Concurrently:
Christopher Hibbert's book about the renaissance Borgia family. Evil, mischief, murders, bribes is just the beginning. But for their time and position in society they where not particularly unique. They reined for about ten years, if it hadn't been for Machiavelli's book about Cesare, they would have been completely forgotten.
Connie Willis Domesday Book. On surface a novel about time travel, I think it's the best book I read about life in the medieval times.