Medieval history comes alive in Frances and Joseph Gies s Life in a Medieval City, used as a research resource by George R. R. Martin in creating the world of A Game of Thrones.

Reissued for the first time in decades, Life in a Medieval City is the classic account of the year 1250 in the city of Troyes, in modern-day France. Acclaimed historians Frances and Joseph Gies focus on a high point of medieval civilization before war and the Black Death ravaged Europe providing a fascinating window into the sophistication of a period we too often dismiss as backward.

Urban life in the Middle...

A magisterial history of the origins, reality, and legend of the knight

Born out of the chaos of the early Middle Ages, the armored and highly mobile knight revolutionized warfare and quickly became a mythic figure in history. From the Knights Templars and English knighthood to the crusades and chivalry, The Knight in History, by acclaimed medievalist Frances Gies, bestselling coauthor of Life in a Medieval Castle, paints a remarkable true picture of knighthood--exploring the knight's earliest appearance as an agent of lawless violence, his reemergence as a dynamic...

"Some particular books I found useful for A Game of Thrones and its sequels deserve mention... Life in a Medieval Castle and Life in a Medieval City, both by Joseph and Frances Gies." --George R.R. Martin, author of the series A Song of Ice and Fire

Medieval history comes alive in Joseph and Frances Gies's Life in a Medieval Castle, used as a research resource by George R. R. Martin in creating the world of A Game of Thrones.

Newly reissued for the first time in decades, Life in a Medieval...

"Some particular books I found useful for A Game of Thrones and its sequels deserve mention... Life in a Medieval Castle and Life in a Medieval City, both by Joseph and Frances Gies." --George R.R. Martin, author of the series A Song of Ice and Fire

Medieval history comes alive in Frances and Joseph Gies's Life in a Medieval City, used as a research resource by George R. R. Martin in creating the world of A Game of Thrones.

Reissued for the first time in decades, Life in a Medieval City is the classic account of the...

The reissue of Joseph and Frances Gies's classic bestseller on life in medieval villages.

This new reissue of Life in a Medieval Village, by respected historians Joseph and Frances Gies, paints a lively, convincing portrait of rural people at work and at play in the Middle Ages. Focusing on the village of Elton, in the English East Midlands, the Gieses detail the agricultural advances that made communal living possible, explain what domestic life was like for serf and lord alike, and describe the central role of the church in maintaining social harmony. Though the main focus...

The Paston family of Norfolk, England, has long been known to medieval scholars for its large collection of personal correspondence, which has survived five centuries. Until now, however, they have remained virtually unknown to the general reading public. Revealing a wealth of information about the manners, morals, lifestyles, and attitudes of the late Middle Ages, the letters also tell a story of three generations of the fifteenth-century Paston family that reads like a historical novel full of memorable characters:

• Margaret Paston, the indomitable wife and mother who...