The Haynes Medieval Castle Manual explores the background story to castle construction in Medieval Europe, showing that castles had both a domestic and defensive function. It uses the 'new' medieval castle-building project at Guédelon in Burgundy as the centerpiece for the book, examining the construction and anatomy of these awe-inspiring structures, section by section. Life inside the castle walls is explored, from the perspectives of the lowliest servants to the mighty lords and all those ranks in between. Ordinary daily routines to how a castle’s inhabitants would have been fed and watered and the building itself heated and furnished are also covered. When it came to survival in times of unrest, the castle presented would-be assailants with a formidable array of defensive measures, some of which were truly frightening in their ability to inflict injury and death.

An insider’s guide: how to become a knight, wield a sword, join a Crusade, and make your fortune. The knight is the supreme warrior of the Middle Ages. Fully armored and mounted on a magnificent charger, he seems invincible. Honor and glory await him as, guided by the chivalric code, he fights with lance and sword. This carefully researched yet entertaining book provides all the essential information you need to become a successful knight in the later Middle Ages, during the period of the Hundred Years’ War. Should you go on a Crusade? Which order of chivalry might you consider joining? What is required when you go through the ceremony of knighthood? Here are the answers to these and many more questions plus practical advice on topics such as equipment, fighting methods, and the conventions of warfare. But the knightly life is not all battles and sieges: there are also tournaments and jousts to enjoy and the world of courtly love. Based on contemporary lives and descriptions, this book—written by a leading medieval historian—paints a vivid picture of what it was like to be a medieval knight.

Knights in armor weighed so much that they had to be lifted onto their horses. Medieval barbers doubled as dentists. Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor. You may have heard these common sayings or beliefs before. But are they really true? Can they be proven through research? Let's investigate seventeen statements about the Middle Ages and find out which ones are right, which ones are wrong, and which ones stump even the experts! Find out whether King Arthur really ruled England during the Middle Ages! Discover whether a terrible plague killed millions of people! See if you can tell the difference between fact and fiction with Is That a Fact?

In Castle Builders, Malcolm Hislop looks at the hugely popular subject of castles from the unusual perspective of design and construction. In this general introduction to the subject, we discover something of the personalities behind their creation - the architects and craftsmen - and, furthermore, the techniques they employed, and how style and technology was disseminated. Castle Builders takes both a thematic and a chronological approach to the design and construction of castles, providing the reader with clear lines of development. Themes include earth, timber and stone construction techniques, the evolution of the great tower, the development of military engineering, the progression of domestic accommodation, and the degree to which aesthetics contributed to castle design.

Detailed drawings of 31 world-famous castles: Windsor, Edinburgh, Caernarvon, Krak des Chevaliers, Neuschwanstein, Pierrefonds, and more. Captions.

The purpose of the book is to give visitors to the medieval castles of Wales a concise but informative description of the main publicly accessible sites in a convenient format. An introductory chapter outlines the development of castle architecture in Britain, drawing on Welsh examples, with a number of ‘box features’ that elaborate more fully on particular aspects, such as gatehouses, or key personalities such as Llywelyn Fawr. Five chapters form a regionally based gazetteer of the castles described. Each entry is prefaced with a key to arrangements at each castle, such as whether there is an entry charge. The know history of any given site is then summarized, and this is then followed by the core of each entry, namely the description of the visible remains, to enable visitors to navigate their way around. Some of the descriptions of the larger sites are accompanied by plans. A final chapter provides a brief overview of castle-like buildings dating from the seventeenth century onwards, and this is followed by a guide to further reading.

Filled with stunning photos, step-by-step instructions, and creative ideas for customization—The LEGO Castle Book shows you how to build six mini castles complete with moats, drawbridges, gatehouses, and more! Travel through the history of castle architecture and learn how to build basic castle components like walls, towers, gates, and keeps. Whether your goal is to add realistic details like crenellations, turrets, and parapets to your designs or to create a believable medieval setting, you’ll find endless inspiration in The LEGO Castle Book. Includes complete parts list and building instructions for 6 castles: • Sleeping Dragon • Land’s End • River Gate • Winter Palace • Eight Arches • Mountain Kingdom

Preserved in the Bavarian State Library in Munich is a manuscript that few scholars have noticed and that no one in modern times has treated with the seriousness it deserves. Forbidden Rites consists of an edition of this medieval Latin text with a full commentary, including detailed analysis of the text and its contents, discussion of the historical context, translation of representative sections of the text, and comparison with other necromantic texts of the late Middle Ages. The result is the most vivid and readable introduction to medieval magic now available. Like many medieval texts for the use of magicians, this handbook is a miscellany rather than a systematic treatise. It is exceptional, however, in the scope and variety of its contents—prayers and conjurations, rituals of sympathetic magic, procedures involving astral magic, a catalogue of spirits, lengthy ceremonies for consecrating a book of magic, and other materials. With more detail on particular experiments than the famous thirteenth-century Picatrix and more variety than the Thesaurus Necromantiae ascribed to Roger Bacon, the manual is one of the most interesting and important manuscripts of medieval magic that has yet come to light.