Debra Birch's lively account of pilgrimage to Rome throughout the medieval period is well-documented and clearly presented. HISTORY TODAY [Emma Mason]
Well researched, clearly written, and, quite apart from the eternal city, provides an excellent introduction to pilgrimage as a whole. CHURCH TIMES [Nicholas Orme]

Rome was one of the major pilgrim destinations in the middle ages. The belief that certain objects and places were a focus of holiness where pilgrims could come closer to God had a long history in Christian tradition; in the case of Rome, the tradition developed around two of the city's most important martyrs, Christ's apostles Peter and Paul. So strong were the city's associations with these apostles that pilgrimage to Rome was often referred to as pilgrimage `to the threshold of the apostles'. Debra Birch conveys a vivid picture of the world of the medieval pilgrim to Rome - the Romipetae/, or `Rome-seekers' - covering all aspects of their journey, and their life in the city itself.
DEBRA BIRCH is assistant secretary at the Institute of Historical Research.
CONTENTS The Cult of Saints and Pilgrimage to Rome; The Journey to Rome; Obligations and Privileges; Rome of the Pilgrim I; Rome of the Pilgrim II; Welfare Provisions for Pilgrims in Rome; The Popularity of Pilgrimage to Rome in the 12th Century; The 13th-Century Revival.   paperback   ISBN 978-0-851-15771-9

Price:  £16.99

The two Middle English chronicles presented here record the lives of the popes and emperors of Rome; they are the only surviving Middle English texts devoted principally to such material. The first is the fourteenth-century Chronicle of Popes and Emperors, a translation and abbreviation of Martinus Polonus's thirteenth-century Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum; it served as a reference book for clerics and religious institutions, providingsome 300 biographies. The second is theLollard Chronicle, a selection of popes' and emperors' biographies aiming to discredit the papacy and justify the sovereignty of secular authorities in accordance with Wycliffite doctrines; it provides vital evidence for a Lollard reading of history. This volume is the first in a new series, aiming to publish previously unedited Middle English chronicles of historical or literary importance.
Professor DAN EMBREE teaches at Mississippi State University.   hardback   ISBN 978-0-851-15597-5

Price:  £50.00

Amatus of Montecassino was the earliest historian of the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. His History of the Normans, written c.1080, includes the sieges of Bari and Salerno, the conquest of Sicily, Robert Guiscard'sbrigand's life, as well as tales of miracles and prophecies. It is also a text of great value for study of the Gregorian Reform and of the abbey of Montecassino, one of the most important cultural and religious centres of eleventh-century Christendom. This book provides a vivid translation of this intriguing contemporary history; while the introduction and extensive annotation locate the 'History' securely in its contemporary context and provide a full discussion of its purpose and themes, and of the various problems of authorship and transmission associated with it.   hardback   ISBN 978-1-843-83078-8

Price:  £45.00