read like motifs from the ancient mythologies...[he] reconstructs a lost British paganism, grounded in the rivers, hills and woods, and especially those grey monoliths...reminders of a cosmology vanished from this island. NIKOLAI TOLSTOY, DAILY TELEGRAPH `Contends, with a good deal of evidence, that the impact of pre-Christian Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Cornish and Breton religion is greater than has been previously thought... Extensively researched and well written.' CHOICE
The origins of Arthurian romance will always be a hotly disputed subject. The great moments of the legends belong partly to dimly-remembered history, partly to the poets' imagination down the ages, yet there is another strand to the stories which goes back deeper and further: the traces of ancient pagan religion, found both in Arthurian heroes who have inherited the attributes of gods, and in episodes which reflect ancient religious rituals. Darrah's careful study of the thematic relationships of, particularly, the more obscure episodes of the romances and his identification of the relative geography of Arthurian Britain as portrayed in the romances will be valuable even to those who differ with his conclusions. His most original contribution to an unravelling of a pagan Arthurian past lies in his appropriation of the fascinating evidence of standing stones and pagan cultic sites. This is dark and difficult territory, but building on elusive clues, and tracing a range of sites, especially in south-west Britain, John Darrah hasadded a significant new dimension to the search for the sources of the legends of Arthur and his court.
JOHN DARRAH has also written The Real Camelot.
The Medieval Siege
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A guide to sieges that took place in Europe and the Near East between 450 and 1565.
The chapter on weaponry is descriptive and there are excellent drawings as well as contemporary illustrations. Equally, the final chapter on the conduct of sieges is admirably forthright... the index is particularly good. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
In medieval warfare, the siege predominated: for every battle, there were hundreds of sieges. Yet the rich and vivid history of siege warfare has been consistently neglected. Jim Bradbury's panoramic survey takes the history of siege warfare in Europe from the late Roman Empire to the 16th century, and includes sieges in Byzantium, Eastern Europe and the areas affected by the Crusades. Within this broad sweep of time and place, he finds, not that enormous changes occurred, but that the rules and methods of siege warfare remained remarkably constant. Included are detailed studies of some of the major sieges including Constantinople and Chateau-Gaillard. Throughout, Bradbury supports his narrative with chronicles and letters. irst-hand accounts of danger, famine and endurance bring the acute reality of siege warfare clearly before the reader.
JIM BRADBURY is the author of The Medieval Archer; he writes and lectures on battles and warfare in England and France in the middle ages.
A History of Western Astrology
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`Superb general account.' Times Literary Supplement
The story of the history of Western astrology begins with the philosophers of Greece in the 5th century BC. To the magic and stargazing of Egypt the Greeks addednumerology, geometryand rational thought. The philosophy of Plato and later of the Stoics made astrology respectable, and by the time Ptolemy wrote his textbook the Tetrabiblos, in the second century AD, the main lines of astrological practice as it is known today had already been laid down. In future centuries astrology shifted to Islam only to return to the West in medieval times where it flourished until the shift of ideas during the Renaissance.
Bestiary
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A delightful translation of one of the finest, and most beautiful, examples of a medieval Bestiary.
Bestiaries are a particularly characteristic product of medieval England, and give a unique insight into the medieval mind. Richly illuminated and lavishly produced, they were luxury objects for noble families. Their three-fold purpose was to provide a natural history of birds, beasts and fishes, to draw moral examples from animal behaviour (the industrious bee, the stubborn ass), and to reveal a mystical meaning - the phoenix, for instance, as a symbol of Christ's resurrection.
This Bestiary, MS Bodley 764, was produced around the middle of the thirteenth century and is of singular beauty and interest. The lively illustrations have the freedom and naturalistic quality of the later Gothic style, and make dazzling use of colour. This book reproduces the 136 illuminations to the same size and in the same place as the original manuscript, fitting the text around them. Richard Barber's translation from the original Latin is a delight to read, capturing both the serious intent of the manuscript and its charm.
RICHARD BARBER has written many books on the history of and life in the middle ages, from his Somerset Maugham Award-winning The Knight and Chivalry, by way of biographies of Henry II and the Black Prince, to an anthology of Arthurian literature from England, France and Germany, Arthurian Legends, and an account of the historical Arthur, King Arthur: Hero and Legend.
Women and Mystical Experience in the Middle Ages
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Original and thought-provoking study of three medieval women mystics based on writings and biographical material.
`A wholly feminine voice within Catholicism-they express the inexpressible better than any amount of rational thinking about God.' THE TIMES The three women who are the subject of this fascinating study lefta rich legacyof medieval spirituality. Frances Beer explores their writings and draws on available historical evidence to bring the experience of all three women closer to a 20th-century audience. She sees Hildegard's perception of her Creator as informed by the heroic ideal, while Mechthild's erotic experience seems to show the influence of the minnesingers. Julian's experience of tender intimacy with her Lord demonstrates an egalitarian confidence in the ability of the individual soul to progress towards onenesswith the divine. Their individual natures are also further revealed through the author's examination of their resolution of a number of theological problems. In contrast, the works of two medieval men writing for women are also explored. FRANCESBEER is Associate Professor of English at York University, Toronto.
Women in the Viking Age
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Through runic inscriptions and behind the veil of myth, Jesch discovers the true story of viking women.
Well-illustrated, closely argued and fascinating. GUARDIAN
This is the first book-length study in English to investigate what women did in the Viking age, both at home in Scandinavia and in the Viking colonies from Greenland to Russia. Evidence for their lives is fragmentary, but Judith Jesch assembles the clues provided by archaeology, runic inscriptions, place names and personal names, foreign historical records and Old Norse literature and mythology. These sources illuminate different aspects of women's lives in the Viking age, on the farms and in the trading centres of Scandinavia, abroad on Viking expeditions, and as settlers in places such as Iceland and the British Isles. Women in the Viking Age explores an unfamiliar aspect of medieval history and offers a new perspective on Viking society, very different from the traditional picture of a violent and male-dominated world.
JUDITH JESCH is Reader in Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham.
Angelic Monks and Earthly Men
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`Both authoritative and attractive, this is a most welcome study... a cornucopia of facts and insights....' CHOICE
Professor Milis challenges the accepted view of monasticism as a powerful social influence on medieval life, supporting his case with detailed arguments. `A new assessment of the impact of monasticism on medieval society... a notable merit is that it obliges its readers to re-examine the assumptions which may have entered into their own consideration of the monastic role in society and led them to a different conclusion.' ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW [Barbara F. Harvey]
Suffolk Windmills
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A full and richly illustrated history of windmills in Suffolk - a county particularly notable for them.
Some of the earliest recorded windmills were built in Suffolk, and since the middle ages Suffolk has been a county where windmills predominated. In the 1830s there were over 430 windmills in the county, though the advent of steamand oil engines and roller mills meant there was a rapid decline in numbers later in the nineteenth century. This survey lists all the surviving mills and mill remains. It also explains the technicalities of how the differenttypes of mill worked, emphasising the particular local types and developments; and describes the life of the millers and the work of the millwrights. There is also an account of the restoration work which has been undertaken on them. Fully illustrated with photographs of what can still be seen today.
Hacia el Verbo: Signos y Transignificación en la Poesía de Quevedo
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A Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts
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Mythical creatures drawn largely from medieval travellers' tales, but encompassing civilisations from the Sumerians to the Wild West.
A dictionary? No, this is really an astonishing ark filled with beasts from a fabulous zoo far more varied and entertaining than anything from ordinary natural history. From Abaia and Abath to Ziz and Zu, from the microscopic Gigelorum that nests in a mite's ear to the giant serpent Jormungandor who encircles the whole globe, there are beasts from every corner of man's imagination: the light-hearted Fearsome Critters of lumberjack tales find a place alongside the Sirrush of Babylon and the Winged Bulls of Assyria. Some of the fabulous beasts turn out to be real creatures in disguise - a Cameleopard is a kind of glamourised giraffe -while others are almost, but not quite, human. Among the six hundred entries are some which are full-scale essays in their own right, as on Phoenix or Giants; and just in case it seems as though the authors dreamt up the entire book, there is a detailed list of books for the would-be hunter in this mythical jungle.
King Arthur: Hero and Legend
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The whole subject is brought up to date - Arthurian buffs will want this book. DAILY TELEGRAPH Who was the real Arthur? Why were his knights so famous? Was he buried at Glastonbury? Richard Barber takes the story from the anonymous 8th century chronicler who first listed his battles to the novelists of the 20th century. A clear and readable account of the development of the stories about Arthur and his court from the earliest times to the present day.
A Yankee Musician in Europe
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Edited version of the 1837 journal of American musician Lowell Mason written while traveling through Europe.
By the middle of the nineteenth century Lowell Mason (1792-1872) was probably the most famous native-born musician in America. Concentrating almost exclusively on vocal music, he built a spectacular reputation as a choir directorand teacher. He published many collections of sacred music that sold in unprecedented numbers and made him a household name. In 1837 he traveled to Europe on a little-publicized trip. This was a bold move decades before such trips by American musicians became commonplace, and his diaries from this time are a primary source of information on early nineteenth-century European music. This edition of Mason's 1837 journal has been carefully edited: throughout, Broyles has attempted to reproduce the original manuscript faithfully, making adjustments only where necessary for intelligibility. Appendices include a list names with brief biographies, an itinerary of the tour, and those letters received during the trip that still survive. An introduction completes this unique and highly readable volume. Michael Broyles is Distinguished Professor of Music and Professor of American History Emeritus at PennState University and Visiting Professor at Florida State University.
The Word of a Prince
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She gives the general reader fresh access to Elizabeth's mind and ideas, her wit, verve, eloquence, circumlocution, and formidable learning. OBSERVER
A new approach to historical biography - she has studied both the original sources and recent works of scholarship and has a thorough understanding of the period. SUNDAY TIMES
Until Maria Perry began her exploration of Elizabeth's papers, this vivid raw material had only been partially studied. From it, a fresh portrait of Elizabeth emerges, one which is often more cohesive and less baffling than some offered by her biographers. The dangers and insecurities of her early life, her sense of divine protection, her formidable education, all stand out as crucial elements in the formation of her character; but behind the acquired circumspection lies a personality of great warmth and spirit. On the teasing questions of love, marriage and virginity, the letters and speeches offer oblique comment; it seems certain that Robert Dudley was her one true love, and that she felt his second marriage to Lettice Knollys as a bitter betrayal.
MARIA PERRY is a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, where she read history.
The Medieval Archer
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A study of the archer and his weapon from the 11th to the 15th century, focusing on military tactics but also exploring the archer's position in society.
It is a delight to read a book which recognises the importance of warfare in medieval times...also...discusses the changing role of the archer in medieval society. SIR STEVEN RUNCIMAN
This book traces the historyof the archer in the medieval period, from the Norman Conquest to the Wars of the Roses. From a close study of early evidence, the author shows that the archer's role before the time of Edward I was an important but rarely documented one, and that his new prominence in the fourteenth century was the result of changes in development of military tactics rather than the introduction of the famous "longbow". A second thread of the book examines the archer's role in society, with particular reference to that most famous of all archers, Robin Hood. The final chapters look at the archer in the early fifteenth century and then chronicle the rise of the handgun as the major infantryweapon at the bow's expense.
JIM BRADBURY writes and lectures on battles and warfare in England and France in the Middle Ages.
Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine
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`...excellent study of the prince's career. A first-class synthesis of the entire literature of this subject.' BRITISH BOOK NEWS
Edward, prince of Wales and Aquitaine, known as the Black Prince, is one of the legendary figures of English history, victor of three great battles and a model of chivalry and courtesy. Behind this image, which many of his contemporaries accepted and eagerly believed in, it is difficult to get at the realities of his character and of the life that he led. Most of his biographers have based their work on the splendid vision of chivalry conjured up by Froissart, but the present book deliberately shuns this approach, to see what can be found in official records, particularly from the prince's household and those who campaigned with the prince. Special attention has been paid not onlyto the confusing and confused accounts of the great battles, but also to the prince's early years, his close companions who contributed so greatly to his successes, and to his government of Aquitaine, an obscure but very importantpart of his career. A number of minor but persistent errors in early histories, deriving from Froissart, are corrected. A concluding chapter examines how the legend of the Black Prince (and his curious nickname) came into being.By separating the image and the reality, a clearer picture of the prince emerges. Dr RICHARD BARBER is the author of The Arthurian Legends, King Arthur: Hero and Legend, Tournaments, a biography of Henry II, The Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe, and the recently revised seminal study of The Knight and Chivalry.
Art and Power
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A work of great learning and skilful synthesis, beautifully illustrated. SUNDAY TIMES
The spectacular festivals mounted by the princes of the Renaissance were both a marriage of the arts and a complex and subtle expression of political theory. From the Renaissance festivals ballet, opera and even the proscenium arch theatre are derived. Festivals are therefore a vital part of European cultural history. Here Roy Strong provides a guide to theirorigins and purpose, and their lasting influence.
Góngora's Poetic Textual Tradition
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Habits of Poetry: Habits of Resurrection
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Casiodoro de Reina
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American Women Composers before 1870
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First study of American women composers and attitudes towards women musicians in the nineteenth century.
Early American women composers are barely represented in standard reference works, yet their output constitutes a significant proportion of the bound sheet music in the collections in the New York Public Library, Yale University,Boston Public Library, and the New York Historical Society that form the basis of this study. Beginning with the first sheet music published by a woman in America, in the 1790s, the book goes on to examine music by mid-nineteenthcentury composers, including brief biographies of five prominent women active in the 1850s and 60s. Judith Tick is Professor of Music at Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts.
El Prado de Valencia
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Neoclassicism in Music
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The first historical and critical study of neoclassicism from the genesis of the concept in fin de siecleFrance in the 1870s through the Schoenberg/Stravinsky polemic. By the end of the nineteenth century the traits of "classicism" in music had become clearly established. This codification cast long shadows over contemporary artists, encouraging a movement away from order, continuity and tradition towards freedom, innovation and novelty - and the term neoclassicism made its first appearance.
This study, the first ever critical examination of "neoclassicism" in music, provides a broad cultural context for the investigation of its origins, then looks in turn at Wagner and the French reaction to him; Saint-Saens, d'Indy, Debussy, Ravel and their French contemporaries; Germany and France in the decade which includes the First World War, with special reference to Thomas Mann and Ferrucio Busoni, and to Jean Cocteau and the "New Simplicity"; and Igor Stravinsky, the composer most frequently cited in connection with this term.
Reprint; first published 1988.
Hugo Wolf's Lieder and Extensions of Tonality
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Study of the harmonic language of the late 19c based on songs by Hugo Wolf.
The harmonic language of the late nineteenth-century is studied here as a development of common-practice tonality, taking as a model selected songs by Hugo Wolf. Late nineteenth-century romantic composers employed extended-tonallanguage in a variety of genres, and a special feature of such tonal exapansion was the use of extra musical elements. Hugo Wolfs output, encompassing over 160 miniature masterworks, displays all the necessary characteristics, and makes an ideal subject for studying extensions of tonality. The study is organised to focus on individual techniques of tonal expanison, then to explore the foundations of that technique, and finally, to illustrate the conclusions with particular Wolf songs. Necessarily, Wolf's relationship to Richard Wagner, and to Wagner's revolutionary musical language, forms a part of this study, and so too does the similarity of Wolf's music to that of his contemporaries.
Diego de San Pedro's 'Tractado de Amores de Arnalte y Lucenda'
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La Figura en el Tapiz: Teoría y práctica narrativa en Juan Carlos Onetti
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Reading and Writing Women's Lives
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The contributors to this volume -- including Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Janet Egleson Dunleavy, James R. Kincaid and Joseph Wiesenfarth -- focus on how men and [particularly] women respond to the ideological pressure of manners for their gender and class as they attempt to define themselves in the novel of manners. Focusing on literary, feminist, and general political concerns, the essays explore the relationships between society's and literature's conventions in works by Jane Austen, Anthony Trollope, George Eliot, Henry James, Virginia Woolf and Barbara Pym, among others. Bege K. Bowers is Associate Provost at Youngstown State University. Barbara Brothers is Professor Emeritus, Youngstown State University.
Centinela Contra Franceses
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La Comedia erudita de Sepúlveda
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Cervantes: Pioneer and Plagiarist
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Diego de San Pedro's 'Cárcel de Amor'
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Calderón y la obra corta dramática del siglo XVII
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Teatros y Comedias en Madrid: 1699-1719
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El Sacrificio de la Misa, La Vida de Santa Oria, El Martirio de San Lorenzo (Obras Completas V)
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Teatros y Comedias en Madrid: 1687-1699
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Alfonsina Storni
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John Lydford's Book
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John Lydford was a fourteenth-century canon lawyer and cleric who acted as an advocate in the church court at Canterbury and held various official positions in the English church. He left a book of notes and documents relating tocanon law, which are edited here with an introduction. Its contents include legal formulas for use in court cases, notes about points of law, and records of particular cases drawn from the church courts of Oxford, Hereford, Winchester and Exeter. John Lydford's book therefore offers an unusual insight into the workings of the medieval English church and its courts.
