In conjunction with my 2010 medieval reading challenge, A Tournament of Reading, I’ve come up with a list of books in each of the three categories that I recommend. First, here’s my list of potential reads, at the King level of course:
- Mistress of the Art of Death, Ariana Franklin (historical fiction)
- The Making of the Middle Ages, R.W. Southern (history)
- The Needle in the Blood, Sarah Bower (historical fiction)
- The Knight and the Rose, Isolde Martyn (historical romance)
- Lady of the Roses, Sandra Worth (historical fiction)
- Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire, Edward Mullins (history)
- The Book of Margery Kempe, Margery Kempe (medieval literature)
- English Society in the Later Middle Ages, Maurice Keen (history)
- The Mabinogion, unknown author (medieval literature)
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, unknown author (medieval literature)
And the many books that you could read:
History
- The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
- Blood and Roses by Helen Castor
- Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir
- Queen Isabella by Alison Weir
- The Perfect King: The Life of Edward I by Ian Mortimer
- The Making of the Middle Ages by R.W. Southern
- The First Crusade: A New History by Thomas Asbridge
- The Crusades by Jonathan Riley-Smith
- The Making of England to 1399 by C. Warren Hollister
- Chivalry by Maurice Keen
- English Society in the Later Middle Ages by Maurice Keen
- The Crusades by Hans Eberhard Mayer
- The Anglo-Saxons by James Campbell
Historical Fiction
- Authors
- Elizabeth Chadwick
- Sharon Kay Penman
- Nicole Galland
- Susan Higginbotham
- Sandra Worth
- Helen Hollick
- Bernard Cornwell (Agincourt, Saxon Chronicles series, Grail Quest series, Arthurian series)
- Books
- Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
- Katherine by Anya Setton
- Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
- The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower
- Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
- The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follett
- Flint by Margaret Redfern
- Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott
- Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
- The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Medieval Literature
- The romances of Chretien de Troyes
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (and really anything else that Chaucer wrote or translated)
- Gawain and the Green Knight by Gawain-poet
- Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- Beowulf
- The Mabinogion
- The Memoirs of Margery Kempe
If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments for others (and for me)!
I am hoping I will finally get around reading A Needle in the Right Hand of God: The Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Making and Meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry by R. Howard Bloch. I meant to read this one for the 2009 Art History Challenge (a challenge I totally failed), now I’ll read it for your challenge.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..The Really, Really Last Challenge for 2010 =-.
I am interested in joining this challenge
I plan to read in the first week of 2010 The Tales of Ise (tenth century -Japanese Literature) by Arihara no Narihira
The Name of The Rose by Umberto Eco-some time in 2010
The Fifth Queen by Ford Madox Ford-some time in 2010 after I complete The Parade’s End
Aha, well my question is answered.
I tried to read Le Morte D’Arthur in high school. Yeah, that didn’t last very long.
.-= heidenkind´s last blog ..My Year in Reading =-.
I think I’m going to join at the lowest level, mostly because I’m a little scared of the medieval literature, but maybe I can find one of your recommendations on audio…
.-= Jen – Devourer of Books´s last blog ..The Last Challenges I’m Signing Up For Right Now, I Swear! =-.
It looks like you left off mentioning medieval mysteries. Authors such as Ellis Peters, Michael Jecks, and–humbly–myself. That’s a whole other bookshelf. Perhaps Squire level?
In the historical fiction category, there is the trilogy “Rashi’s Daughters” written by Maggie Anton. It covers the period from approximately 1068-1105 from the perspective of a renowned Jewish scholar and his family in Troyes France. While it is historical fiction, Ms. Anton researched her subject thoroughly and is a marvelous window into this time and place.
I am so excited to join, most of my reading for the last year has been either bedtime stories to the kids, career related policy and mostly text books as I have recently returned to college…my husband will be excited for me to actually read something he is interested in as he is an English major with a minor in Irish Studies so I have a pretty good selection in our own home library, thus I have no excuse to not enjoy the fruits of his education that has filled our shelves. I will work towards the Peasant level with the hopes of reaching the King. I am starting The Canterbury Tales.
.-= Kristi´s last blog ..~Our Babies 2009~ =-.
Just bought a copy of Ian Mortimer’s A Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England and Sharon Kay Penman’s Here Be Dragons, thx!
.-= Miss Mouse´s last blog ..Mind Voyages =-.
[…] for the level Peasant (3 books). Let’s see how this goes!:) You can find all this challenge here and […]
[…] you are interested in this challenge, you can find all you want to know at Medieval Bookworm blog: here and here. One can never read too many Medievals, […]
[…] you are interested in this challenge, you can find all you want to know at Medieval Bookworm blog: here and here. One can never read too many Medievals, […]