The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumieges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni: Volume 1: Introduction and Books I-IV (Oxford Medieval Texts)

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The Gesta Normannorum Ducum is one of the most important sources for the history of Normandy and England in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and contains the earliest prose account of the Norman Conquest. It was written by a succession of authors, the first of whom was William of Jumieges, who wrote for William the Conqueror. Later writers, such as Orderic Vitalis (d. c.1142) and Robert of Torigni (d. 1186), interpolated and extended the chronicle as far as King Henry I (1100-1135). The later accretions reveal much not only about changing attitudes towards the Norman invasion of England, but also about views of the early Viking foundation of Normandy. Elisabeth van Houts's two-volume edition is based on a study of all forty-seven extant manuscripts of the Gesta, including the earliest surviving copy of c. 1100, hitherto unknown. The full original text of William of Jumieges is supplied, as well as the integral text of the subsequent revisions and additions. Volume I contains Dr van Houts's introduction to the whole work, together with the text and translation of books i-iv. Books v-viii will appear in Volume II. The edition forms an important contribution to our understanding of Anglo-Norman politics.

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better known as "Bloody Mary" for your enjoyment

Mary Tudor: The Spanish Tudor
H.F.M. Prescott
Manufacturer: Phoenix Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1842126253

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Notorious for her persecution of Protestants, Queen Mary I has been vilified by generations of historians as Bloody Mary. But this award-winning biography offers a more humane and measured perspective on the life of this tormented woman. With sympathy, Prescott examines just how Mary, who was swept to the throne on a wave of popular acclaim, fell so far in her countrymen's esteem that just five years after her coronation, her death was greeted with universal relief.

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better known as "Bloody Mary" for your enjoyment.......2006-08-05

you won't find a "bloody Mary" here because this book deals with the relations between Spain and England during the 1500's. Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.Seeing as Spain and England would go to war on numerous occasions culminating in the Spanish Armada defeat in 1588,Queen Mary's selection of a husband from Spanish royalty,seems like it would have been very unpopular in 1554. And indeed it was,one has to wonder if the objection of the English to Phillip of Spain had less to do with his Catholicism and more to do with his suspected Spanish sympathies.Sometimes a royal marriage between 2 rival nations can unite,but in this case it aggravated the rivalry.In this book the burnings and religious persecutions are downplayed deliberately to focus on the political rivalries between France,England, and Spain and about a dozen or more other countries. Indeed it is hard to keep track here.Still though it must have given Mary,secret delight to see Archbishop Cranmer burned however because he was the main prosecutor of Mary's mother,Catherine of Aragon and Cranmer sent her packing in humiliation.Headstrong Mary or "Bloody Mary" as she is known made in retrospect an unwise marriage in the Spanish union,and when you're the head of a nation,that can be a disaster.being the child of Queen Catharine of Aragon(of Spain),Mary saw her reign as a vindication of her mother and her catholic faith.All this at atime when England was becoming a world power and the main competitor was Catholic Spain.This book seems to see Mary's reign as a brief step backward and the Queens inability to govern because of infighting over numerous issues of religion and politics.It would take the reign of elizabeth 1 ,Mary's half sister to finally get england moving again.Other books however have been written that stress Mary's achievements,but this book focuses mainly on the Spanish/English conflict over European hegemony.As Oscar Wilde said,"people who have to go back to their childhood as the reason for their problems are boring"but in Mary Tudor's case this quote would not apply. The first 1/2 of this book is pretty much devoted to Mary's traumatic childhood where she is exposed to huge amounts of cruelty from her father and his cohorts.Her mother and her religion were Mary's only balm.when she became queen by accident,the results were not surprising.with Ann boleyn's title of "the great whore" and Mary tudor's "Bloody Mary",how is it everyone but henry the eigth gets a bad nickname yet he himself doesn't.At least Henry the Alehound maybe.Seems he was even bloodier than his daughter,sending people to the block on a whim,and his reputation even more tarnished than Ann Boleyn's could ever have been."Great Harry"!I don't think the author even hints the title.

Tom Stoppard Plays Two: The Dissolution of Dominic Boot; 'M' Is for Moon Among Other Things; If You're Glad I'll Be Frank; Albert's Bridge; Where Are They Now?

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A mixed collection, but a must-have for Stoppard fans

Tom Stoppard Plays Two: The Dissolution of Dominic Boot; 'M' Is for Moon Among Other Things; If You're Glad I'll Be Frank; Albert's Bridge; Where Are They Now?
Tom Stoppard
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0571190081

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Plays Two:
The Dissolution of Dominic Boot
'M' is for Moon Among Other Things
If You're Glad I'll Be Frank
Albert's Bridge
Where Are They Now?
Artist Descending a Staircase
The Dog It Was That Died
In the Native State

Introduced by the author, this second collection of work by Tom Stoppard contains his radio plays, written between 1964 and 1991. These plays reflect the full range of Stoppard's gifts as well as his craftsmanship and versatility. His work for radio complements (and sometimes prefigures) his work for the stage.

Included in this volume is In the Native State, which became the stage play Indian Ink.

Albert's Bridge won the Italia Prize and In the Native State won a Sony Award.

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A mixed collection, but a must-have for Stoppard fans.......2003-01-06

Let's face it; if you're looking at Volume Two of a collection, you're already a fan. This is a collection of short radio plays, mainly from early in Stoppard's career. Some are minor classics (Dominic Boot, Albert's Bridge) and others are forgettable. However, all of them show the true Stoppard spark, wit and intellect. Don't expect work of the same quality as the major plays, and you'll be happy.

The Brus Family in England and Scotland, 1100-1295

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The Brus Family in England and Scotland, 1100-1295
Ruth M. Blakely
Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 184383152X

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Robert de Brus, the 'conquisitor of Cleveland, Hartness and Annandale', who came into England among the followers of Henry I, was also a close companion and mentor of David I, king of Scots. The lands he acquired from both kings were divided between his sons, from whom two lines descended: the lords of Skelton, influential Northerners who played an active part during the baronial troubles in the reigns of John and Henry III, and the prominent cross-Border lords of Annandale, co-heirs of the substantial Chester and Huntingdon estates and progenitors of King Robert Bruce.This study takes a fresh approach to the Brus family by assessing the achievements of the two lines in parallel while examining the extent of their power and the development of their lordships; it highlights the inter-relations between the barons of England and Scotland during two hundred years of comparative peace between the kingdoms. Of additional interest is the appendix of an extensive handlist of charters of the Brus family of both lines.It will be a welcome addition to the existing body of works on English baronial families and on Anglo-Scottish cross-Border lords of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

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At Last, An Accurate Portrait of Mary I

Mary Tudor: A Life
David M. Loades
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 063118449X

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At Last, An Accurate Portrait of Mary I.......2002-02-28

Too many books about Mary I, Queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII, portray her as either cruel and vindictive, or as a religious fanatic out to stifle the religious freedom of her subjects. David Loades' biography is a welcome exception.

Mr. Loades tells the story of the shy Princess of Wales who was, successively, virtually disowned by her father; hounded for her devotion to her mother and her Church; forced to compromise her beliefs; constantly threatened by her brother's regency council; almost deprived of her rightful elevation to the throne by an upstart cousin; and finally accepted as queen by most of her people; then ultimately branded as "Bloody Mary" by history.

In fact, as this book shows, Mary Tudor remained throughout her life a pious, quiet, trusting woman whose worst mistke was perhaps that she allowed herself to be too influenced by her advisers and confidantes (such as Emperor Charles V and Cardinal Pole). This "mildest and most merciful of the Tudors," when she acted harshly, did so only out of a sense of duty --- a monarch must punish wrongdoers and rebels.

As for the charge that Mary I tampered with her people's religious freedom, that is absurd. There was no such thing as religious freedom anywhere in Britain or the world in the sixteenth century. On the contrary, as Loades points out, Mary's religious views probably reflected those of most of her subjects. It was only after her death, when her sister Elizabeth took power, that Mary's reputation began to be soiled.

A good part of this book --- perhaps a bit too much of it --- is devoted to all the intrigues and "wheeling-and-dealing" involved in royal marriage arrangements. Not just involving Mary, but also Elizabeth, and their lusty father as well. Still, such details are necessary, if tedious, as marriage was an important concern of Medieval royalty.

Book Description

What can we know of the private lives of early British sovereigns? Through the unusually large number of letters that survive from King James VI of Scotland/James I of England (1566-1625), we can know a great deal. Using original letters, primarily from the British National Library of Scotland, David Bergeron creatively argues that James' correspondence with certain men in his court constitutes a gospel of homoerotic desire. Bergeron grounds his provocative study on an examination of the tradition of letter writing during the Renaissance and draws a connection between homosexual desire and letter writing during that historical period.

King James, commissioner of the Bible translation that bears his name, corresponded with three principal male favorites--Stuart (Lennox), Robert Carr (Somerset), and George Villiers (Buckingham). Stuart, James' older French cousin, arrived in Scotland in 1579 and became an intimate adviser and friend to the adolescent king. Though he was eventually forced into exile by Scottish nobles, his letters to James survive, as does James' hauntingly allegorical poem Phoenix. The king's close relationship with Carr began in 1607. James' letters to Carr reveal remarkable outbursts of sexual frustration and passion.

A large collection of letters exchanged between James and Buckingham in the 1620s provides the clearest evidence for James' homoerotic desires. During a protracted separation in 1623, letters between the two raced back and forth. These artful, self-conscious letters explore themes of absence, the pleasure of letters, and a preoccupation with the body. Familial and sexual terms become wonderfully intertwined, as when James greets Buckingham as "my sweet child and wife."

King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire presents a modern-spelling edition of seventy-five letters exchanged between Buckingham and James. Across the centuries, commentators have condemned the letters as indecent or repulsive. Bergeron argues that on the contrary they reveal an inward desire of king and subject in a mutual exchange of love.

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Fascinating, but a bit esoteric.......2000-07-02

I write this review from the perspective of one who is interested in reading about the history and documentation of same-sex love, but who is not an academic, a linguist, or has any special interest in the history of literary styles. I offer this explanation because while this book is tremendously fascinating in its historic and biographical material, it at times lost my interest when going deeply into literary interpretation and syntactic analysis. For example, the first chapter on the history and style of writing love letters, or "letters of desire" as the author coins it, I found uninspiring and difficult. However, it does lay the groundwork for the author's study of James' letters.

Having said that, I nonetheless found the book extremely informative, both about James' life and how his contemporaries viewed his life.

The first section covers James' association with Esme Stuart who became the Duke of Lennox. What was of particular interest to me was the fact James was just 13 years old and Stuart 37 when they first met. The description of their first meeting makes it unmistakeable to the reader that the two had indeed fallen in love. The biographical information on how the church leaders and other politicos involved in James' life broke up the relationship was extremely interesting and saddening. But the reader shouldn't interpret these actions as purely coming from the realm of the church's "condemnation of homosexuality." Because there was no such thing at the time as "homosexuality." That was a term and a concept that wouldn't be coined for another 200 years. Rather, the condemnation was over "lying with a man as though a woman." Because of James' young age, it is quite possible that he had taken the submissive role, or that his advisors presumed that he was taking the submissive role. What really happened we don't know. But if the king were in a submissive role, then Stuart was having an undo influence over the young king. Having the king taking the role of a woman would have been blasphemous.

This notion is given further support during the chapter discussing the king's relationship with George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. In one of the king's letters, he refers to Buckingham as not only his "dear son" and the king the father, but also as "wife" and the king being "husband." In one letter, Buckingham writes: "my thoughts are only bent of having my dear Dad and master's legs soon in my arms." This phrase also suggests that Buckingham took the submissive role in his relationship with the king.

Which fits in naturally with the culture of the times. Both James and his "favorites" married and sired children, as the king saw marriage and raising a family an obligation to be joyfully fulfilled. And throughout Renaissance Europe, it was acceptable for a man to play the dominate (top) role during sexual relations with another male, with the submissive generally being younger because it was then excusable for the youth to be a bottom because he was in a submissive role anyway because of age.

It is also made clear in the book that James' other advisors disapproved of his relationships with his favorites not so much because they viewed the physical relationship as being immoral, but because of James' lavish endowment of titles and gifts, and consequently power to his favorites. The book does reveal critics, both contemporary and later, of the king's behavior who found the intimacy of these relationships unseemly and even "disgusting." And it is amusing to read how some of these critics eschewed discussing in detail the nature of the relationships.

In all it is a good book, but for the general reader of the history of same-sex relationships, it may be a bit troublesome and slow to plod through. For example, if I read the book at night while in bed, I usually fell asleep after just one page. If I read it in the morning, then I could read upward of a dozen or so pages.

An impressive documentary history.......1999-06-26

First and foremost, the letters between King James and his three male "favorites" are fascinating. Even the little, unintended cultural insights are interesting, for instance, that "gossip" meant godfather, that "Steenie" is short for Stephen, or that the king of Spain had given James an elephant as a gift.

With the author's help in establishing the king's difficult passage into manhood, and his piety as a Christian primitivist, as well as his love of literature--ditto for the gripping biographical sketches of the king's "sweet hearts"-- one cannot read some of the more beautiful passages without being profoundly touched. There is the time James wrote to George Villiers, Marquess of Buckingham, that "for protest to God I rode this afternoon a great way in the park without speaking to anybody and the tears trickling down my cheeks, as now they do that I can scarcely see to write. But alas, what shall I do at our parting?" Or on another occasion, "I had rather live banished in any part of the earth with you than live a sorrowful widow's life without you."

Other times the content is more "saucy," to use Villiers's term. A good example is his own letter to the king: "All the way hither I entertained myself your unworthy servant with this dispute, whether you loved me now ... better than at the time which I shall never forget at Farnham, where the bed's head could not be found between the master and his dog. ... --Your majesty's most humble slave and dog, Steenie"

The letters come from the manuscript collections of the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and so on, where Bergeron saw and transcribed from holographs, correcting occasional mistakes or intentional glosses from previous historians who have from time to time cited or published versions of these letters, or mentioned them in an embarrassed footnote. The letters have not been otherwise previously collected in such a topical form.

Bergeron does careful work as a scholar; that this does not translate into equal achievement as a writer is okay. Perhaps more seriously, though, are a few puzzling lapses, such as his use of a secondary source for an important speech by King James to the Privy Council in 1617, and the fact that the abbreviated footnote does not have a corresponding bibliographic entry, but again, I'm willing to overlook minor distraction for the strengths the book demonstrates. After reading it, I only want to read more by Bergeron.

Book Description

In De Partibus Animalium I Aristotle sets out his philosophy of biology, discussing cause, necessity, soul, genus, and species, definition by logical division, and general methodology. In De Generatione Animalium I he applies his hylomorphic philosophy to the problem of animal reproduction. The translation is close, and includes passages from De Generatione Animalium II which complete Aristotle's theory of reproduction. The notes interpret Aristotle's arguments and discuss his views on major issues such as natural teleology. The original edition was published in 1972.

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