This clear and comprehensive text covers the Middle Ages from the classical era to the late medieval period. Distinguished historian John Riddle provides a cogent analysis of the rulers, wars, and events—both natural and human—that defined the medieval era. Taking a broad geographical perspective, Riddle includes northern and eastern Europe, Byzantine civilization, and the Islamic states. Each, he convincingly shows, offered values and institutions—religious devotion, toleration and intolerance, laws, ways of thinking, and changing roles of women—that presaged modernity. In addition to traditional topics of pen, sword, and word, the author explores other driving forces such as science, religion, and technology in ways that previous textbooks have not. He also examines such often-overlooked issues as medieval gender roles and medicine and seminal events such as the crusades from the vantage point of both Muslims and eastern and western Christians. In addition to a thorough chronological narrative, the text offers humanizing features to engage students. Each chapter opens with a theme-setting vignette about the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people. The book also introduces students to key controversies and themes in historiography by featuring in each chapter a prominent medieval historian and how his or her ideas have shaped contemporary thinking about the Middle Ages. Richly illustrated with color plates, this lively, engaging book will immerse readers in the medieval world, an era that shaped the foundation for the modern world.

The aim of this book has been to tell the story of the Middle Ages so as to bring out the most characteristic features of the period, and to emphasize those things in medieval life which have the most significance for us today. Examines how Christianity spread out across the world, building a new civilization on the remnants of the Roman Empire.

This engaging textbook teaches students about the Middle Ages, from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance. Follow this story-based approach to world history as you meet numerous historical figures (including St. Patrick, Genghis Khan, Richard the Lionheart, Joan of Arc, and Martin Luther), visit medieval sites around the world, and trace the rise and fall of numerous empires and kingdoms. Volume 2 in this series for your junior high students includes: A conversational narrative that brings medieval history to lifeGorgeous photographs, artwork, and maps that help students visualize people, places, and eventsEducational features that dig deeper into the history of the Christian Church Throughout the course, students will see God’s guiding hand through history. They will study the major events of the Middle Ages and delve into how society and culture developed and changed. Students will also study medieval civilizations spanning the whole globe, including the Byzantines, Anglo-Saxons, Muslims, Chinese, Japanese, Mongols, Mughals, Vikings, Normans, Russians, Songhai, and Aztecs!

"During the Merovingian centuries when most kings were weak, and brutal men fought over power and booty, ordinary folk, as well as many who were not so ordinary, again found themselves in desperate need of protection. The result was the appearance and wide extension of a practice called commendation. ....[from back cover]

A unique, illustrated book that will change the way you see medieval history The Middle Ages: A Graphic History busts the myth of the 'Dark Ages', shedding light on the medieval period's present-day relevance in a unique illustrated style. This history takes us through the rise and fall of empires, papacies, caliphates and kingdoms; through the violence and death of the Crusades, Viking raids, the Hundred Years War and the Plague; to the curious practices of monks, martyrs and iconoclasts. We'll see how the foundations of the modern West were established, influencing our art, cultures, religious practices and ways of thinking. And we'll explore the lives of those seen as 'Other' - women, Jews, homosexuals, lepers, sex workers and heretics. Join historian Eleanor Janega and illustrator Neil Max Emmanuel on a romp across continents and kingdoms as we discover the Middle Ages to be a time of huge change, inquiry and development - not unlike our own.

Daniel Power traces the history of Europe in the central Middle Ages (950-1320), an age of far-reaching change for the continent. Seven contributors consider the history of this period from a variety of perspectives, including political, social, economic, religious and intellectual history.

"From the Anglo-Saxons to the Renaissance, from chivalrous knights to Genghis Khan, students will improve their knowledge of medieval times while learning to write with Structure and Style. This theme-based writing curriculum offers a full year of instruction for students in grades 6-8 and is perfect for homeschoolers, homeschool co-ops, tutors, and hybrid schools. Working through all of IEW's Units 1-9, students learn to take notes, retell narrative stories, summarize references, write from pictures, compose essays, and more. Includes vocabulary cards, literature suggestions, and access to helpful PDF downloads. This book is designed to be used by an instructor who has been through or is currently viewing the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style video course." -- Amazon

20 enchanting art projects and other creative activities that illuminate and enrich your study of the Middle Ages.

This volume offers original studies on the subject of medieval education, not only in the formal academic sense typical of schools and universities but also in a broader cultural sense that includes law, liturgy, and the new religious orders of the high Middle Ages. Its essays explore the transmission of knowledge during the middle ages in various kinds of educational communities, including schools, scriptoria, universities, and workshops.