Middle Ages Books

This books provides an excellent and balanced portrait of Israel, but because it was published in 2000, its description of the peace process is somewhat out of date. Since the political issues take a back seat to culture and history in this book, this is still a very worthwhile purchase.

This book gives the reader an excellent picture of Israel today including previous wars (except over the past year). It is written relatively simply so intermediate children can understand. Also included are a few important people with a paragraph or two about them. Excellent photos enhance the book. It is a great book to have in home, school and synagogue libraries. I plan to use it in the coming year teaching 4th-6th graders a unit on Israel in Hebrew school.

This book contains selected and annotated documents, in English translation, pertaining to the autonomy of the Jewish community in Poland and Lithuania in the 16th and 17th centuries. The scope of this autonomy, the communal and extra-communal institutions and their modes of operation are covered. Through annotated excerpts from original Hebrew source material, the author describes the structure of Jewish self-government in those countries, illuminating the social and economic problems that Jews faced in everyday life: deserted wives, loans at interest, rights of daughters in their father's estates, organization and maintenance of elementary education, and many other questions. The book includes an in-depth introduction describing the historical period, a lengthy epilogue explaining the workings of the Jewish educational system, and extensive glossaries and indexes to help find individual points of interest. There is a detailed map of Jewish population, showing how Jews were spread throughout Poland and Lithuania during this period, as well as sixteen pages of photographs of Jewish sites. The reader will savor the flavor of Jewish life in the Middle Ages, that flourished despite oppressive surroundings. The book will appeal both to the learned scholar and to the layman interested in Jewish history of the period. As noted, the documents are in English translation, and provide access to information that untill now was available only to Hebrew language speakers.

This book contains selected and annotated documents, translated into English, relating to the autonomy of the Jewish Community in Poland and Lithuania in the 16th and early 17th centuries, its scope, communal and extra-communal institutions and their modes of operation. Through annotated excerpts from original Hebrew source material, it describes the structure of Jewish self-government in those countries, throwing light on the social and economic problems that the Jews faced in their everyday life: deserted wives, loans at interest to Jews, rights of daughters to inherit their father's estates, organization and maintenance of educational systems, and many other questions. There is an in-depth historical introduction, a lengthy epilogue describing the functioning of the Jewish educational system, and extensive glossaries and indexes to help locate individual points of interest. Included are a detailed map of Jewish communities, showing how Jews were spread throughout Poland and Lithuania during this period. Sixteen pages of photographs of Jewish sites are also included. The flavor and intensity of Jewish life in Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, despite the usually hostile and oppressive surroundings, comes through very clearly. The material presented in this book has until now not been available to non-Hebrew speakers, and will be of interest to both scholars and laymen interested in Jewish history of the period. A fuller review of this book was published in the Los Angeles Jewish Times (October 1998).

Jubilee Time speaks to me where I am right now, and welcomes me to continue into the rest of my life with joy, creativity and peaceful wisdom. Engaging this second half of my life is the adventure I have been waiting for, and this book makes those connections with myself and community tangible. Best investment for my future ever made.

"....For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy unto you." The Book of Leviticus. And so begins this inspiring book celebrating women entering jubilee. Jubilee is certainly a more uplifting word than cronehood! Each chapter of this book ends with an exercise relating to the theme of the chapter. Great though-provoking exercises for the individual; also very appropriate to use with support groups; counseling; classes, etc. I was given this book for my jubilee and is now the gift I pass on to all my friends to celebrate their jubilee.

I highly encourage anyone interested in the disputation(s) or the history of Judaic/Christian relations to take time to read this book. Thanks to the review above {all of which I agree with entirely), I bought a copy of this more or less out of curisity but found myself eager to continue reading. The style is quite "user friendly" for those who are not religious or theological scholars - perfectly suited for those with a strong lay interest in the topic.

During the Middle Ages, kings and popes would sometimes force Jews to engage in "disputations" with Christian scholars, in the hope that the Jews would thereby be converted (or at least embarrassed). In some of these disputations, the Jews were treated somewhat fairly, in others less so.

Maccoby describes three separate disputations: one in Paris in 1240, a second in Barcelona in 1263 (perhaps the fairest, and the most notable from the Jewish point of view because of the involvement of Nachmanides, one of the more well-known Jewish scholars of the medieval period), a third in Tortosa in 1413-14. In addition, he provides more-or-less contemporary summaries of the latter two disputations.

After reading Jaccoby's book, I was surprised how sophisticated both sides were by modern standards. The Christian "debaters" (often converts from Judaism) were much more sophisticated about Judaism than today's missionary-on-the-street; while the latter focuses solely on a few Biblical passages that he or she alleges shows Jesus to be Messiah, the former focused on Talmud and Midrash as well.

Christians took two very different lines: first, that the Talmud was a corruption of Biblical Judaism, and later that the Talmud actually supported Christianity. As to the latter, Christians relied heavily on Midrashic stories - for example, one which suggested that at the time of the Temple's destruction, the Messiah had already been born.

In response to the latter claim, Nachmanides not only attacked the Christian interpretations of the Midrash - but bluntly pointed out that this story is "either not true, or has some other interpretation derived from the secrets of the Sages." (p. 110). In other words, such Midrashic stories are fables designed to make a theological point, rather than literal truth.

Would you like to know what knights wore for jousting or what it was like to live in a castle with turrets and a drawbridge?

This book has all that and more. Not only can you find out how to design a shield, construct a siege catapult and make a checkerboard and pieces, there are authentic recipes for knightly dishes. You can also take a quiz to see if you have what it takes to be a dragon slayer. (although dragons are rather cute and these days we don't slay them, we display them. As in cute little dragon statues.)

This book has fun information about:

Armor and Weapons
Making a Helmet
Becoming a Knight
Making a Knightly Sword
Heraldry
The Castle and Manor
Making a Castle
Food
Knightly Pastimes
Tournaments
Chivalry
A Knightly Code of Honor
The Crusades

There is also an interesting diary of Robert Fitzwilliam an 18 year old squire.

"Sir Richard answered five challenges to joust and broke four lances. His helm nearly came off during one pass, and his opponent's horse ran wide at another."

The author is an assistant curator of armor at the Royal Armories at the Tower of London. He has acted as a consultant on the world of the knight for television and film and is also the author of several children's books on the subject.

~The Rebecca Review

Written by one of the truest exponents of this martial philosophy, this book stands out amongst others in its clarity. Geoffroi De Charny was a veteran of the Hundred Years War, he died in battle at Poitier. Although a tragic end, De Charny most certainly perceived this the idealized conclusion to a life in arms. To his contemporaries, De Charny was the embodiment of the code of conduct upon which he expounded so thoroughly in these pages.
In this manual of Chivalry, De Charny begins by defining a "scale of valor", a standard for prowess in battle. We receive an insight into the Medieval perception of what combat experiences warranted the greatest honor, beginning with demonstation of one's skill at Tournament, in local wars, in wars abroad, and ultimately in search of the most honorable course of action.
Divided into a succession of brief articles on various subjects of morality, good and bad virtues, and responsible conduct, this text is not only an historical insight into Medieval ideals, but a worthy guideline for our own age.

A serious student of military history realizes that not all warriors adhered to the commonly held idealized higher standards of their profession, for their time and place. Real people are more complex than that. Some did indeed make such achievement. Some sincerely tried, ...but failed. Comparing the known record of deeds long ago, with more recent events, we will always find examples where our ancestors surpassed us, ...and where we have surpassed our ancestors. We need a revival of Chivalric conduct in our own time. A fighting-man without honor is often capable of any action, ...except the right action.

I am currently reading this book for a Graduate seminar in gender and sexuality in the middle ages. The topic bores me to death, yet, this source is entertaining in a variety of ways. First, its a primary source so it is not riddled with feminist/activist arguments. It is simply a handbook from a medieval knight on how a perfect knight or men-at-arms should act. Though several pieces have insight into gender issues in the middle ages, it certainly gives the modern audience of what medieval (at least 1) knights viewed as proper behavior. Charny also speaks on how a ruler (king, lord, etc) should work within society. If your interested in medieval thought this is certainly a good book to read. If your into medieval military history this source may be helpful, yet I will warn you that it is nothing like The Art of War by Machiavelli. Your not going to find pages of military thought and strategic theories. However, if you are interested in the subject I advise you to read it, if anything you will grasp a little understanding of the individual knight or warrior through De Charny's eyes.

Bargain priced at a mere $[...] U.S. dollars (read- worth trillions in third world currency), this is the best book I've yet read on knights and knighthood, as the illustrated pictures give you an idea of what it was like going to the quest to become a knight withoutb the library style ones from the 80a to today with expensive full plate armor getting in the way that knights are somehow macho. You start out as a young page and when you're a teenager you become a squire until you're at least 26 years old you can enter early knighthood and be part of the royal family. That knights were somehow macho is a bit mishappen- this has full details of a young page who becomes a cocky squire to the sexist cheesey full plate armor required of tournament knights to joust and duel. They were just as let's say homo (and homoerotic) as the Greek and Roman phalanx soldiers. That's where the gay bashing comes in for the most part- can't you just do your job and not worry about sex? Why not just find a woman, sir, and raise him to be a squire. I use the word him because women are seldom allowed to be knights. On rare instances when knights have children, if it was a girl they would usually kill it and if it was a boy it would be a squire who become a knight himself eventually. Women knights are called mademoissles on the rare instances they are allowed to be confirmed a true knight. Women can become holy knights instead without caution. This condensed book has the works for your personal knight- a coat of arms, weapons, armor, castle. With this book you have a blunt weapon. I have King Arthur's historic Excalibur dagger,l and it is now a blunt weapon. So is my scourge. If you want to save some money, this children's style book is an excellent choice to declaring your knighthood, no questions asked. DON'T GET THE FIFTY DOLLAR ONE ON KNIGHTHOOD THEY OFFER YOU- KEEP YOUR FIRST KNIGHT BOOK UNDER FIVE! And I bless you, and it's totally grown up. The cheesey armor, there's a big childlike hanging over it- it's not bullet proof, it's not tank proof, it's not everything proof and it doesn't help either, neither do weapons. The knight is an obsolete mode of thinking, it's just a career option I had inherited from European ancestors in the Middle Ages. And I bless you and hope your knight is not a cop!

Great book that explains with simple but accurate words the life of a little boy destined to become a knight. The children will identify easily with the main character and have a pretty complete picture of life during the Middle Ages. Good ilustrations that go well with the texts. Great for children 3 to 8.

This book does a wonderful job of introducing Christ to the lay person who may be weak with theology definitions.

Are you confused about the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas? Does the mere mention of the word "theology" leave you colder than January in New England? Then check out Dauphinais and Levering's great introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas! They've written a clear and lucid precis that will get the reader interested in the challenging yet rewarding work of reading the corpus of St. Thomas' writings.

This is one of the best books I've picked up in a long time. I buy many professional books and don't get beyond the first chapter. This book is written in an accessible style and offers helpful, basic ideas about how forgiveness frees us from the issues and people that burden us. It's a great read for anyone seeking personal help around forgiveness, or for professionals whose clients need such help.

Women, this one is for you. This book will teach you to process painful memories and greatly assist you in healing those hurts held over from the past.

For a granddaughter in the middle I think this is a very good book. From the perspective of being that particular age, it mentions the trials and tribulations of being younger than and older than your siblings. A complex stage of dealing with life issues.

Martha is the middle child, always sandwiched in between the eldest and the youngest, always feeling forgotten in the middle between the two extremes. When she finally gets tired of it and runs away, she meets a friendly frog who shows her that quite often the best things are right in the middle!

This is a nice book, with large illustrations and a great message. If you have a middle child in your life, then you should get this book for him or her. It's a nice book with a great lesson!