The Mighty Warrior Kings traces the history of early Europe through the biographies of nine kings, who had the courage, determination and martial might to establish their dominance over the fragmented remnants of the Roman Empire. The book begins with Charlemagne, who united large regions of current-day France, Germany and Italy into the Holy Roman Empire and ends with Robert the Bruce, who gallantry defended Scotland against the attempted usurpation of England. There are many famous warrior kings in the book, including Alfred the Great of Wessex, whose victories over the Vikings led to the unification of England under a single ruler, William I of Normandy, whose triumph at Hastings in 1066 changed the course of English history, while Frederick I Barbarossa led his army to victory in Germany and Italy solidifying and expanding the lands under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor. Among the lesser known monarchs discussed in the work are Cnut, whose victory at the battle of Ashingdon won the English crown and resulted in the creation of the North Sea Empire, which ruled over the kingdoms of England, Denmark and Norway, while during the reign of Louis IX of France the knights of Europe answered his call for the Seven Crusade to expel the Muslims from the Holy City of Jerusalem. From Charlemagne to Robert the Bruce, the warrior kings created a new Europe with a centralized powerbase and set the stage for the following Age of Absolutism. AUTHOR: Philip J. Potter is a graduate of Furman University with a B. A. degree in humanity studies and earned a Master's Degree from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. His business career of over thirty years was spent in the banking industry where his primary responsibilities were as a financial writer of economic forecast, investment analysis and portfolio strategies. The Mighty Warrior Kings is his sixth historical book and is the result of over fifty years of reading, studying and interest in the history of early western Europe. He lives with his wife, Joyce, in a northern suburb of Atlanta. 23 b/w illustrations
