further reading (totally optional!)

If you guys like the King Arthur readings and the time period we're studying now, here are some fun things you might want to read or view:

Le Morte D'Arthur (The Death of Arthur) is one of the definitive King Arthur texts. Written in the 15th century (so three centuries later than the period we're studying now), this is a long, tough read.
http://www.amazon.com/Morte-DArthur-Arthur-Legends-Classics/dp/0451528166/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207177679&sr=8-10

Way more accessible is The Once and Future King. T.H. White based much of his narrative on Le Morte D'Arthur, but this 20th century version is much easier to read.
http://www.amazon.com/Once-Future-King-T-White/dp/0006483011/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207177953&sr=1-1

If you don't want to read The Once and Future King, the Disney movie "The Sword in the Stone" is actually an incredibly faithful retelling of the first section of the book.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0057546/

And, if you are into the royals behind Robin Hood, the Lais of Marie de France, etc, you should definitely see "The Lion in Winter," a truly fantastic movie with Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, and a young Anthony Hopkins.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0063227/

Finally, the book that began my obsession with Eleanor of Aquitaine is A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver. This book is a young adult historical fiction novel (so, needless to say, a very fast read). The book follows Eleanor as she waits in heaven for Henry II to be released from purgatory and thinks back on her life as first the Queen of France and then the Queen of England.
http://www.amazon.com/Proud-Taste-Scarlet-Miniver/dp/068984624X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207178424&sr=1-1