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108th out of 608 books
—
727 voters
Life in a Medieval Village
A lively, detailed picture of village life in the Middle Ages by the authors of Life in a Medieval City and Life in a Medieval Castle. "A good general introduction to the history of this period."--Los Angeles Times
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
January 30th 1991
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1990)
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Out of the three books in the Life in a... series by Gies, Life in a Medieval Village seems the most informed, as well as having been written with the most heart and love.
All three are collaborations between Frances and Joseph Gies, who wrote numerous books together as well as on their own about the Middle Ages period. ...Village came out in the 90s, while the other two in this particular series, ...City and ...Castle were published in the late 60s and early 70s respectively. They suffer in comp...more
All three are collaborations between Frances and Joseph Gies, who wrote numerous books together as well as on their own about the Middle Ages period. ...Village came out in the 90s, while the other two in this particular series, ...City and ...Castle were published in the late 60s and early 70s respectively. They suffer in comp...more
LIFE IN A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE is one of the core books by Frances and Joseph Gies that I find I refer to time and again for my own writing; though I've only read perhaps 70 percent of this book, to be perfectly honest. I just noticed I've bookmarked pages 20 and 172.
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Page 20: Talks about traces left by Romanization in Britain, specifically agriculture via field systems and farmsteads gathered in collective groupings.
Page 172: Regarding village justice, namely the bi-annual hallmotes, where the loc...more
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Page 20: Talks about traces left by Romanization in Britain, specifically agriculture via field systems and farmsteads gathered in collective groupings.
Page 172: Regarding village justice, namely the bi-annual hallmotes, where the loc...more
This is the third book in the Gies' series on medieval life and I have to admit that while I really enjoyed aspects of it (learning the differences between a seneschal, reeve and bailiff, reading about the squabbles and offences that erupted between villagers and which make 'Neighbours', 'Eastenders','Bold and the Beautiful' etc. as well as 'Criminal Minds' seem tame and unimaginative! Also, the details on childbirth and the role of the parish was fascinating), but overall felt that compared to...more
I really enjoyed this book, although I feel a little like some of the portrait of the medieval village as a place full of Jerry-Springer-esque drama is because there are more records of what happened when things went wrong than when they ran smoothly. I also really enjoyed hearing about medieval village drama, because I don't watch reality shows and so books about history are generally where I get my dose of Real Live Drama!
I did really like that the author chose an example village and focused m...more
I did really like that the author chose an example village and focused m...more
A book chock-full of information. However, I found it difficult to get over the poor grammar, punctuation and misuse of words: 'two-story building' instead of'two-storey' building, for example. Some sentences were totally incomprehensible and I found myself re-reading them three or four times to try and ascertain the sense. Then, suddenly, it was as if the proof-reader woke up and the final part of the book read extremely well. I also bizarrely found it intensely irritating that a book about an...more
I got Life in a Medieval Village on loan from the library, but after reading it, I'm still going to buy a copy of my own for reference. The details in it are extremely helpful to have around for my own writing.
It follows one specific village in England, Elton, rather than talking about a general village. Records are reported in the book, although not in too great of a detail (thankfully, it would have been too heavy if it was). I particular like the sections about the lord, the villagers and wh...more
It follows one specific village in England, Elton, rather than talking about a general village. Records are reported in the book, although not in too great of a detail (thankfully, it would have been too heavy if it was). I particular like the sections about the lord, the villagers and wh...more
Although I am getting to like these authors more, I confess I did not like this book as much as their other book 'Life in a Medieval Castle' which I read last year.
The main reason was that the first part of the book seemed to me very dull, tedious and rather slow. As a history student I shoud be more used to dry academic writing, but this was not a textbook and I found the dry recounting of facts and figures rather off putting in work of popular history.
Thankfully though, the book becomes a li...more
The main reason was that the first part of the book seemed to me very dull, tedious and rather slow. As a history student I shoud be more used to dry academic writing, but this was not a textbook and I found the dry recounting of facts and figures rather off putting in work of popular history.
Thankfully though, the book becomes a li...more
I bought this because I was scouting the possibility of writing a crime series based in the 1300s. The authors are historians who discuss life in the context of Elton, a village in England. It's a detailed discussion covering agriculture, religion, family life, justice and public life from the early 1300s to the late 1500s. The writing is fluid, exciting and informative. I loved it. If you like history, check this out. Incidentally, this book convinced me that my book idea will need a lot more t...more
A good work. I read the 'Life in a Medieval Castle' first and found it quite useful for my own worldbuilding process. This book didn't add too much, although it did add some. Most likely it was just redundant to the other, using much of the same verbiage. Obviously, there was a lot of overlap. Still, a good book and I'd recommend it to someone looking at this bit of historical nonfiction.
Very interesting and detailed read of the day-to-day life of the average peasant in the 14th-Century. While life was certainly no picnic it wasn't as difficult as Hollywood and others would have you believe. It also included much more "liberty" than one would be led to believe possible in the days of Feudalism. Life was far more "normal" than one might think.
This book was recommended to me by Amy Ryan.
The principle of the book is to illuminate elements of everyday life, as expressed through some ephemeral legal records that have been unearthed in the town of Elton, England.
Fascinating tidbits of information include the fact that villagers were taxed to consume their own grain as bread, but were free to consume or even sell their product as beer. The first pubs were just people's homes.
Pieces of information about crime, taxation, family law and nutri...more
The principle of the book is to illuminate elements of everyday life, as expressed through some ephemeral legal records that have been unearthed in the town of Elton, England.
Fascinating tidbits of information include the fact that villagers were taxed to consume their own grain as bread, but were free to consume or even sell their product as beer. The first pubs were just people's homes.
Pieces of information about crime, taxation, family law and nutri...more
Very good overview of how the different aspects of medieval villages worked with each other, and the fact that the noble/peasant relationship, while having a power imbalance, was reciprocal in nature. How well that reciprocity worked in practice... well, that's a different matter.
A lively, entertaining book loaded with fascinating detail about city life in the Middle Ages. Black and white photos and illustrations. This book is well-known as the most comprehensive, accurate, and readable of its genre. Ages high school through adult.
Not particularly deep, but the Gies do a great job of bringing a medieval village to life. They look at the people, the layout, what houses looked like and I was pleased to note that fines for rundown homes are not a 20th century invention!
The book got buried so I only recently got back to it. This is a good, solid, social history of Medieval English village life, drawing from records of Elton Village in Cambridgshire. The book focuses on what life must have been like for ordinary people, free or villein, in the 13th & 14th centuries, the height of Medieval manorial system. Although I was hoping for more intimate pictures of daily work and family life, the book is true to the historical imperative in basing its portraits on ev...more
Read this for medieval history course. Very informative on aspects of life affecting the majority of the population, as opposed to just the rulers.
Aug 25, 2010
Michael Barnette
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in medieval studies
Shelves:
research-favorites
This is a great book for anyone interested in how people lived during medieval times. It's a wonderful book for anyone writing historic novels too.
These are not heavy reading, so look elsewhere for serious scholarship. But I really enjoyed the whole series.
Such interesting tidbits letting us see into the daily workings of a village. Very informative.
A wealth of detail about daily life in the medieval village of Elton in the East Midlands
Not as engaging as the L. in a M. Castle, but meticulously researched and informative.
Informative and interesting. At times a little dull... but look at the title. A little dullness should be expected in a book like this, I'd say. Well written. Lacked some things I was looking for, like a deeper analysis into certain aspects of village life, but as an overview it was good.
Conversationally written book with excellent details and descriptions. Particularly good if you are writing a novel set in this time period.
This is a good book for a person who has plans to go law school. A good part of Property law grew out of feudalism.
It is a bit more scholarly than the Pilgrimage book, so slower going. But I am so enjoying emersine myself in this time period, without actually having to live there~!
Thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover. Well done!
I loved this book!
I would keep these (all by Gies books) next to me while reading historical fiction books that I like. I would look up castles or other items of interest. fantastic books!
This book and I did not quite get along. It reminded me of reading a text book for school and didn't remember most of what I read. Except there where long lists of names and conditions from rolls that were kept as records. Oh well, on to the next book.
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Frances and and her husband Joseph Gies were historians and writers who have collaborated on a number of books about the Middle Ages, and have also written individual works.
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I'm pretty good at ignoring the ads too, but they...more
Mar 29, 2013 03:26pm
(only for public domain, etc. - like those Wodehouses)
Mar 29, 2013 04:53pm