<div>Why were virtuous Byzantine women described as manly? Why were boys' bodies thought to be closer in constitution to those of women than adult men? Did Byzantines think eunuchs were men? </div><div>This lively and personal book explains some key aspects of how people of the Medieval Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) conceived of men and women, masculinity and femininity, and proper behaviour for men and women. By laying bare fundamental ideas about how gender was defined and performed, <i>Byzantine Gender</i> enables readers to understand Byzantine society more fully. And by providing background information about Byzantine gender, it makes it easier to approach and appreciate the fascinating otherness of Byzantine culture.</div>

Over seven hundred years after the pope dissolved their Order, the Templars remain as controversial as ever. How could warriors also be monks? What did they really believe in? Why did they fail to protect the Holy Land? What impact did they have on society? Why were they dissolved–-were they really heretics? Based on the medieval evidence and the latest research by modern scholars, this book surveys some key areas of the Templars' history. It argues that despite their wide landholdings and apparent power the Templars‘ influence depended on the patronage of popes and kings, and that they were destroyed when their most powerful patron had more to gain than lose from their dissolution.

<div>The prevailing image of a Viking is frequently that of a fierce male, associated with military expansion and a distinctive material culture, and the Vikings have maintained a resonance in the popular imagination to the present day. This book presents a fresh overview of the Vikings from both conceptual and material perspectives. In an engaging survey, Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide and Kevin J. Edwards analyse Viking religion, economic life, and material culture in and beyond the Scandic homelands.</div>

Volcanoes in Old Norse Mythology details how Viking Age Icelanders, migrating from Scandinavia to a new and volcanically active environment, used Old Norse mythology to understand and negotiate the hazards of the island. These pre-Christian myths recorded in medieval Iceland expound an indigenous Icelandic theory on volcanism that revolves around the activities of supernatural beings, such as the fire-demon Surtr and the gods Odin and Thor. Before the Icelanders were introduced to Christianity and its teachings, they formulated an indigenous theory of volcanism on basis of their traditional mythology much like other indigenous peoples across the world.

The growth in debates concerning the concept of 'the global' in medieval art history, and the more complex picture of Eurasian and African societies and material culture that has emerged in the past two decades has highlighted challenges to traditional art historical narratives, specializations, and scholarly training. And while these problems affect Byzantine, Islamic, Western medieval, and East Asian art history, there has been little conversation among scholars in these fields. A cutting-edge work on global medieval art, this volume offers a starting point for conversations among scholars working on multiple cultural regions.

Throughout her reign, Elizabeth I and her supporters used biblical analogies to perpetuate the Queen’s claim to be England’s providential Protestant monarch. While Elizabeth’s parallels with various biblical figures—including Deborah, Esther, Judith, David, Solomon, and Daniel—have all received varying levels of attention in the scholarship, this is the first analysis of how biblical analogy functioned as a religio-political tool for Elizabeth across her reign. Taking both a chronological and thematic approach, this book addresses this gap by analyzing Elizabeth and her supporters’ use of the Old Testament to provide justification for decisions (or the lack thereof), to offer counsel to the Queen, and to vindicate both female kingship and the royal supremacy. It argues that biblical analogies were a vital component of Elizabethan royal iconography, and that their widespread use demonstrates their potency as a tool for legitimizing and sustaining her power.