Medieval Life

Life in a Medieval Village, by respected historians Joseph and Frances Gies, paints a lively, convincing portrait of rural people at work and at play in the Middle Ages. Focusing on the village of Elton, in the English East Midlands, the Gieses detail the agricultural advances that made communal living possible, explain what domestic life was like for serf and lord alike, and describe the central role of the church in maintaining social harmony.

Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat? Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages. The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail.

A Medieval Life offers a biography of one woman, a portrait of her world, and an introduction to historical method. Written in a clear and accessible style, it reworks a well-loved book to provide an entirely new resource for students, teachers, and general listeners. Like Cecilia Penifader, most people in the Middle Ages were peasants, humble people living socially below the knights, bishops, and kings who figure so large in history books. Judith M. Bennett shows that peasants, too, made history.

This is a collection of books VII, VIII, IX, and X of Martin Archer’s exciting and action-packed novels in The Company of Archers saga about a serf who rose to become the captain of what was left of a company of crusading English archers—and what happened to him and his men after he led the survivors of his company back to the dangerous and brutal land of medieval England. The first book in this saga is entitled The Archers. A collection of the complete first six books of the saga is available as The Archers’ Story. The latest book in the saga, The Captain’s Men, is also now ...

Castles were not built on romance — they were built on labour. Step inside the real working world of a medieval French castle: servants, peasants, village life, and the dangerous forest boundary. Discover what people ate, what they owned, what they owed, and how survival was managed behind the Great Hall — without the myths.

Medieval manuscripts can tell us much about power and art, knowledge and beauty. Many have survived because of an author’s status - part of the reason we have so much of Chaucer’s writing, for example, is because he was a London-based government official first and a poet second.

An inside look at sexual practices in medieval England. Were medieval women slaves to their husband's desires, jealously secured in a chastity belt in his absence? Was sex a duty or could it be a pleasure? Did a woman have a say about her own female sexuality, body, and who did or didn’t get...

The first monument of real Christianity among the Saxons was the Heliand, an epic on the life of Christ in Old Saxon alliterative verse, dating from about 830. The original work attempted to make the newly imposed Christian religion intelligible to the warlike Saxons. The Heliand, extant in four manuscripts, and the fragmentary Old Saxon Genesis, are all that remain of Old Saxon poetry. This poetic harmony of the Gospels employs modern English alliterative verse couplets, in a complex structure of 75 cantos, to generate a vigorous retelling of the story of the Christ in a swaggering, epic ...

Plutarchs's (46-120 A.D.) epic chronicle of the lives of great Grecians and Romans. Beginning with the founding of Rome and Athens, the lives of the men who created the ancient world are brought to life in this new, high quality recording. Greats such as Romulus, Pericles, Theseus, Lycurgus and many others come alive as their politics, economy, and their individual stories play out in the time of the Ancients. This translation by John Dryden, which is considered by scholars to be the quintessential translation.

John Gaunt was the son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV, and the sire of all those Tudors. He has had pretty bad press: supposed usurper of Richard II’s crown and the focus of hatred in the Peasants’ Revolt, as they torched his home, the Savoy Palace. Helen Carr paints a complex portrait of a man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage, passionately upheld chivalric values, pressed for the Bible to be translated into English, and patronized the arts. 

Step behind the stone walls of a thirteenth-century convent to experience the immersive reality of medieval monasticism. Perfect for a quiet evening listen or a mindful commute, this sensory historical journey follows one ordinary, captivating day. You will hear the tolling bells, feel the cold...

Life in a Medieval City is the classic account of the year 1250 in the city of Troyes, in modern-day France. Acclaimed historians Frances and Joseph Gies focus on a high point of medieval civilization - before war and the Black Death ravaged Europe - providing a fascinating window into the sophistication of a period we too often dismiss as backward. Urban life in the Middle Ages revolved around the home, often a mixed-use dwelling for burghers with a store or workshop on the ground floor and living quarters upstairs.

Our capital city has always been a thriving and colorful place, full of diverse and determined individuals developing trade and finance, exchanging gossip and doing business. Abandoned by the Romans, rebuilt by the Saxons, occupied by the Vikings and reconstructed by the Normans, London would become the largest trade and financial center, dominating the world in later centuries. London has always been a brilliant, vibrant, and eclectic place.

In this major and wholly original contribution to military history, John Keegan reverses the usual convention of writing about war in terms of generals and nations in conflict, which tends to leave the common soldier as cipher. Instead, he focuses on what a set battle is like for the man in the thick of it.

Embark on an enthralling journey through the heart of Medieval England in this captivating exploration of one of history's most dynamic periods. Delve into the lives of kings and queens, knights and peasants, as the story of England unfolds against the backdrop of feudalism, chivalry, and religious upheaval. Experience the turbulence of the Magna Carta, the devastation of the Black Death, and the intrigue of the Wars of the Roses, all of which shaped the destiny of England.

A history of peasants in the Middle Ages, the story takes the listener into the life of Marion, the carpenter's wife, and her extended family as they struggle to survive through hardship, featuring a year in their lives at the mercy of the weather and the Lord of the Manor. Existing without soap, paper or glass and only with the most basic of tools, we learn how they survive starvation, sickness, fire and natural disaster in their home on the edge of the Weald.

Maximus the Confessor for Beginners: Insights into Christology and the Human Will takes you into the life and teachings of one of Christianity’s most courageous and influential thinkers. This is not just another history lesson—it’s a journey into the mind of a man whose ideas on Christ’s nature and human freedom reshaped Christian doctrine for centuries. Why does Maximus matter today? Maximus wasn’t just a theologian. He was a spiritual warrior who stood firm in the face of torture and exile, all to defend the truth. His defense of Christ’s human and divine will is more than an ...

Edwin Salamand thought running a bookshop for beginners was complicated enough. But now that he's settled into his role as Starwick's most unlikely shop owner, winter brings a new challenge: his skill tomes are failing. When customers start returning books with fading magic and blurred text, Edwin discovers it's not just his shos. It's happening across the entire city. Even worse, the earthquakes shaking Starwick's foundations might be connected to the magical blight affecting everyone's abilities. Armed with his Shopkeeper skills and a frost-breathing salamander named Cricket, Edwin must ...

Anselm of Canterbury: The Monk Who Shaped Medieval Thought Unlock the secrets of a mind that bridged faith and reason, leaving an indelible mark on the tapestry of medieval thought. Dive into the life and legacy of Anselm of Canterbury, a scholar whose ideas continue to resonate through the ages. Discover the Life of a Visionary From his humble beginnings in Aosta to his rise as Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm’s journey is one of relentless pursuit of truth and knowledge. Immerse yourself in the historical context of the 11th century, a time of great upheaval and transformation for the ...

What was it really like to live in the Middle Ages? Forget the polished myths of knights in shining armor and fairy-tale castles. The reality was far grittier, harsher, and endlessly more fascinating. Beneath the Crown: The Untold Stories of Medieval Life and Power takes you on an unflinching journey into the everyday struggles of medieval Europe. From waking in bug-ridden straw beds to eating week-old pottage and trudging barefoot through mud-soaked streets, this book reveals the raw truth of survival in a world defined by disease, superstition, and unrelenting toil. Life was brutal, but ...