Customer Reviews

Paris in the Middle Ages (The Middle Ages Series)

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This is an excellent book about life in Paris in the late Middle Ages giving a good view of how people lived during the time covered, which is roughly from the early 13th century to the end of the 15th. This isn't a narrative - it doesn't tell the history of the city in chronological order. It is more about how the people lived and how that changed through this time period. It's about the kaleidescope of life in a major (the major?) medieval city.

The book begins with an overview of Paris and how the streets and neighborhoods developed in the newly walled city. From there it went into various aspects of the lives of the people. There was a chapter for each of the 3 major power structures/hierarchies - based on money, religion and political power. It ended with a section on the nitty-gritty of daily life.

This book tried to talk about common people as much as possible. Unfortunately there are few sources so the various scraps of information we do know had to be compared with what we know about the rich and politically powerful, which really isn't very much either. Various records are cited and stories related to help us gain a better understanding.

I really enjoyed this book and got a lot out of it. One word of warning, though - you should have some background knowledge of the history of Paris, or at least France, during this period. This book assumes you already know the context, the broader story, the big canvas upon which these lives are painted. Events are often mentioned but only to give those with knowledge about them some context for what is being said.

If you are interested in how people really lived in Paris in the late Middle ages there is no better place to start than this book.