Medieval Households (Studies in Cultural History) [Paperback]

David Herlihy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1985 | ISBN-10: 067456376X | ISBN-13: 978-0674563766

Traces the history of family life during the Middle Ages and examines medieval marriages, childhood, motherhood, and fatherhood.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[An] immensely stimulating book...Herlihy has a rare talent for incorporating lively narrative evidence into the context suggested by quantifiable data and writing about it with grace and verve.
--David Nicholas (American Historical Review )

Herlihy's excellent work makes accessible persuasive counterarguments against the theory that affection for children developed only recently. Herlihy...demonstrates how modern society moved toward its definition of 'family' and shows its emergence in the medieval period. He uses scattered and diverse source material to trace the development of the family from Roman times to the medieval development of common expectations of family life applicable to all classes. The sources, ranging from well-known classical and medieval writers such as Aristotle, Tacitus, Aquinas, and Augustine to monastic archives, sermons, lives of saints, and civil archives, provide models and reflections of family life, including the church's use of scripture to establish marital and family standards applicable to ruler and serf alike...This book will become the standard source for family history in cultural context. In spite of its erudition, it is accessible to undergraduates...[A] fascinating, readable, and scholarly work. (Choice )

Here is a happy marriage: a preeminent historian tackling the thorniest of problems, household and family in medieval Europe. The result is altogether felicitous, a rich, detailed, well-written, and fascinating book of extraordinary range, one designed for students and general readers that will also be invaluable to specialists.
--Robert S. Gottfried (Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies )

About the Author

David Herlihy (d. 1991) was Barnaby Conrad and Mary Critchfield Keeney Professor and Professor of History at Brown University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (January 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067456376X
• ISBN-13: 978-0674563766
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview, but a bit narrow, October 26, 2003

By 

doc peterson (Portland, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Medieval Households (Studies in Cultural History) (Paperback)

Herlihy has done a masterful job of detaling the daily life of most Europeans during the middle ages, exploring gender roles and the various "chores" a household had to tend to as the seasons changed. It provides an outstanding overview of the complex and labor intensive work of survival during this period of time. However, I found it a bit narrow in terms of the time period it covered. The "middle ages" last over 1000 years - from around 500 AD (the "early middle ages") to the "late middle ages" (ending around 1450). In the course of such a long period of time, even in the middle ages, tasks, roles and habits change. This is not fully addressed, as the majority of the book discusses households in the "high" (800 - 1200) middle ages. Nonetheless, an excellent introduction to the subject.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not What I'd Hoped, February 15, 2012

By 

Deborah Kinnard (Illinois) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Medieval Households (Studies in Cultural History) (Paperback)

I'm always hunting for new books on life in the middle ages, so when I saw this title, written by an oft-cited authority on all things medieval, I bought it. What I hoped for was a thorough and clear description of how people, rich and poor, lived in a world very unlike ours. What I read was almost a medieval accounting manual: how much great lords and ladies spent on this, that and the other thing. Great for scholars; for me, not so good. Details were plentiful, but not the type I wanted. Chalk it up to ignorance on my part. If you're a researcher into how a great household spent its money and allocated its many servants and non-human resources, this one's a good find.