There are some images that are fixed in our minds when we are very young and remain there all our lives. Jesus’ Crown of Thorns is a good example: the spikey branches sinuously entwined which were brutally forced down onto his head, to be left there as he died on the cross. This book shows how the Gospels describe something rather different and that the familiar image in fact developed much later.
Jesus' Crown of Thorns has become one of the most ubiquitous features of Christian religious art, but was the crown of history anything like the crown of popular medieval art and piety? The image that springs to mind is that of a bloodied, beaten Jesus, wearing a cruelly fashioned, woven crown made of sharp thorns. But this image is deeply misleading, based on a fundamental misunderstanding (and mistranslation) of the Gospels.
Faith C. Tibble rectifies this misunderstanding, showing how The Crown of Thorns underwent a yet unrecognized artistic evolution. Tibble tracks the artistic progression of the Crown of Thorns from…
This is a clever book. The author takes two completely unconnected episodes from the work of the 12th-century chronicler Orderic Vitalis and deftly makes one the result of the other. It is all engagingly described from the viewpoint of a cheery chancer who ends up unwittingly playing a leading role in the sinking of the White Ship in November 1120.
'The most calamitous event ever to afflict the royal family of England.'
'Riveting' THE TIMES
The White Ship sank in the English Channel on 25 November 1120, with other one survivor. On the 900th anniversary of the tragedy, this tale of anarchy, passion and revenge brings the past vividly to life.
For fans of Ken Follett, Robert Harris and Antonia Fraser.
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REVENGE CAN CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY.
Normandy, 1119. A hotbed of malcontent barons is kept in fragile order by their duke - Henry I, King of England.
Fresh from early years in a monastery, Bertold, the bastard…
I like novels that deal with unusual periods (i.e. not more Tudors!). This one is set in the fifth century CE and follows the journey of a Coptic monk through Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Along the way he tries to understand the heated debates about the divinity of Christ that are tearing the church apart, and the violence and brutality that confront him at every turn.
Set in the 5th century AD, Azazeel is the exquisitely crafted tale of a Coptic monk's journey from Upper Egypt to Alexandria and then Syria during a time of massive upheaval in the early Church. The monk, Hypa, embarks on a journey both physical and spiritual, encountering, the devil, Azazeel, and the hardship of severe temptation. At times able to resist, while at others bending to the strengths of his desire, Hypa learns that physical pleasure and spiritual enlightenment can be two sides of the same coin.
Winner of the Arab Booker Prize, Azazeel highlights how the history of our…
Constantinople 1024: few people can remember a time before Basil II. The emperor has ruled for nearly fifty years, has never married, and has no children. He scorns the opulent vestments that go with his rank and delegates his ceremonial duties to his indolent brother. He is more feared than loved and is merciless and vindictive to his enemies. No one dares to challenge his power, for he leads his armies to war in person rather than leaving it to his generals. He has no counsellors, takes no advice, and knows everything that goes on in his empire. That, at least, is what they say in the streets. But this is a world where nothing is ever quite as it seems.
