The Duke and the Peasant: Life in the Middle Ages

by Wendy Beckett, Jean de Berry

A detailed account in text and illustrations of the lives of peasants and nobles through the changing seasons as found in the calendar pictures from the book of hours owned by Duc de Berry, a fourteenth-century French nobleman.

Genres: History, Medieval, School, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Art, Childrens

30 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Sister Wendy Beckett was a South African-born British art expert, Roman Catholic nun, and contemplative hermit who became an unlikely celebrity during the 1990s, presenting a series of acclaimed art history documentaries for the BBC.

Reviews

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Large reproductions in glorious colors and plenty of good historical information presented in a clear and simple manner. The closing text is absolute perfection: "Artists help us to see the glory of the world. They open our eyes to the beauty that we so easily miss. The more we look at these pictures of the Months, the more we shall understand and respond to the wonder of being human."

Read as we approach the first anniversary of the good Sister's death. I shall have to seek out more of her work to see what is appropriate for children. I believe the only other one she did in this Prestel series is Sister Wendy's Story of Christmas.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated with images from a medieval duke's Book of Hours, this book demonstrates the cycle of the medieval year for nobles and peasants. I read it with my little kids (currently 6 & 8) as part of a set of homeschool units about medieval Europe. This is really good and really beautiful!

[T.]

Beautiful art, though the text is so-so. She's a bit hard on the duke and the castle's denizens and seems to interpret some folks as happy or unhappy a bit arbitrarily. But one doesn't have to read aloud the whole text; the best part are the large pictures to linger over.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually liked listening to Sister Wendy Beckett's television productions. This book is well done and a good introduction to manuscript art. I have been fascinated by the Duc de Berry's Tres Riches Heures since I was in high school and was the reason I decide to pick this book. I liked the blown up pictures to show details, including some things I had never noticed before. I only wished it had included the whole book and gone more into detail about it.

[Teri-mae Delay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't a story like I'd thought it'd be. It's just a calender from holy scriptures that are from the middle ages. This book did hold a lot of interesting information, however none of it was kid friendly. This book is more for middle school and older. The artwork and explanations are beautiful however. But I had to give this book a rate of three for not being appropriate for young children, especially because I found it in the children's section of the local library.

[Cathy Leverkus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beautiful illustrated book owned by the Duc Du Berry is simply explained in this resource.

[Marcus Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic! Wish we had spent more time with it.