A collection of stories from the works of the romancers & tale tellers of the Middle Ages. Mr. Reinhard has re-translated many of them, adapted them, & set them in a framework similar to the Canterbury Tales of the Decameron, this time a group of congenial spirits gathered in an Irish monastery. "Mr. Reinhard places the serious student in his debt, & provides the general reader with some entertaining hours."--MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.

Gives insight into the colorful and sumptuous way of life of medieval royalty and nobility, as seen in the pageantry of illuminated manuscripts and paintings of the 13th to 16th centuries

Discussion of display through a range of artefacts and in a variety of contexts: family and lineage, social distinction and aspiration, ceremony and social bonding, and the expression of power and authority. Medieval culture was intensely visual. Although this has long been recognised by art historians and by enthusiasts for particular media, there has been little attempt to study social display as a subject in its own right. And yet, display takes us directly into the values, aspirations and, indeed, anxieties of past societies. In this illustrated volume a group of experts address a series of interrelated themes around the issue of display and do so in a waywhich avoids jargon and overly technical language. Among the themes are family and lineage, social distinction and aspiration, ceremony and social bonding, and the expression of power and authority. The media include monumental effigies, brasses, stained glass, rolls of arms, manuscripts, jewels, plate, seals and coins. Contributors: MAURICE KEEN, DAVID CROUCH, PETER COSS, CAROLINE SHENTON, ADRIAN AILES, FRÉDÉRIQUE LACHAUD, MARIAN CAMPBELL, BRIAN and MOIRA GITTOS, NIGEL SAUL, FIONN PILBROW, CAROLINE BARRON and JOHN WATTS.