Melisende's Library

Synopsis:  In the birth of a new French Republic, a man must risk his honor, his marriage and even his life in a battle between his ideals a...

Synopsis: Rulers (and would-be rulers) have always faced the possibility of a violent death. Between the seventh and eighteenth centuries ov...

Synopsis: Medieval Nuns at War by Elizabeth Quillen uncovers the extraordinary lives of nuns who defied expectations, embracing roles that...

Synopsis: 1846. In the heat of West Africa, the French navy uncovers the corpses of two French soldiers. Inspector Maurice Leroux arrives a...

Synopsis: A captivating story of love, jealousy and faith, set amid a community of independent women in medieval Paris — the perfect summer...

Synopsis: Provence, 1347. Eleanore (Elea) Blanchet is a young midwife and herbalist with remarkable skills. But as she learned the day her ...

Taken from the CRA Newsletter : Layers of Research by Chris Lloyd There is only one rabbit hole that is deeper and more relentless than res...

Refining adult-focused perspectives on medieval rulership, Emily Joan Ward exposes the problematic nature of working from the assumption tha...

A fascinating joint biography of Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici, which explores how their complex 30-year relationship redefined t...

Synopsis: One of the families that dominated the thirteenth century were the de Montforts. They arose in France, in a hamlet close to Paris...

Synopsis: Although Mary, Queen of Scots continues to fascinate both historians and the general public alike, the story of her mother, Marie ...

Synopsis: A corpse that wakes up on the mortuary slab. A case of spontaneous human combustion. There is little by the way of violent cri...

From  The Guardian : As a six-year reissue project of the series reaches completion, Scottish author Graeme Macrae Burnet explains why Sime...

Synopsis: Everyone has secrets. Even the king. When a gruesomely mutilated body is found on the doorstep of the Versailles Palace in 17...

Synopsis: In the small town of Crozon in Brittany, a library houses manuscripts that were rejected for publication: the faded dreams of asp...

Synopsis: In this intimate portrait of one of the most consequential men of the Middle Ages, Brian Patrick McGuire delves into the life ...

Synopsis: King James II was the Catholic king of a Protestant nation, but he had inherited a secure crown and was able to put down the re...

This unorthodox biography explores the life of an extraordinary Enlightenment woman who, by sheer force of character, parlayed a skill in m...

Synopsis: Seeking a quiet spot to write his memoirs, Laurent de Rodergues secludes himself in Saint-Chartier, a village in the heart of...