Product Description

This work captures the day-to-day experience of people in the Middle Ages; the houses and settlements in which they lived, the food they ate, their getting and spending, and their social relationships. The picture that emerges is one of great variety, of constant change and of enterprise.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65866 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-01
• Released on: 2001-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
"This is an excellent book, not just in its detailed evidence but as an arresting survey of rural society, particularly at the sub-aristocratic level. It extends our knowledge of social history with new insights into how people lived, worked, ate, traded and related to one another." --Nicholas Orme.

Customer Reviews

A significant insight into life in Medieval England.
Professor Dyer introduces his own book with the words: "This book is about the lives of ordinary medieval people. It deals with their material conditions, their social relationships, and their ideas. But its theme is also change and development over the medieval period ..."

It covers most aspects of ordinary life of the time and in doing so helps to dispel the frequent association in many peoples minds between the word medieval and a very poor quality of life. Life was often very difficult, but rather more often, more sophisticated and analogous to our own times than many of our contemporaries believe.

The book discusses the various aspects of medieval life on a topic by chapter basis which progresses from chapter 1: Power and Conflict in the Medieval English Village, via chapter 5: Changes in Diet in the Late Middle Ages, to chapter 14: The Hidden Trade of the Middle Ages ... to give just a sample of the broad ranging descriptions.

The Black Death is described as a great catalyst for change, but it was not an initiator of trends. Thus, "the rise of fresh meat to become the most important non-cereal food" was accelerated by the Black Death rather than instigated by it.

From records of building agreements, 'West Midlands Peasant Buildings, 1350 - 1500' are described in chapter 8 as: "84 per cent of the 113 Worcestershire buildings whose sizes were recorded, were either of three bays, ... (c. 4.6m x 13.8m), of of two bays, ... (c. 4.6m x 9.2 m), with three bays in a majority"; and the animals were usually separately housed. The one room flimsy shack was not by these accounts the habitat of the day.

On a somewhat topical note, the only aspect of life of these times that I rather missed, was a description of the weather conditions of the time and if this had any effect on changes in agriculture practice, particularly before the arrival of the Black Death.

The book is academic in tone, but is written in a manner that will also delight the interested non specialist.

A very readable view of Medieval England
Christopher Dyer is already a well-known and respected historical commentator. In this work he combines fifteen essays on varying aspects of rural life within the Middle Ages. The book offers an enjoyable and absorbing read, while each clearly identifiable essay makes it easy to isolate the topics required rather than wading through the work to collect isolated facts. The essays are varied in nature and cover such staples as towns and trade, but also the author dares to tackle some of the more intangible aspects of the rural existence.

As an important beginning, the book sets out to define for the reader the medieval village and the inter relationship of its people. With this framework in mind, he then moves onto the more elusive topics of rural life. He looks closely at the diverse types of settlement patterns taking into account the growth and decline of rural community. Within this context he tackles the largely unexplored area of medieval community development, types of dwellings and local construction traditions.

The rural diet is also well illustrated, with detailed evidence on the consumption of fresh water fish and produce from medieval gardens. These insights take the reader to a greater understanding of the social structure and give a fresh insight into methods of agricultural production and where people went to trade.

The book is a strong and convincing read and would provide a solid basis for those looking for a broad spectrum of material spanning social history of the later Middle Ages.

The great man
I've never read this book, but, given who wrote it, I can only presume it's a work of genius.
Prof Dyer is quite simply the finest and most noble academic I have ever come across. He has a complete mastery of his subject area, yet remains incredibly humble - a very rare quality in the world of academia.