This book is the history of a very remarkable family, that of Count Thomas of Savoy, whose seven sons and two daughters rose from relative obscurity to fame, fortune, and involvement in almost every major international conflict in western Europe during the fifty years following their father's death in 1233. By tracing the careers of the Savoyards, Eugene L. Cox emerges with a pan-European view of the thirteenth century. Professor Cox describes the ways in which the members of the Savoyard family gained access to the most powerful courts in Europe, an advantage that they skillfully employed in turning their scattered Alpine dominions into a territorial state, and in making their family a powerful force in the world of high diplomacy. From Scotland and Flanders to Sicily and Rome, the author traces the influence of the Savoyard family in dealings between states, in conflicts with the papacy, and in the struggles for power within the emerging national states. Based on extensive research in both published and unpublished sources, the book pieces together widely scattered data in order to reconstruct a picture of a real-life medieval family saga. Set as it is in the era of the formation of national states and the breakdown of the Holy Roman Empire, the story is a fascinating background account of this tumultuous period in history. Originally published in 1974. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Where did the story that ended with the great Edwardian castles of north Wales begin? How was it that hundreds of men from Savoy built castles in north Wales? Whose stylised statue sits outside the Savoy Hotel in London on the site of his former palace? Whose castle of Pevensey endured successfully the longest English siege? Why does much of Switzerland speak French to this day? Why do we find elements of the Magna Carta in the Statutes of Savoy? Who was one of the greatest figures of the thirteenth century? Peter of Savoy, known to chroniclers of his homeland as The Little Charlemagne. Peter of Savoy came to England as the uncle of Queen Alianor de Provence, the consort of King Henry III. He quickly found favour as one of Henry’s closest advisers and noblemen. Peter was in effect Queen Alianor’s right-hand man in England, her protector, and subsequently the protector of Lord Edward, the future King Edward I. He played a key role in Henry’s military and diplomatic efforts to recover his ancestral lands in France which culminated in the 1259 Treaty of Paris. This rapprochement between the Capetians and Plantagenets might have warded off the Hundred Years War, but it was not to be. Nonetheless, the nineteenth-century monks of Savoy thought it his greatest accomplishment. Peter played a key role in the Second Baronial War which engulfed Henry’s reign, at first siding with Simon de Montfort but then changing sides as the reform movement veered toward xenophobia. Returning to Savoy he laid the foundations for the County of Savoy to become a powerful Duchy which in turn almost became a country before it was dismembered by Switzerland, Italy and France. His historical reputation suffered at the hands of English chroniclers keen to eulogise the Montfortian regime. This work is an attempt to discover the real Peter of Savoy.

Edward I—one of the outstanding monarchs of the English Middle Ages—pioneered legal and parliamentary change in England, conquered Wales, and came close to conquering Scotland. A major player in European diplomacy and war, he acted as peacemaker during the 1280s but became involved in a bitter war with Philip IV a decade later. This book is the definitive account of a remarkable king and his long and significant reign. Widely praised when it was first published in 1988, it is now reissued with a new introduction and updated bibliographic guide. Praise for the earlier edition:"A masterly achievement. . . . A work of enduring value and one certain to remain the standard life for many years."—Times Literary Supplement "A fine book: learned, judicious, carefully thought out and skillfully presented. It is as near comprehensive as any single volume could be."—History Today "To have died more revered than any other English monarch was an outstanding achievement; and it is worthily commemorated by this outstanding addition to the . . . corpus of royal biographies."—Times Education Supplement

Packed with incredible true stories and legendary medieval intrigue, this epic narrative history chronicles the first five queens from the powerful royal family that ruled England and France for over three hundred years. The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, seductive queens, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of southern Europe—these determined women often broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill. This second volume of Alison Weir’s critically acclaimed history of the queens of medieval England now moves into a period of even higher drama, from 1154 to 1291: years of chivalry and courtly love, dynastic ambition, conflict between church and throne, baronial wars, and the ruthless interplay between the rival monarchs of Britain and France. We see events such as the murder of Becket, the Magna Carta, and the birth of parliaments from a new perspective. Weir’s narrative begins with the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Henry II established a dynasty that ruled for over three hundred years and created the most powerful empire in western Christendom—but also sowed the seeds for some of the most destructive family conflicts in history and for the collapse, under her son King John, of England’s power in Europe. The lives of Eleanor’s four successors were just as remarkable: Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard the Lionheart; Isabella of Angoulême, queen of John; Alienor of Provence, queen of Henry III; and finally Eleanor of Castile, the grasping but beloved wife of Edward I. Through the story of these first five Plantagenet queens, Alison Weir provides a fresh, enthralling narrative focusing on these fascinating female monarchs during this dramatic period of high romance and sometimes low politics, with determined women at its heart.

Russians are suppressing the Chechen; Ibo nationalism may yet tear Nigeria apart. With the end of the Cold War, any of the world's stateless peoples could be in tomorrow's headlines. This book provides an essential guide to the stateless nations suppressed or ignored during the Cold War. In more than 200 national surveys, the volume highlights the historical, political, social, economic, and diplomatic evolution of many of the currently emerging nations without states. Including nations from all continents—from the Chechen in Eastern Europe, to the Ibo in Africa, and the Quebeckers in North America—the book addresses the current nationalist resurgence by focusing on the most basic element of any nationalism, the nation itself. The book provides the only source of concise information on stateless nations. Each entry includes the nation's name and alternative names, population statistics, information on major languages and religions, geographical information, independence declarations, information on the national flag, a brief sketch of the primary national group or groups, and a profile of the nation's history and national development to the present. A chronological appendix of declarations of independence helps to set the waves of nationalism in an historical context. A second appendix provides a geographic listing, by region and nation, of national organizations.

The Edwardian castles of north Wales were built by a Savoyard master mason, but also by many other artisans from Savoy. What is more extraordinary, is that the constables of Flint, Rhuddlan, Conwy and Harlech were also Savoyards, the Justiciar and Deputy Justiciar at Caernarfon were Savoyards and the head of the English army leading the relief of the sieges of Flint and Rhuddlan was a future Count of Savoy. The explanatory story is fundamentally of two men, the builder of castles, Master James of St George and Justiciar Sir Othon de Grandson, and the relationship of these two men with King Edward I. But it is also the story of many others, a story that begins with the marriage of Alianor de Provence to Edward’s father, Henry III, and the influx of her kinsmen to England, such as Pierre de Savoie. It is impossible to understand the development of the castles in north Wales without an understanding of the Savoyards, where they came from and their impact on English and Welsh history. The defining work of Arnold Taylor in exploring the Savoyard history of Welsh castles is now many years past, and mostly out of print, it is time for the story to be revisited and expanded upon, in the light of new evidence.

Essays looking at the links between England and Europe in the long thirteenth century.