Allmand, Christopher. The Hundred Years War: England and France at War, ca. 1300–1450, rev. ed. 2005. Designed for students; examines the war from political, military, social, and economic perspectives, and compares the way England and France reacted to the conflict.
Cohn, Samuel K. Lust for Liberty: The Politics of Social Revolt in Medieval Europe. 2006. Analyzes a number of revolts from across Europe in terms of the aims of their leaders and participants.
Dunn, Alastair. The Peasants’ Revolt: England’s Failed Revolution of 1381. 2004. Offers new interpretations of the causes and consequences of the English Peasants’ Revolt.
Dyer, Christopher. Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages. 1989. Examines economic realities and social conditions more generally.
Herlihy, David. The Black Death and the Transformation of the West, 2d ed. 1997. A fine treatment of the causes and cultural consequences of the Black Death; the best starting point for study of the great epidemic.
Jordan, William Chester. The Great Famine: Northern Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century. 1996. Discusses catastrophic weather, soil exhaustion, and other factors that led to the Great Famine and the impact of the famine on community life.
Karras, Ruth M. Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing unto Others. 2005. A brief overview designed for undergraduates that incorporates the newest scholarship.
Keen, Maurice. Medieval Warfare: A History. 1999. Traces actual battles and the art of warfare from Charlemagne to 1500.
Kieckhefer, Richard. Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth-Century Saints and Their Religious Milieu. 1984. Sets the ideas of the mystics in their social and intellectual contexts.
Lehfeldt, Elizabeth, ed. The Black Death. 2005. Includes excerpts from scholarly articles about many aspects of the Black Death.
Swanson, R. N. Religion and Devotion in Europe, c. 1215–c. 1515. 2004. Explores many aspects of spirituality.
Tanner, Norman. The Church in the Later Middle Ages. 2008. A concise survey of institutional and intellectual issues and developments.
Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century. 1978. Written for a general audience, it remains a vivid description of this tumultuous time.
DOCUMENTARIES
The Hundred Years’ War (BBC, 2012). This three-part series examines the military, political, and cultural aspects of the Hundred Years’ War.
Michael Wood’s Story of England (BBC, 2010). This series focuses on the village of Kibworth in central England, for which extensive archives survive that give insight into daily life. Episode 3 examines the Great Famine and the Black Death, and episode 4 the Hundred Years’ War and economic change.
The Plague (History Channel, 2005). A documentary examining the path and impact of the plague in Europe, with firsthand accounts taken from diaries and journals.
FEATURE FILMS
Henry V (Kenneth Branagh, 1989). A widely acclaimed film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about the English king and the Battle of Agincourt, with nearly every well-known English actor.
The Name of the Rose (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1986). Based on the novel by Umberto Eco about a fourteenth-century monk (played by Sean Connery), this is both a murder mystery and a commentary on issues facing the church.
The Reckoning (Paul McGuigan, 2003). The story of a troupe of actors who perform a morality play for the villagers of a fourteenth-century English town, combined with a murder mystery about the death of a child.
The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957). A classic film about a knight who comes home from war to find plague and religious suspicion, and engages in a chess game with Death.
WEB SITES
Brought to Life. A fascinating Web site on the history of medicine sponsored by the Science Museum, London, featuring thousands of objects from their medical collections. Provides multimedia introductions to topics and themes in medical history, including one on the Black Death. www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/diseases/black_death.aspx