Icons of the Middle Ages: Rulers, Writers, Rebels, and Saints [2 volumes] (Greenwood Icons)

Drawing on the latest research, Icons of the Middle Ages: Rulers, Writers, Rebels, and Saints examines the lives of some of the most remarkable personalities of the Medieval Era—powerful, ruthless, compassionate, brilliant people who remain widely influential today.

Each portrait in this extraordinary gallery sets its subject in the context of their world, revealing what we really know about their lives, their iconic status in their own times, and their lasting legacies in our time. Readers will encounter fascinating individuals devoted to the pursuit of power (Richard III), to freedom (Robert the Bruce), to philosophy and religion (Maimonides; Thomas More), and to the arts (Dante; Hildegard of Bingen). Additional chapters explore life in the medieval castle and the advent of siege warfare—two defining developments in the Middle Ages.

Lister M. Matheson, PhD, is professor of medieval studies in the Department of English at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. He has been an International Fellow at The Queen's University Belfast and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow.