The work presented in this book opens a new window on the history and archaeology of medieval Sicily, by focusing on the development of human-animal relationships from Byzantine times to the later Middle Ages. This large-scale study of animal bones and teeth relies on the analysis of material from old and recent excavations, as well as on a comprehensive review of data available from the literature. The results shed light on two major lines of investigation on Arab and Norman-Aragonese Sicily: the influence of different dominations on dietary practices, most notably the extent to which the taboo on pork consumption spread in the island under the Arab administration, and the longer-term changes in animal husbandry as a consequence of the technological developments and novel approaches to landscape exploitation introduced by the Arabs.

Betrifft die Handschrift Cod. 120.II der Burgerbibliothek Bern. - Abb. auf Umschlag: f. 101r.

Spine title: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Includes bibliographies. Propaedia: outline of knowledge and guide to the Britannica. 1 v.--Micropaedia: ready reference and index. 10 v.--Macropaedia: knowledge in depth. 19 v. Accompanied by supplement (2 v.) issued in 1994 uder the title: The Encyclopaedia Britannica supplement.

An innovative study which explores how the presence of Muslim communities transformed Europe and stimulated Christian society to define itself.

Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.

A Source Book for Mediæval History is a scholarly piece by Oliver J. Thatcher. It covers all major historical events and leaders from the Germania of Tacitus in the 1st century to the decrees of the Hanseatic League in the 13th century.