Showing titles in Renaissance

After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today. On visits to the great cities of Europe, Thomas Cahill brilliantly captures the spirit of experimentation, the colorful pageantry, and the passionate pursuit of knowledge that built the foundations for the modern world.

Now celebrated as one of the great painters of the Renaissance, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio fled Rome in 1606 to escape retribution for killing a man in a brawl. Three years later he was in Naples, where he painted The Seven Acts of Mercy. A year later he died at the age of thirty-eight under mysterious circumstances. Exploring Caravaggio's singular masterwork, in The Guardian of Mercy Terence Ward offers an incredible narrative journey into the heart of his artistry and his metamorphosis from fugitive to visionary.

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.

Illegitimate children, adulterous queens, impotent kings, and a whole dynasty resting on their shoulders. Sex and childbirth were quite literally a matter of life or death for the Tudors.

Esta historia de los Reyes Católicos, que no solo se centra en los aspectos más curiosos y extravagantes de su reinado, trae una visión renovada y amena sobre la vida de los monarcas y todo lo que les rodeó desde que eran solo unos niños. Sus relaciones familiares, su educación, su llegada al trono y la construcción de las bases de un imperio que perduraría durante varios siglos tras el descubrimiento de América.

Boldly original, dramatic story of Catherine de’ Medici, Elisabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots – three queens exercising power in a world dominated by men – Young Queens weaves the personal stories of these three queens into one, revealing their hopes, dreams, desires and regrets in a time when even the most powerful women lived at the mercy of the state.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Thomas Cromwell by Diarmid MacCulloch, read by David Rintoul. Thomas Cromwell is one of the most famous - or notorious - figures in English history. Born in obscurity in Putney, he became a fixer for Cardinal Wolsey in the 1520s. After Wolsey's fall, Henry VIII promoted him to a series of ever greater offices, and by the end of the 1530s he was effectively running the country for the King.

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?

In this short book, Gardiner describes the famous battles and the daring generals: Mansfeld and Wallenstein, Tilly and Gustavus Adolphus, Bernard and Turenne. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, working through secret subsidies and wily diplomacy, frail but indomitable Cardinal Richelieu gained control of crucial supply lines, crippling Austria and Spain, and setting the stage for the golden age of France.

The French Invasion of Italy in 1494: The History and Legacy of the Conflict That Started the Italian Wars chronicles the decisive campaign that forever changed the Italian peninsula at the end of the 15th century. You will learn about the First Italian War like never before.

The Tudor era encompasses some of the greatest changes in our history. But while we know about the historical dramas of the times, what was life really like for a commoner? To answer this question, the renowned 'method historian' Ruth Goodman has slept, washed and cooked as the Tudors did. She is your expert guide to this fascinating era, drawing on years of practical historical study to show how our ancestors coped with everyday life, from how they slept to how they courted.

At the heart of the extraordinary ferment of the High Renaissance stood a distinctive, strange and beguiling figure: the magus. An unstable mix of scientist, bibliophile, engineer, fabulist and fraud, the magus ushered in modern physics and chemistry while also working on everything from secret codes to siege engines to magic tricks. Anthony Grafton's wonderfully original book discusses the careers of men who somehow managed to be both figures of startling genius and - by some measures - credulous or worse.

In Nature and Culture in the Early Modern Atlantic, historian Peter C. Mancall reveals how Europeans and Native Americans thought about a natural world undergoing rapid change in the century following the historic voyages of Christopher Columbus. Through innovative use of oral history and folklore maintained for centuries by Native Americans as well as original use of manuscript atlases, paintings that depict European representations of nature, and texts that circulated across the ocean, he reveals how the encounter between the old world and the new changed the fate of millions.

By the summer of 1704, Louis XIV's vast armies dominated Europe. France defeated every alliance formed against her and Louis was poised to extend his frontier to the Rhine and install a French prince on the throne of Spain. Two men saved Europe from French military domination: the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Marlborough masterminded a brilliant campaign, working with Eugene to surprise the French invaders inside Germany.

Doba pobělohorská - úpadek, nebo rozkvět společnosti? Přehledně a čtivě zpracovaný přehled českých dějin v 17. a první polovině 18. století se snaží o vyvážený pohled na pobělohorskou dobu, schematicky nazývanou dobou temna. Bitva na Bílé hoře je symbolem potupné porážky, po níž následovala násilná rekatolizace, utužení moci Habsburků v českých zemích a emigrace elit.

The Norman Conquest in English History, Volume 1: A Broken Chain? pursues a central theme in English historical thinking over seven centuries. Covering more than half a millennium, this first volume explains how and why the experience of the Norman Conquest prompted both an unprecedented campaign in the early 12th century to write (or create) the history of England, and to excavate (and fabricate) pre-Conquest English law.

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.

Henry IV is not famous except for the plays that bear his name: He is not even a "much-maligned" king. He is normally overshadowed by his far more famous son, Henry V, despite his many achievements. Shakespeare is partly to blame for Henry's diminution and his son's exaggerated stature but not completely; we just don't know what to make of a man who took the throne from the rightful king.

When we think of Venice, we think of masks, canals, murals and frescoes, and little “gondoliers” with picturesque boats. Venice, indeed, has an impressive artistic history. But did you know that Venice was also, for a while, a considerably sized empire? Although no enduring historic records associate with the creation of Venice, the Republic of Venice's history is typically said to start at 12 a.m. on Friday, March 25th, AD 421, when authorities from Padua established the city to develop a trading center in that area of northern Italy.

Who was the real Mary Queen of Scots? The most enigmatic ruler of England lived a life of incredible drama and turmoil: crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months old, and Queen of France at 16 years, she grew up in the crosshairs of Europe's political battles to become Queen Elizabeth's archrival.