Review: The Middle Ages (Everyday Life in Medieval Europe), by Jeffrey L. Singman

Recently, as a belated (for obvious reasons) Christmas present I received The Middle Ages (Everyday Life in Medieval Europe) by Jeffrey L. Singman. As I found Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England very engaging I had high hopes for this. Did it fulfil them?

In a word, yes.

The period covered is a little broader than Mortimer’s 14^th century, covering the high Middle Ages (10^th to early 14^th). It’s also, interestingly, both more and less focused, using examples from across western and northern Europe. But the two-thirds of the book dedicated to specific chapters on life in village, castle, monastery, and town use specific examples from history to explore what life was like (in England for the first two and France for the latter two).

It’s a very easy to read book, with helpful information presented in tables (how much English/French money was worth, prices, the monastic calendar etc). Unusual terms are explained, and the author does a very good job of putting the reader in a medieval person’s shoes. If you’re into world-building then this would be a very worthwhile book to buy. But even if you’re not, it’s highly engaging, with many little details that help bring the dim and distant past alive (monks were only allowed to run if one of them was about to imminently die, or the monastery was on fire, for example).

In addition to the specific setting chapters there are a few others covering a more general medieval worldview, and certain big differences that might not be immediately obvious (labour and land were cheap, objects were very expensive so possessions tended to be far fewer than today).

Very interesting book, and well worth reading.

 
Thaddeus