Most read Medieval books

In a Europe gripped by plague and monsters, the church turns to its worst criminals for a desperate mission. Brother Diaz must gather a band of convicted killers to crown a thief and unite the faithful against the apocalypse. When the world is falling apart, you need a few devils to save it.

• quest
• reluctant hero
• morally grey
• found family

In plague-ravaged 1348 France, a disgraced knight named Thomas takes up with Delphine, a fearless girl who claims to see angels and warns that the Black Death is the opening of a second war between Heaven and Hell. Their journey to Avignon crosses a land of demons and miracles. A harrowing work of medieval horror by Christopher Buehlman.

• quest
• redemption arc
• chosen one
• found family

In twelfth-century England, the dream of building a great cathedral in the town of Kingsbridge binds together a mason, an idealistic monk, a dispossessed noblewoman, and a gifted young builder. Across decades of famine, civil war, and the brutal rivalries of church and crown, Ken Follett's epic follows the men and women who raise a monument in stone. The sweeping first novel of the Kingsbridge series.

• family saga
• revenge
• court intrigue
• betrayal

In the year 1327, a remote Italian abbey becomes the scene of a series of baffling deaths. A learned Franciscan monk, Brother William of Baskerville, arrives to investigate, but soon finds himself entangled in a dangerous mystery. The abbey's vast library holds secrets that could expose heresy and power struggles, and William must race against time to uncover the truth before more lives are lost.

• quest
• locked room
• mentor figure

A short, visceral medieval-horror novella from historical novelist Giles Kristian. Bohemia, 1370: a disgraced knight named Galien leads hardened mercenaries on a Church errand into the dark forests of Central Europe, toward a remote castle built not to keep enemies out but to keep something in. Inspired by the legend of Houska Castle, it trades sweeping saga for claustrophobic terror as the men's lifetimes of sin turn against them.

• survival
• morally grey

Lost in a dark wood, Dante is guided by the poet Virgil down through the nine circles of Hell, where the damned endure punishments fitted to their sins. The first part of the Divine Comedy is a vivid, terrifying vision of divine justice and the start of the poet's path toward grace.

• quest

Before the dragons of the Targaryen dynasty faded into legend, a hedge knight named Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg, travel through Westeros. They encounter royal intrigue, dangerous adversaries, and grand adventures that hint at a significant destiny. This collection of tales explores their early journeys together.

• quest
• mentor figure

Aymar Castle has endured a six-month siege when the Constant Lady and her Saints arrive and fill its empty larders, asking only adoration in return. Ser Voyne, a war hero sworn to the Lady, the half-mad nun-turned-sorceress Phosyne and the serving girl Treila, who nurses a secret vengeance, are drawn into the feast and what it is made of. A sapphic medieval horror about hunger in all its forms.

• morally grey
• forbidden love

This epic poem tells the story of Beowulf, a mighty warrior who travels to Denmark to battle the monstrous Grendel and his vengeful mother. After his triumphs, he returns home to face a final, deadly challenge from a fearsome dragon. It's a timeless tale of heroism, confronting evil, and the struggles that follow great deeds.

• quest
• revenge

At the close of the twelfth century, a war-weary German knight carries a holy relic out of the Holy Land toward home — but the road back becomes a nightmarish odyssey through lands where ancient powers stir and reality itself begins to warp. Drawing on Christian, Arabic, and pre-Islamic folklore, an epic, grisly medieval horror that treats the Crusades as an open wound.

• quest
• survival

Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land braids five lives across eight centuries — two children inside and outside the walls of Constantinople in 1453, an old translator and a desperate teenager in a small Idaho library, and a girl aboard a ship bound for another star — around a single fragile ancient Greek tale about a man who longs to become a bird. A novel about libraries, and about what it takes to carry a story from one century into the next.

• multiple povs
• coming of age
• survival
• quest

Embark on an extraordinary journey through the afterlife with Dante Alighieri's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. This epic poem guides readers through the depths of Hell, the trials of Purgatory, and the wonders of Paradise, where the poet encounters historical figures and reflects on sin, redemption, and justice.

• quest
• mentor figure

The sequel to The Pillars of the Earth. Two centuries later, four children who witness a killing in the forest grow into adults whose ambitions, loves, and rivalries shape the town of Kingsbridge through war, plague, and the Black Death. Ken Follett's epic returns to Kingsbridge in the fourteenth century.

In the plague-torn countryside of fourteenth-century France, an aging Franciscan friar named Pierre and his young ward Remi seek shelter in Enfaire, a god-fearing town north of Reims. The pestilence that has already claimed thousands elsewhere has spared Enfaire entirely, but its fields hold dead, twisted shapes, and rumors circulate of a blasphemous union and creatures that haunt the night. As Pierre and Remi look closer, their faith is tested by a darkness that proves worse than any sickness. The first story in the In the Name of the Worm series, it grounds its horror in the religious fervor and intimate awareness of mortality that defined medieval Europe, setting visceral supernatural evil against ordinary devotion.

In 12th-century England, a land torn between Saxon and Norman loyalties, Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe returns home disinherited. He must fight to regain his honor, his birthright, and the love of Lady Rowena amidst a backdrop of jousting tournaments and political unrest. With the help of legendary figures like Robin Hood and the returning King Richard, Ivanhoe navigates treacherous paths to justice.

• revenge
• quest
• rivals

Join a diverse group of travelers in 14th-century England as they journey to Canterbury Cathedral. To pass the time, each pilgrim shares a story, creating a collection that spans humor, tragedy, and social commentary. These tales offer a remarkable and often witty glimpse into the lives and attitudes of medieval society.

• quest
• multiple povs

Join Sir Gawain on a perilous quest that begins at King Arthur's court during a New Year's feast. A mysterious Green Knight arrives, challenging the knights to a deadly game. Gawain accepts, facing a year of anticipation and a journey into the unknown.

• quest
• reluctant hero

A 10th-century Muslim scholar travels to the land of the Northmen, encountering Viking warriors and ancient dangers. This novel blends historical accounts with the epic Beowulf, offering a thrilling adventure into a forgotten world.

• quest
• survival
• fish out of water