The Medieval Underworld [Hardcover]

Andrew McCall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1979

The book explores a way of life which is both extraordinarily modern and yet totally of its period. It looks at medieval times from the point of view of those men and women who either would not or could not conform to the conventions of a society whose insistence upon conformity was obsessive.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andrew McCall is a writer of popular history and a writer on advertising and television. His other books include The Mistress and the Ghastly Guest Book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square; Reprint edition (June 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088029714X
• ISBN-13: 978-0880297141
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #537,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "an hysterical fear of witches produced hysterical witches", April 18, 2004

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Medieval Underworld (Hardcover)

The Medieval Underworld, first published in 1979, caught my eye because of its very intriguing title and cover artwork. Although its subject matter will attract a lot of casual readers, I found the text to be at the level of a graduate student in Medieval studies. Andrew McCall's writing style does not help the less knowledgeable reader gain more wisdom on this subject as he often writes in very long and complex sentences. One sentence on page 53 is 124 words long! The author assumes quite a bit of previous knowledge on the part of the reader. Students of Medieval times will no doubt find this book very useful as it touches on fringe groups of Medieval society that may not be covered as thoroughly in other works. For casual readers, the book is very interesting but challenging. It is not a book to read on a lunch break at the office or in a noisy waiting room. It is a type of book that demands full concentration.

Briefly, this is what the book offers: The first chapter (8 pages) briefly examines two obvious questions stemming from the title: what are the Middle Ages and who consists of the "underworld"? McCall describes the underworld as "people unwilling or unable to comply with the laws of Medieval society" (p. 11). The second chapter (22 pages) examines church, state, and sin; in particular, Canon law versus secular law. Next is a 41-page look at crime and punishment. Such forms of punishment examined are compurgation (public swearing on oath), ordeal by boiling water, fire, and cold water, trial by battle (with several cool examples of its use), torture, and corporal punishment. Chapter four describes bandits, freebooters, and outlaws (51 pages). Many of such criminals were professional soldiers not paid during peacetime and hiding in the woods and wreaking havoc on unfortunate travelers who encountered them. Chapter five (46 pages) looks at thieves and beggars, including lepers, fake medicine men, counterfeiters, and other scam artists. Prostitutes are examined next. The Medieval names for brothel areas is one interesting (and humorous) footnote to this chapter (pg. 191). The next two chapters are on homosexuals (11 pages) and heretics (28 pages). The latter chapter includes a look at flagellants who would endure public displays of self-mutilation. Chapter 19 (21 pages) covers sorcerers and witches and chapter 10 is a very interesting examination of anti-Semitism (26 pages). The last chapter is a very brief look at Hell through Dante's Divine Comedy (4 pages).

The book has many illustrations, footnotes, a bibliography section, and an index. Although the text is difficult at times and could have been written more clearly, if a reader is up to the challenge, this book is very interesting and can be quite entertaining.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An amusing and poignant look at medieval society, August 5, 2000

By 

thundercracker1978 (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Medieval Underworld (Hardcover)

A very accessable work to both the casual reader and the lay historian alike. But serious scholars of medieval European history will doubtless enjoy this book far more. McCall doesn't offer an in-depth analysis of the "fringe" elements of medieval Europe so much a brief description of the society that produced them and recounts many of the escapades of some of the more colorful individuals of the time. This is a fun book that left me laughing out loud at times and furthers the historian's creed: "The more things change the more they stay the same."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Humorous, idiosyncratic look at medieval life, February 3, 2008

By 

Craig Shoemake "Craig S. Shoemake" (Malden, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medieval Underworld (Sutton History Classics) (Paperback)

This book looks at all those who were down and out, out of sorts, out of synch, and generally malcontent with the life and times of the Middle Ages. Subjects include crime and punishment, bandits and outlaws, beggars and thieves, prostitutes, homosexuals, heretics, witches and, of course, Jews. (This list is almost the table of contents verbatum.) The writing style can be a tad challenging: some of the sentences go half a page with innumerable colons, semi-colons and commas dropped into them seemingly at random, and as a result it takes a while to settle in to the text. If one is able to put up with this, though, the rewards are considerable. I immensely enjoyed the author's dry, tongue-in-cheek British humor--some of the stories of crime and mayhem are fabulously funny--and after a while one comes to see that the language itself is part of the humor. As for the information, well, for someone interested in the underbelly of medieval society, it stands as a veritable goldmine. The details are marvelous, the stories--as noted--rich, and I found my ideas flowing like dog spittle over a plate full of meat. A worthy and informative read.