Any period pieces set in the middle ages, preferably fiction but I’ll accept non fiction as well.
I recently read ‘for thy great pain have mercy on my little pain’ and loved it, looking for something with a similar vibe.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. And Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.
Those books, and my faith, sent me on a study of the Middle Ages. The latest non-fiction book I’m working through is Medieval Europe by Chris Wickham at the University of Oxford.
It’s fascinating to find that the Dark Ages are coming into the light with archaeology and scholarship. This author starts with the idea that what we call the Middle Ages in Europe was very amorphous, even to the point of resisting a firm beginning and end. There was just too much going on, it seems.
Happy reading!
edit: I have to add another non-fiction book, The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found , by scholar Violet Muller. This book follows how the discoveries of ancient times were “lost” in the Middle Ages and later “found”. Spoiler: for the most part, Islam preserved and built upon many of the ancient texts from Europe. Muller takes a bit of poetic license and makes the time come alive.
Drownedon42St on
I don’t know if this qualifies as middle ages but it was good.
The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by British author Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. Set in the 12th century, the novel covers the time between the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket, but focuses primarily on the Anarchy.
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The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. And Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.
Those books, and my faith, sent me on a study of the Middle Ages. The latest non-fiction book I’m working through is Medieval Europe by Chris Wickham at the University of Oxford.
It’s fascinating to find that the Dark Ages are coming into the light with archaeology and scholarship. This author starts with the idea that what we call the Middle Ages in Europe was very amorphous, even to the point of resisting a firm beginning and end. There was just too much going on, it seems.
Happy reading!
edit: I have to add another non-fiction book, The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found , by scholar Violet Muller. This book follows how the discoveries of ancient times were “lost” in the Middle Ages and later “found”. Spoiler: for the most part, Islam preserved and built upon many of the ancient texts from Europe. Muller takes a bit of poetic license and makes the time come alive.
I don’t know if this qualifies as middle ages but it was good.
The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by British author Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. Set in the 12th century, the novel covers the time between the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket, but focuses primarily on the Anarchy.