Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne (The Middle Ages Series) [Paperback]

Pierre Riche (Author), Jo Ann McNamara (Translator)

Book Description

Series: The Middle Ages Series | Publication Date: February 1, 1988

In the growth of towns and the revival of commerce, historians have seen the development of a bourgeois and capitalist Europe, but Pierre Riché reminds us that Carolingians saw a world of forest and wasteland, in which scattered castles and villages were outposts against the savagery of nature, bands of outlaws, and a myriad of pagan superstitions. Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne gives us a vivid and deeply textured picture of the fear and insecurity that drove people, great and humble alike, to draw together with one another, with their stronger neighbors, and with God and His saints, in search of protection and sustenance.

Riché makes extensive use of modern social history techniques and the tools of new studies on nutrition, disease, demography, and climatology, as well as art history and archaeology, to comprehend the Carolingian mentality and reconstruct the material culture of the early European world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Where else . . . can one learn about Carolingian furniture, medicine, dieting, birth control, astrology, . . . drinking habits, or hygiene? A fine introduction to early medieval Europe."—International Historical Studies

"The book reflects the breadth and comprehensiveness of Riché's rich knowledge of intellectual and cultural life in the Carolingian period, and McNamara's translation retains the lucid beauty of Riché's prose."—Choice

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (February 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812210964
• ISBN-13: 978-0812210965
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #895,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging look at the Carolingian world., October 14, 2007

By 

Gerald M. Vrooman (Chenango Forks, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

To save money I ordered a used copy of this book. I received an ex-library book that had never been checked out. Apparently the students at a Catholic girls' school were not very interested in "Daily Life In The World of Charlemagne". The book does present some problems. Originally written in French and translated into English, it presumes a certain amount of knowledge about the Carolingian period. I was forced to resort to Google and Wickipedia a lot to put things in context. The single map provided is fascinating, but if you want know where Aquitaine or Austrasia were located you will have to find another reference. Compounding the difficulty is a lack of good source material. The author wryly confronts this problem in his preface, "Carolingian writers, shut up in their work rooms, rarely looked out the window at the life around them."

In spite of these difficulties the author presents a compelling picture of a sparsely populated land, where life was hard, famine frequent, and people often didn't live through the winter. Not only were food and fuel scarce but there was an ever present danger from wolves and other wild animals, not to mention the ever present brigands. In a society where men were often forced to chose between being peasants or being monks it is easy to understand how the stronger and more independent ones could be tempted by a life of banditry.

On the whole I found the book to very readable. By comparison the book I read about the Merovingians was positively opaque. In an over crowded world where we are on the verge of being implanted with RFID chips, and our cell phones can be used to track us, there is something alluring about the Carolingian world in spite of its hardships.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Source, September 20, 2005

By 

Mother of one (Lewisville, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne (The Middle Ages) (Hardcover)

This is a good reference book as well as a book that you can read straight through. It helps paint a picture of life in the Early Middle ages.

9 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definite Buy, June 15, 2004

By 

Paul Sacia (Cedar Key, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

Riche read the European source documents, written in a bewildering array of languages, and synthesized them; all for our reading pleasure. If you are wondering, "Who are those guys?", read it.