Judaism was exiled from Spain; Islam was getting more powerful in the east, Christianity in the west that, after a thousand years of darkness it was plunged in, began to seek its truth. And the Ark of the Covenant (for some mysterious reason) chose to reappear during these troubled times after being lost for centuries following the destruction of the Temple of Solomon. In her novel, Deniz Uzunoğlu builds around the turbulent times of the Renaissance. Deniz tells the stories of two childhood friends who had fallen in love with the same woman and eventually came sword-to-sword against each other during the 15th-16th century Mediterranean in a never-ending fight culminating at the Battle of Preveza. On the one side, there is Khidr Khaireddin Barbarossa, who started life trading with a small vessel, became the Lord of the Barbary Coast, founded Algiers, and eventually rose to the rank of the Ottoman Imperial Admiral. On the other side, Andrea Doria, the famous Admiral of the Holy League, the Crusaders. Wanting to learn more about the era after the Spanish Monarchs Isabel and Fernando completed Reconquista in an effort to unite all their subjects under the wings of Christianity, William Shakespeare came from Britain to Spain to visit Miguel Cervantes Saavedra, author of the legendary novel Don Quixote. Cervantes had fought against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto, was wounded on his left hand, and spent five years in captivity in the baths of Algiers before finally being ransomed from the Turks and returned to his homeland. The period Cervantes told Shakespeare about was when world-renowned historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, Piri Reis, Dragut Reis, and Niccolo Machiavelli lived. The sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Selim the Stern and Suleiman the Magnificent dominated the east, with their eyes set on Rome, and the Knights of Saint John, settled in the island of Rhodes, were striking fear into the hearts of people trading in the Mediterranean. BARBAROSSA: Renaissance Corsairs presents in a fluent style the struggles between the warriors of the time, notorious for their competence and valor, during a period when empires fought the bloodiest land and sea battles in history. Political maneuverings of the world's most extraordinary emperors were striving to expand the borders of their imperial territories, and an epic love that blossomed in the hearts of both of these men for the same woman in this fiery atmosphere, inviting the reader to embark on a breathtaking adventure.

Renaissance Drama, an annual and interdisciplinary publication, is devoted to drama and performance as a central feature of Renaissance culture. The essays in each volume explore traditional canons of drama, the significance of performance (broadly construed) to early modern culture, and the impact of new forms of interpretation on the study of Renaissance plays, theatre, and performance.

The Barbary corsairs first appeared to terrorize shipping at the end of the fifteenth century. These Muslim pirates sailed out of the ports of North Africa, primarily Sal?, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber inhabitants. Acting as officers of the sprawling Ottoman Empire, these pirates plundered the trading routes of the Mediterranean and sowed horror in the hearts of Christians everywhere. The most famous and powerful were the Barbarossa brothers, sons of a renegade Christian. The true founders of the Algiers Regency, they initially preyed on fishing vessels or defenseless merchantmen before growing bolder and embarking upon more brazen expeditions?attacking fortified ports and cities; raiding and kidnapping inhabitants of the African coast; and hunting ships from the Christian nations. This translation of Jacques Heers?s work follows the extraordinary exploits of the brothers, and those of other corsairs and profiteers, set against the turbulent backdrop of trade, commerce, and conflict throughout the Mediterranean as the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance. It is an enthralling adventure, robustly written, and it brings to life an age when travel and trade were perilous enterprises.

Stanley Lane-Poole, historian and Egyptologist, writes an account of how the expatriation of the Spanish Moors at the end of the 15th Century led to their making new settlements in North Africa and elevating their skills of piracy to a fine art.

Captives and Corsairs uncovers a forgotten story in the history of relations between the West and Islam: three centuries of Muslim corsair raids on French ships and shores and the resulting captivity of tens of thousands of French subjects and citizens in North Africa. Through an analysis of archival materials, writings, and images produced by contemporaries, the book fundamentally revises our picture of France's emergence as a nation and a colonial power, presenting the Mediterranean as an essential vantage point for studying the rise of France. It reveals how efforts to liberate slaves from North Africa shaped France's perceptions of the Muslim world and of their own "Frenchness". From around 1550 to 1830, freeing these captives evolved from an expression of Christian charity to a method of state building and, eventually, to a rationale for imperial expansion. Captives and Corsairs thus advances new arguments about the fluid nature of slavery and firmly links captive redemption to state formation—and in turn to the still vital ideology of liberatory conquest.

A history of the evolution of military technology among knights in Renaissance Europe from the fifteenth century to the seventeenth century. The Art of Renaissance Warfare tells the story of the knight during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries—from the great victories of Edward III and the Black Prince to the fall of Richard III on Bosworth Field. During this period, new technology on the battlefield posed deadly challenges for the mounted warrior; but they also stimulated change, and the knight moved with the times. Having survived the longbow devastation at Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt, he emerged triumphant, his armor lighter and more effective, and his military skills indispensable. This was the great age of the orders of chivalry and the freemasonry of arms that bound together comrades and adversaries in a tight international military caste. Men such as Bertrand du Guesclin and Sir John Chandos loom large in the pages of this book—bold leaders and brave warriors, imbued with these traditions of chivalry and knighthood. How their heroic endeavors and the knightly code of conduct could be reconciled with the indiscriminate carnage of the “chevauchee” and the depredations of the “free companies” is one of the principal themes of this informative and entertaining book.

A paperback of Knecht's comprehensive account of one of France's most important monarchs.