The late medieval world was marked by a culture of refinement and sophistication. The period's media of choice – paintings, manuscripts, prints, tapestries, embroideries, ivory sculpture, metalwork, and enamels – speak volumes about the pleasures of...

Duke William of Normandy (1027-1087) is best known for his conquest of England but his eventful and chaotic youth is often forgotten. William inherited the Dukedom at the age of eight when his father, Robert the Magnificent, died in 1035 on his retur...

Frederick Barbarossa, born of two of Germany's most powerful families, swept to the imperial throne in a coup d'etat in 1152. A leading monarch of the Middle Ages, he legalized the dualism between the crown and the princes that endured until the end...

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are usually treated as autonomous religions, but in fact across the long course of their histories the three religions have developed in interaction with one another. In "Neighboring Faiths", David Nirenberg examines...