In recent years the study of medieval courts has become a flourishing field. The courts of kings and popes, or of the Burgundian dukes, have usually attracted most attention. This book offers by contrast a wide-ranging study of a little-known, medium-sized court - that of Guelders in the Low Countries. Guelders offers an excellent vantage point for the study of European late medieval court culture. It was surrounded by the vast territories of the dukes of Burgundy, and it felt the growing power of the Valois dukes, yet the duchy managed to remain independent until 1473. Rich archival sources - including a long and virtually unbroken series of ducal accounts - reveal much about the rise of territorial or 'proto-national' awareness and about the role of the court in this process. The book also conveys the striking cultural and political richness of the court, poised between French and German spheres of influence.

Journalist Maximillian Potter uncovers a fascinating plot to destroy the vines of La Romance-Conti, Burgundy's finest and most expensive wine. In January 2010, Aubert de Villaine, the famed proprietor of the Domaine de la Romance-Conti, the tiny, storied vineyard that produces the most expensive, exquisite wines in the world, received an anonymous note threatening the destruction of his priceless vines by poison—a crime that in the world of high-end wine is akin to murder—unless he paid a one million euro ransom. Villaine believed it to be a sick joke, but that proved a fatal miscalculation and the crime shocked this fabled region of France. The sinister story that Vanity Fair journalist Maximillian Potter uncovered would lead to a sting operation by some of France's top detectives, the primary suspect's suicide, and a dramatic investigation. This botanical crime threatened to destroy the fiercely traditional culture surrounding the world's greatest wine. Shadows in the Vineyard takes us deep into a captivating world full of fascinating characters, small-town French politics, an unforgettable narrative, and a local culture defined by the twinned veins of excess and vitality and the deep reverent attention to the land that runs through it.

This wide-ranging study of the court of Guelders in the Low Countries provides an excellent vantage point for the study of late medieval court culture. Despite being surrounded by the vast territories of the dukes of Burgundy, and the growing power of the Valois dukes, the court managed to remain independent until 1473. Archival sources convey the striking cultural and political richness of the court, poised between French and German spheres of influence, and demonstrate how Guelders can be considered as representative of Europe's many medium-sized courts.

C�te d'Ormay be small in size but its influence is huge and its reputation alone canstrike terror into the heart of even the most seasoned wine professionals.C�te d'Or is located in the very heart of Burgundy and stretches for a narrow35-mile band. It's on this terroir that some of the world's best known winesare produced. There aretwo main sections. C�te de Nuits, named after the village ofNuits-Saint-Georges, is a mere one mile by 12 miles but it's home to 24 GrandCru vineyards and some of the world's most expensive vineyard real estate. Thisis the northernmost region, starting just south of Dijon and running toCourgoloin, a few kilometres south of Nuits-Saint-Georges and it grows mainlyPinot Noir and other red grapes. It is responsible for some of the great namesof French wine, Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune itself. Thesecond part, the southerly C�te de Beaune, is well-known for its whites butactually grows both Chardonnay and red grapes. One of the most famous villagesin the C�te de Beaune is Pommard, known for its heavy, full-bodied reds. It's anintimidating terroir but Raymond Blake's companionable C�te d'Ordemystifiesit. There is hardly another wine region where knowledge of the back-story is socritical to understanding the wine, for it is impossible to understand burgundywithout reference to the place it comes from and the people who make it. In C�te d'OrBlake transports the reader to the heart of Burgundy, telling the whole storyand painting a complete picture of life there: the history, the culture, thepeople, the place, the geography and the climate.

This volume offers a fascinating insight into the continuities and discontinuities in the formation of identities in the Low Countries and its neighbouring countries. It is an important contribution to the ongoing debates about national and other identities.

“Demossier’s engrossing analysis of Burgundy—the wine, the place, the brand—should be imbibed (pun intended!) on many levels—and slowly, for best appreciation.”—foodanthro.com Drawing on more than twenty years of fieldwork, this book explores the professional, social, and cultural world of Burgundy wines, the role of terroir (the environmental factors that affect a crop's character), and its transnational deployment in China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. It demystifies the terroir ideology by providing a unique long-term ethnographic analysis of what lies behind the concept. While the Burgundian model of terroir has gone global by acquiring UNESCO world heritage status, its very legitimacy is now being challenged amongst the vineyards where it first took root. From the introduction: Superficially then, Burgundy might appear to be simply acquiring recognition for its unchanging landscape, tradition and culture. Yet, for all the power of its rich local identity, folklore and culture which is broadcast to the world, there hides underneath the comforting blanket of this seamless place, untouched by change or conflict, a far more complex reality. Burgundy’s listing as a World Heritage landscape emphasises its international reputation as a traditional and historical site of wine production and opens a new chapter in the production and marketing of its quality, differentiation and authenticity. It is also about readjusting Burgundy and the grands crus in response to a changing global market and the shifting kaleidoscope of world wine values.

In the heart-stopping finale to the Crown of Feathers trilogy, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake calls “absolutely unforgettable,” Veronyka must face her most devastating enemy yet: her own sister. I had a sister, once… ​Veronyka is no longer an orphaned stable boy or a nameless Phoenix Rider apprentice: she is the daughter of Pheronia Ashfire, the last queen of the Golden Empire…and the niece of Avalkyra Ashfire, the resurrected rebel queen who tore the empire apart. We shone brightly, burned fiercely. Now that the secret is out, everyone at the Eyrie treats Veronyka differently, and with Tristan still a hostage of the scheming Lord Rolan—and Sev with him as a spy—Veronyka feels very much alone. Except for her beloved phoenix, Xephyra, of course, and her new friend, Kade, who has his own reasons for wanting to save Tristan. Was it always going to come down to this? Sister against sister? Darkness against light? Veronyka is determined to do whatever it takes to get Tristan back, even if that means revealing her identity to the world and inheriting a throne she’s not sure she wants. But when she discovers that Avalkyra has bonded with a strix—a legendary creature of darkness that feeds off the life force of others—Veronyka realizes she has more to deal with than an encroaching war with the empire. Val is willing to destroy everything to get her revenge on a world that rejected her, and if Veronyka wants to bring peace to the empire and Pyra alike, she must face down her sister once and for all. The world began with Ashfire queens…perhaps they will also be its destruction.