Darkmistress's Full Review: Everyday Life in the Middle Ages: The British Isle...
I’ve always been fascinated by the Middle Ages and always wanted to write fiction, so when this series first appeared I waited with bated breath for the book on the Middle Ages to appear. Now that I’m working on a historical romance novel, its taken temporary home on my desk. Not completely sure why …
The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life In the Middle Ages purports to cover "The British Isles from 500 to 1500." It does this in a Reader’s Digest style, touching on the high points, but never straying below the surface. Look up food and you will find an 8 page essay on what food was served, when, who it was eaten by, what table manners were like, and a couple of recipes that I wouldn’t try to prepare due to lack of real instruction. Each chapter also ends in a recommended reading list (thank heaven.) The book is split up into 4 parts, every day life, rank and privilege, God and war, and people and places. Each of the 4 parts are then further broken into chapters on logical topics. There are also some photographs, shot by the author at the Georgia Ren Fair. More on this later.
Whew and it’s so dry it’s sucking the life out of the books I shelve next to it. On a dryness scale of textbook to romance novel, we’re sitting just to the left of text book. I’m interested in the period and I’m yawning. But this is sort of ok because it’s a reference book, right? Well, I actually would like to see a little more humor or commentary inserted so I don’t feel like I’m prepping for an exam every time I open it.
Plus, it’s written from a very, um, how to put this, clean perspective? Christian perspective? Unrealistically moral perspective? I guess that’ll work. The thing to remember here is that The Church hadn’t really gotten its talons into every day life at this point. At this modern date The Church (meaning Christianity of all kinds) has so thoroughly co-opted Pagan symbols that many people don’t recognize the Christmas Tree as a Pagan symbol for the triumph of Life over Death or Easter eggs as a fertility symbol. Then, however, we still had wise women who knew what was what. This book ignores that slightly messy area of history and I was amused to note in the reading that "it was rumored that a girl who danced around 7 bonfires will be married within the year." From other sources I know that pregnancy usually predated marriage among lower classes and we can safely make the leap about the dancing necessary to bring about marriage in one year. The Saxons are allowed their mythology, but the Irish apparently wandered around searching for a religion until Patrick showed up. But this is only sort of amusingly irritating.
What I found really annoying was the way the Clothing chapter was set up. In true Writer’s Digest form, the book is set up in a very difficult way to use. For example (women):
"1199 to 1272
Undergarment: Didn’t change much, but was no longer revealed by the nobility.
Hose: Same as before.
Shoes: Same as before.
Dress: Called a kirtle or a gown.
Hair: Hair began being coiled on either side of the head. In 1216 short veils and hats returned and often concealed the hair. Around 1220, the fillet of linen was often worn with the barbette. During trips, women also wore small round hats.
Lower classes: aprons began to be worn and also sleeveless super tunic (1216 to 1272)."
I didn’t choose this passage because it is the worst or the best, but simply because it’s the one I attempted to use. I ended up writing out my descriptions by sifting through all the listings and using a couple of dictionaries (I can’t remember now what watchet and murrey ended up being. I think one was a green and the other a gray.) There are lots of photos of SCA geeks (you know, the really scary ones who won't speak without using an Elizabethan accent, "Pray tell, what is a watch)? Dost it be witchery?) wearing their very accurate and too well made costumes. At the time people were limited by the labor available and not everyone could sew a straight seam. However, the pictures are more useful than what many authors do which is to put in medieval paintings or tapestries. It’s really hard to sort out what’s happening on an illustration that has no depth (we didn’t figure out depth until the Renaissance.)
For my final recommendation, I’d say this book makes a good starting point and a reasonably handy reference book. If you are interested in writing about or studying the middle ages you will at least uncover a list of titles to seek out. If you want to read about the Middle Ages for fun check out A World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester, which is brilliant. Also good in fiction is anything by Sharon Kay Penman. I have a great fondness for Here Be Dargons and When Christ and All His Saints Slept, but the other historicals are good and her mysteries aren’t bad.
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