An Army of Angels
by Pamela Marcantel
Thirteen years old in 1425, Jehanne the Maid begins hearing saints' voices that tell her she must leave her village to follow her destiny as France's military leader and savior.

Circle of Stones
by Anna Lee Waldo
Brenda, the mistress of Prince Owain of Wales, flees to her native Ireland when a prophecy insists that Owain put their son Madoc to death. Brought back to Owain's court, Brenda sees her political power grow as she uses her diplomatic skills and her druidic healing abilities to good effect. In the meantime, druids train young Madoc to lead them from Wales to the New World.

Confessions of a Pagan Nun
by Kate Horsley
The story is written as the memoir of a nun, Gwynneve, living in fifth-century Ireland during its transition from paganism to Christianity. Gwynneve is brought up to follow Druid ways, but when monks come to convert her people, she retreats into St. Brigid's Convent in Kildare. Here she passes the time copying manuscripts, but her unorthodox opinions attract unwated attention.

Kristin Lavransdatter series
by Sigrid Undset
Kristin Lavransdatter defies her family to marry Erlend Nikulausson, the man she loves beyond reason. She gives him seven sons and manages their estate of Husaby while he is off on political business, but their marriage is not always happy.

Lords of the White Castle
by Elizabeth Chadwick
In the late twlefth century, from the time he was accused of cheating at a game of chess, courtier Fulke FitzWarin has had a rivalry with Prince John. This impedes Fulke's family's quest to regain their estate. When John becomes king, his vindictiveness is far-reaching, and Fulke is forced to turn outlaw to regain his family's lands. This doesn't help the romance he aspires to, for Maude le Vavasour, his true love, is promised by her father to another man. Based on the true story of a man who may be the original Robin Hood.

Mother of Kings
by Poul Anderson
In the tenth century, Gunnhild, the witch daughter of a Norse chieftain, marries Eirik Blood-Axe, the favored son of Norway's king, and bears him nine children. The pair briefly become King and Queen of England, but in this cruel and dangerous era, no one who seizes power can ever hope to hold it for long.

Pope Joan
by Donna Woolfolk Cross
In the ninth century, as legend has it, a young woman disguised as a man claimed St. Peter's throne and served as Pope for two years. Cross's well-researched interpretation of the life of Pope Joan features a young woman, Joan of Inelheim, who is taught Latin by her brother and takes his place after he is killed in a Viking raid. Disguised as the Christian scholar Brother John Anglicus, Joan heads to Rome, where she becomes a part of teh papal inner circle. Her secret is revealed at a most inopportune moment.

The Book of Eleanor
by Pamela Kaufman
Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of both England and France, tells her story in the first person from prison, where she has been sent by her tyrannical husband, Henry II, for inciting her sons to rebel against him. She speaks of her unhappy marriage to Louis VII of France, its eventual annulment, her romance with her childhood sweetheart Baron Rancon, and her fury at being forced to marry Henry II for political reasons. Eleanor's relationship with Rancon, as portrayed here, is completely fictional.

The Changeling of Finnistuath
by Kate Horsley
In fourteenth-century Ireland, a peasant girl named Grey (short for Gregory) is raised as a boy, for her father had vowed to kill any more daughters he had. When she discovers that she's really a woman, Grey travels far and wide, taking on new roles during her life -- monk's helper, mother, whore, warrior -- to pin down her true identity. The repression of the Church overshadows her life, as does the Black Death.

The Kings in Winter
by Cecelia Holland
Early eleventh-century Ireland, supposedly united under the reign of High King Brian Boru, is a land rife with blood-feuds, rebellions, and continual raids by Danish Vikings. Muirtagh, the fictional chief of the Clan ó Cullinane, decides against his better judgment to side with Maelmordha, the King of Leinster, against Brian Boru. Brian had destroyed Maelmordha's army years earlier in his attempt to claim the crown. In their bid to rid Ireland of its High King, the rebels enlist the help of the Danes. Their actions culminate in the Battle of Clontarf.

The Last English King
by Julian Rathbone
Rathbone's depiction of events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 is irreverent and unabashedly anachronistic, but also entertaining and -- despite this seeming contradiction -- well researched. Three years after the battle, Harold's last surviving bodyguard expiates his survivor's guilt by recounting his story of King Edward, Harold, and the tyrant King William to a monk who is wandering with him toward the Holy Land.

The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
While the Empress Maud and King Stephen fight a civil war for England's throne, Philip, a monk who becomes prior of the fictional town of Kingsbridge, and Tom, a master builder, join forces to achieve their dream. Divisions in the community mimic the intrigues dividing all of England.

The Treasure of Montségur
by Sophy Burnham
Jeanne Béziers, on the run from the Inquisition after her people were exterminated in the siege of Montségur, relates her story. In the early thirteenth century in southern France, a baby girl is found in a meadow. Adopted by a Cathar noblewoman, Jeanne is taught the peaceful ways of her people. She finds love and acceptance with the Cathars, but when danger approaches, Jeanne is forced to sacrifice her beliefs for a chance to escape with the secret of the Cathar treasure.