Customer Reviews

Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages

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This is a great starter book for those who are interested in a medieval gentrywoman's life.Ffiona Swabey is an interesting writer who gives us a general idea of Alice de Bryne's life, and consequently any gentry woman's life in general. It was interesting to see that although Alice was considered gentry, not aristocracy, and therefore lower on the wealth scale, this woman still had numerous estates, four personal chaplains, dozens of servants and hundreds of peasants working under her.

Ffiona Swabey's "The Medieval Gentlewoman" is a terrific book for anyone interested in what life was like for the gentry in late 14th/early 15th century England. Her book is written based on household accounts and records from Acton Manor, the estate of Dame Alice Bryene, a widow in her 50s in the period the book covers. Ms. Swabey analyzes the data from the household accounts to give us a vivid picture of Dame Alice's life and the world in which she lived and conducted business. Despite the fact that it is heavy with primary documentation, this book is not at all dry. Ms. Swabey manages to tell us a story while retaining the accuracy that we historical reenactors desire.