Life in a Medieval Village

Children's Literature

"Ultimately seeing how people really live, or have lived, can only enrich our understanding of ourselves." That describes the purpose of this book and others in "The Way People Live" series. Details in this book help readers understand what life was like in the Middle Ages. It begins by explaining how Medieval villages evolved after Roman civilization crumbled and continues by discussing details of everyday life. The first chapter deals with life in the village manor house for both the noble family and its servants. A chapter about village workers describing the various jobs according to status with the steward ranking highest and blacksmith lowest. Interesting details include the origin of the phrase, "keeping your nose to the grindstone." Farmers lives revolved around the calendar and were ruled by weather. Facts show how hard farmers' lives were. A chapter describing family life discusses details of everyday living, housing, food, clothing, house cleaning. Another chapter looks at life stages from childbirth to death. Although there was not much time for pleasure, activities such as Sunday church services, the marketplace and soccer provided bright spots in grim lives. The final chapter focuses on village justice details typical crimes and punishments. Back material includes source notes, thorough bibliography, and suggestions for further reading. The bibliography includes descriptions of web sites with authoritative and fascinating information. The cover picture, "Village Wedding," by Pieter Brueghel, and the many other illustrations, mostly from medieval sources, supplement the text very well. Unfortunately the reproduction quality is muddy. 2004, Lucent Books, Ages 12 up.
—Janet Crane Barley