Showing titles in Renaissance

Modern beer has little in common with the drink that carried that name through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Looking at a time when beer was often a nutritional necessity, was sometimes used as medicine, could be flavored with everything from the bark of fir trees to thyme and fresh eggs, and was consumed by men, women, and children alike, Beer in the Middle Ages and Renaissance presents an extraordinarily detailed history of the business, art, and governance of brewing.

The Renaissance was only a short period in European history, but it was the revolution needed to move from the Middle Ages to the modern world. It was full of new philosophies and art, new architecture and inventions, and new governments and churches. In a short span of time, the Europeans found themselves creating, acting, and living in completely new ways. People now had access to new ideas, and Europe would never be the same again.

Delve into the sprawling saga of the Habsburg dynasty, whose influence was felt across Europe for over six centuries. From their humble beginnings to their dramatic decline during World War I, this audiobook provides a captivating look at the rulers who sat at the heart of European power and intrigue.

Books can change the world. They can influence, entertain, transport, and enlighten. But across the centuries, authors have disguised their work with codes and ciphers, secret scripts and magical signs. What made these authors decide to keep their writings secret? What were they trying to hide?

Using a wide variety of source materials, including archaeology, runes, Icelandic sagas, early law, place names, personal names, and not least etymological and semantic analyses of the terminology of slaves, Thraldom provides the most comprehensive survey of slavery in the Viking Age.

Every age and social strata has its bad eggs, rule-breakers, and nose-thumbers. As acclaimed popular historian and author of How to Be a Victorian Ruth Goodman reveals in her madcap chronicle, Elizabethan England was particularly rank with troublemakers, from snooty needlers who took aim with a cutting "thee" to lowbrow drunkards with revolting table manners. Goodman draws on advice manuals, court cases, and sermons to offer this colorfully crude portrait of offenses most foul.  

Do you know the whole story of the House of Borgia—from their rise from obscurity to the highest echelons of European society? The family produced two popes and a saint, but they are more known for stories of murder, debauchery, and incest. What is accurate, and what is just slander? Were the Borgias worse than any other powerful family of the time? Was Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI, a monster? Was his son Cesare a psychopath? Was his daughter Lucrezia a murderous temptress?

Bestselling author Leonard Shlain explores the life, art, and mind of Leonardo da Vinci, seeking to explain his singularity by looking at his achievements in art, science, psychology, and military strategy (yes), and then employing state of the art left-right brain scientific research to explain his universal genius. Shlain shows that no other person in human history has excelled in so many different areas as Da Vinci and he peels back the layers to explore the how and the why.

Sixteenth-century Europe was a time of destabilization of age-old norms and the waging of religious wars - yet it also witnessed the remarkable flowering of a pacific culture cultivated by a cohort of extraordinary women rulers who sat on Europe's thrones, most notably Mary Tudor; Elizabeth I; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Catherine de' Medici.

Al-Hasan al-Wazzan - born in Granada to a Muslim family that in 1492 went to Morocco - became famous as the great Renaissance writer Leo Africanus, author of the first geography of Africa to be published in Europe (in 1550). He had been captured by Christian pirates in the Mediterranean and imprisoned by the Pope; when he was released and baptized, he lived a European life of scholarship as the Christian writer Giovanni Leone....

In every nation, in every era of history, there are inevitably one or two places that become the symbol of the times. Mention Valley Forge to an American and it will immediately conjure up visions of a hard won fight for freedom. Likewise, the word Dunkirk said to a Briton will elicit a sense of both pride and horror at the lives lost and saved at that desperate point in World War II. For the French, and those who study their history, Versailles is a symbol of, as Charles Dickens once put it, "the best of times...the worst of times."

One of the most famous figures in Christian history, Francis of Assisi (1181/82-1226) was revered as a miracle worker during his life and quickly canonized after his death. He has inspired generations of Christians and other spiritual seekers, from medieval ascetics to 1960s hippies and modern environmentalists. The "poverello" wrote poems praising the sun, moon, and stars, spoke to the birds, and—so the story goes—even tamed a wolf. But what do we know for sure about who he was, and what is simply legend?

Originally published in 1991 as a Book of the Month Club Featured dividend and awarded the Best Nonfiction Book by the American Society of Journalists and Authors, this authoritatively researched portrait of Queen Isabella brings to life one of the most controversial figures in European history--a woman who was passionate lover to Ferdinand of Aragon, conquered the Moors (Muslims) of Spain, funded Columbus on his famous journey, brought the Renaissance to Spain, and was hated for introducing the Spanish Inquisition.

It's possible that Michelangelo is the most famous artist in history, but it's also possible that he's an underrated artist. The vast influence of his career is reflected by the fact that he is not only known for his own art but has also come to embody an entire epoch of Western art. Along with Leonardo da Vinci, there are no other artists who so fully capture the spirit of scientific and artistic discovery that characterized art during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

If so, you are already somewhat familiar with the Renaissance, which saw a rebirth in the arts and science. Great strides were made in several fields, and many men made a name for themselves by creating masterpieces or developing new theories, even if some people found them controversial. This comprehensive guide digs into some of the most famous figures of the period and includes some who might not be as well known.

In 1494, there were five sovereign regional powers in Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples. In 1536, only one remained: Venice. These decades of conflict precipitated great anxiety among Western thinkers, and Italians responded to the fragmentation, forevermore, of Latin Christendom, the end of self-governance for Italians, and the beginning of the early modern era in a myriad of ways. They were always heavily influenced by the lived experience of warfare between large Christian armies on the peninsula.

In 1503, Pope Julius II had succeeded the notorious Alexander VI, and Julius II brought an appreciation for the arts to the papacy. After Michelangelo finished the flurry of works that he had worked on during the previous four years, he was commissioned by Pope Julius II to complete a tomb in the Pope's honor. The project was to be massive in scope, and the tomb was to be placed inside of St. Peter's Basilica, the construction of which was intended to take place while Michelangelo designed the tomb.

The First Italian War: The History and Legacy of the Italian Wars’ Initial Conflict at the Height of the Renaissance chronicles the various nations and city-states that jousted for power throughout the peninsula during the late 15th century. The audiobook presents places and events that'll help you learn about the First Italian War like never before.

Galileo Galilei was the foremost scientist of his day. Though he never left Italy, his inventions and discoveries were heralded around the world. His telescopes allowed him to reveal the heavens and enforce the astounding argument that the earth moves around the sun. For this belief, he was...

Listen to this audiobook now and unlock the door to Europe's magnificent past, vibrant present, and promising future!