Bøger af Benjamin James Baillie

Owain Glyndwr was the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales. After the Anglo-Norman conquest by the nation breaking King Edward I "Longshanks" in the late 13th century Wales was carved up between the English crown and the hated Marcher Lords. Its people were oppressed and treated like second class citizens within their own country. In 1400 A.D a little known Welsh nobleman by the name of Owain Glyndwr rose up in rebellion and led the Welsh people into a brutal war for independence. For over a decade Wales' "Braveheart" stuck fear into the hearts of his enemies before disappearing like King Arthur into the mists and mountains of his beloved homeland never to be seen again.

During the 9th and 10th centuries Viking raiders from Scandinavia terrorised most of Europe. North Western France suffered increased invasions when by 911 A.D King Charles III "the simple" of France ceded the land from the river Epte to the sea to Rollo's Viking war band. Normandy "land of the North-men", was created. For the next 150 years the iron Dukes of Normandy created one of the most feared and organised Principalities in Medieval Europe.

In 1095 Pope Urban II called upon all of Christendom to take up arms and liberate the Holy land from the Saracens. The First Crusade "The Norman Crusade" was led by Bohemond, son of Robert Guiscard the Norman Conqueror of Southern Italy and Sicily and Robert Duke of Normandy, son of King William the Conqueror of England. In an epic 3000 mile journey the Norman Crusaders would suffer the most intolerable conditions, destroy countless enemies and capture Jerusalem creating the Kingdom of Heaven.

Follow in the footsteps of Richard the Lionheart. One of the most renowned warrior heroes of all time. In the age of Robin Hood this book will bring to life Richard's "Last War" to recover and hold together the Angevin Empire in France. Betrayed by Philip King of France after his return from the Crusades, Richard's last campaign evokes all the emotion and courageous chivalry which earned him the nickname Coeur de Lion / Lionheart

King Harald III "Hardrada" (the Ruthless/hard council) of Norway was one of the last great warriors of the Viking age. In a career that lasted over 30 years he fought in nearly every corner of the known world, from the cold lands of the Viking "Rus" (Russia) to the sun drenched shores of Sicily in the service of the Byzantine Emperors personal bodyguard (the Varangian guard). In 1066 A.D the hero of a thousand battles embarked on his final campaign to conquer the Kingdom of England, which would decide the fate of the Island of Britannia.

The Viking age exploded like a thunderbolt out of the blue onto the international stage during the latter part of the 8th century. By the middle of the next century, the piratical raids for booty and plunder gave way to outright conquest and colonisation. In the West, the British Isles bore the brunt of this aggression in the form of the campaigns of the "Great Heathen Army" which not only dismantled the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England, but also the Pictish and Briton dominions of modern day Scotland and the Celtic Principalities of Ireland. On the continent of mainland Europe Viking armies challenged the great Empire of Charlemagne. Ragnar Lodbrok's sack of Paris in 845 AD showed that no city or Kingdom was safe from the fury of the North-men. His sons and other Viking warlords embarked on a reign of terror that would bring Western civilisation to its very knees, eventually resulting in the creation of the Duchy of Normandy at the Treaty of St Clair Sur Epte in 911 AD. However Viking campaigns to create a second Normandy in Brittany, Aquitaine and Spain have been shrouded in mystery until now.

"In 865 AD a huge Viking army appeared out of the mists of the North Sea from Scandinavia and landed on the East Anglian coast. Their objective was nothing less than the total conquest of Anglo-Saxon England and the whole of the British Isles. Numbering some 10,000 to 15,000 men the 'great heathen army' was the largest invasion force since Roman Legions had landed on the shores of Britannia back in 43 AD. During a 14 year reign of terror they left a brutal trail of destruction in their wake"--Page 4 of cover.

The Normans, Normanni (Latin) Les Normands (French) came from an area in North-Western France named after them. Normandy "land of the North-men" was created by Viking raiders in the early 10th century. Within 150 years of establishing themselves, The Dukes of Normandy had created one to the most feared and organised Principalities in Medieval Europe. As the 12th century approached, the Viking age was coming to an end. The hour of the Normans had arrived; their first expansion took them to the foot of Southern Italy and Sicily. The exploits of the sons of Tancred de Hauteville would become engrained in Norman myth and legend. The penniless Mafia like mercenaries defied the odds and created the Norman Kingdom in the sun. For over two centuries the Norman conquests created a piecemeal Empire that stretched from the wild windswept landscapes of Celtic Ireland and Scotland in the north to the sun drenched shores of Sicily in the Mediterranean and to the very frontiers of Christendom itself in the Outremer (Holy land). Their last conquest, almost forgotten by history would take them to the very edge of the known world. In 1402 A.D Norman adventurer's set sail on an epic journey to conquer the mystical volcanic islands of the Canaries in the Atlantic Ocean.