Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages: A Compelling Social History of Medieval Life, Women, and Children in Europe

by Frances Gies

From bestselling historians Frances and Joseph Gies, authors of the classic “Medieval Life” series, comes this compelling, lucid, and highly readable account of the family unit as it evolved throughout the Medieval period—reissued for the first time in decades. “Some particular books that I found useful for Game of Thrones and its sequels deserve mention. Life in a Medieval Castle and Life in a Medieval City , both by Joseph and Frances Gies.” —George R. R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones

Throughout history, the significance of the family—the basic social unit—has been vital. In Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages , acclaimed historians Frances and Joseph Gies trace the development of marriage and the family from the medieval era to early modern times. It describes how the Roman and barbarian cultural streams merged under the influence of the Christian church to forge new concepts, customs, laws, and practices. Century by century, the Gies follow the development—sometimes gradual, at other times revolutionary—of significant components in the history of the family Expertly researched, master historians Frances and Joseph Gies—whose books were used by George R.R. Martin in his research for Game of Thrones —paint a compelling, detailed portrait of family life and social customs in one of the most riveting eras in history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Medieval History, Gender, Historical, Research

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Frances and and her husband Joseph Gies were historians and writers who collaborated on a number of books about the Middle Ages as well as wrote individual works.

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although only mildly titillating with its frank and all-inclusive discussions on how the church viewed oral sex (you will burn in hell), out-of-wedlock pregnancies (no biggie), and gutterpunching ("thou shalt not thy own genitals kick", St. Anselm of Rudeberry, Tractatus de exinanitio eventus est unus in viscera De diebus festis Sanctus 1279), this work is only mildly interesting. If learning about 40th degree incest taboos is your cup of...tea, then you may find much here to love. A lot of the actual historical bits focus on the upper class and "elites" because that's who could read and write and leave things for us to laugh at later ("Non enim tollitur alterum patruelem suam percutere quadraginta octo", lol!). There's some scanty things on everyone else and some nice extrusions from other works on how folks lived.
Big takeaways: people actually cared about their kids and each other a lot more than people do now; marriage wasn't always obligatory; medieval people made fun of each other's genitals.

[Angela Boord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reference material, but a bit dry.

[Kamil Bryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Po ostatnich książkach jedynie poruszających historyczne tematy, lecz nie będących pozycjami napisanymi zgodnie ze “sztuką badawczą”, niesamowitą przyjemnością była dla mnie lektura “Przeżyj miłość w średniowieczu”. Jest to bowiem pozycja świetna pod względem warsztatowym, a jednocześnie przyjazna czytelnikowi.

Frances i Joseph Gies zapraszają nas na wędrówkę przez wieki, począwszy od późnej starożytności, na początku czasów nowożytnych skończywszy, podczas której przybliżą nam, jak na przestrzeni stuleci zmieniał się kształt rodziny, jej rola w społeczeństwie oraz poglądy kościoła i świeckich na współżycie (małżeńskie i pozamałżeńskie). Dowiemy się jak bardzo (lub czy w ogóle) różnili się ludzie sprzed tysiąca lat w podejściu do swoich współmałżonków i dzieci. Przekonamy się, że debaty na temat seksu, antykoncepcji i przerywania ciąży toczyły się na łonie kościoła od początków jego istnienia. Uzyskamy również odpowiedzi na pytania, które z pewnością wielx z Was dręczą nie od dziś: jaka pokuta groziła za seks analny, jak wyglądała procedura weryfikacji impotencji, czy mogłabym wyjść za mojego chrzestnego, ile należało się za utratę dziewictwa, kiedy bycie kobietą było najmniej niebezpieczne dla zdrowia i życia oraz wiele innych, na które odpowiedzi potrzebujecie, choć jeszcze o tym nie wiecie.

Para autorów nie tylko przytacza prace innych historyków, ale również sięga często do tekstów źródłowych. Te, choć nieliczne, okraszone są wnikliwą analizą. Niestety ze względu na charakter zachowanych źródeł zdecydowanie więcej dowiemy się o rodzinach szlachciców i bogatych kupców. Nie znaczy to, że o niższych warstwach społecznych nie dowiemy się niczego, warto jednak mieć tę dysproporcję na uwadze. Trzeba też wspomnieć, że przedmiotem badań są w zasadzie wyłącznie społeczeństwa Europy Zachodniej.

Polecam szczególnie osobom, które w książkach historycznych cenią sobie aspekt ludzki i chcą dowiedzieć się jakie to kiedyś były czasy

O polskim wydaniu: Gdzieś w połowie czytania zorientowałem się, że ta książka została pierwotnie wydana w 1987 roku. Zabrakło mi wobec tego wstępu dla polskiego czytelnika, gdzie badacz tematu pokrótce opisałby rozwój badań na przestrzeni lat, podejrzewam bowiem, że coś w temacie się przez te 25 lat zadziało i być może niektóre z teorii przytaczanych przez autorów są już nieaktualne. Nie ukrywam, że takie podejście polskiego wydawcy dość mocno mnie rozczarowało.

[MargaretDH · Rating 4 out of 5]

This academic examination of marriage and family begins with the Roman and Barbarians and finishes just after the Black Death. I found this to be extremely readable social history, with a nice balance between descriptions of overarching trends and stories of individuals that illustrate those trends. Despite addressing most locations in Europe, and most social and economic classes, it's not obsessively detailed.

I don't know anything about the scholastic literature of this field, so I can't speak to the place of this particular study. To me, it seemed to situate itself within the existing work. I also appreciated their discussions of primary source materials.

If you're interested in a survey of the way people formed and contracted significant relationships, and the way people built their households in medieval Europe, I think you'll find this a useful entry point.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and detailed account of the evolution of marriage and family life over the course of the medieval era, from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the Reformation. Some chapters focus on Europe in general, others specifically on England, like the chapter on Anglo Saxon England, and the one about the complicated matrimonial adventures of the Paston family in the 15th century. It is fascinating to read of the complex negotiations that often accompanied a marriage, haggling over dowries,dowers,bride prices, etc, with love sometimes entering into it, at other times not. Great affection could exist between married couples, and parents were generally fond of their children, though they could be harsh if children did not comply with their wishes. It was a brave child who defied their parents wishes when it came to the choice of marriage partner for instance. Lots of fascinating information for anyone interested in medieval life.

[Lynnet · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read that focused on providing information rather than trying to prove a point. I learned a lot and appreciated that the author's tried to provide as much information on the lower classes as the upper classes, even though the dearth of reference materials on the lower classes made that difficult.

[Isabella Leake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this book for a while, as I know and love the authors from Life in a Medieval Village (assigned in my college western civ class). I imagined the topic of marriage and family would be even more fascinating—it was!—but the book turned out to be a bit more hardcore history than I expected.

It starts with the ancient world (Roman and Germanic) and chronicles the history of marriage customs and family makeup from late antiquity right up until the Reformation. Even apart from its specific topic, the book provided a nice refresher (or filling in) of medieval history, especially for places (like Italy) I haven't studied much. 

My strongest impression after reading is just the sheer variety you can see in conception and instantiation of marriage and family in the first 1500 years after Christ. Christian (or soon-to-be-Christian) Europe has a new guiding principle for how these twin projects out to be carried out, but it also has to grapple with the present reality of how they are already being carried out. It takes some time (maybe 300+ years?) for the Church to solidify even such abstract doctrines as the Trinity and deity of Christ; the more practical theology of marriage (and all issues related to it) takes even longer to unfold...more like 1500 years. That in itself is a fascinating story, merely one of several storylines in this book.

Marriage is an institution affected by an interesting mixture of factors—personal, familial, ecclesiastical, legal, economic—and throughout history the people or forces behind these factors seem to vie for predominance. But the exact balance of these different factors is in constant flux (and, obviously, constant tension) from time to time and place to place. This flux means that there is no single "medieval" answer to questions like: How important is parental consent? How crucial is marital affection? How essential is clerical involvement? How condemnable is premarital sex? Even issues of marriage age, clerical marriage, inheritance, dowry, and female agency vary considerably.

And, to my astonishment, early on the medieval church was confronting and trying to curb even more fundamental problems such as polygamy, incest, and divorce. I was surprised to find that the sad and sordid saga of Henry VIII and his six wives, especially the highly technical and after-the-fact arguments he made for divorcing Katherine of Aragon, was not a weird, sui generis episode from history but totally of a piece with divorce proceedings among the Frankish royalty (and subsequently, I think, enshrined in canon law?) almost 1000 years before. History is full of surprises! 

The makeup of the family varied greatly, too, in terms of who lived together under the same roof, for how long, and under what arrangements. Contrary to what I had believed (but this makes total sense!), it was never typical for more than one married couple in a family to live in the same house, though like everything else it did sometimes happen. Also notable and surprising: There were mechanisms for supporting the elderly that could be legally spelled out, at least in later medieval England; noble family lines were extremely unstable; and among the lower classes, adverse economic conditions raised marriage age and diminished birthrate. (I take great comfort from the fact that family size was apparently susceptible to pecuniary considerations even in the Middle Ages.)

[Matthew Kearney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe a bit dry, and sometimes spent too much time on extraneous information, but made a good effort to show the lives of common people where possible. The concluding chapter, Legacy, does a really good job at wrapping up the information, to the point that I may have gotten just as much from just reading that chapter as the whole book. Still enjoyable nonetheless.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one up at a bookstore in Denver when stuck in town there for two weeks while in the process of moving the Ares Press, my previous employer, from Chicago to Golden, Colorado. I read most of it at the Paris on the Platte Cafe with coworker, Robyn Canning. I finished it out of sheer willpower and for lack of any alternative because it was rather boring.

[Bishop Juneblood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Frances Gie's middle ages history books. They are well written and researched and focus on the actually interesting parts of history, how people lived, and not just what happened around them.

[Squirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, accessible, interesting if a bit dense. I'm sure that scholarship about the Medieval family has advanced that this would be a very different book if written now. Two brief passing mentions of homosexual behavior. The pictures are all underexposed and so virtually useless. I found this very useful for having a better understanding for reading English literature, such as why the Bennett's home was entailed, and why Hamlet's uncle marrying Hamlet's mother was considered incest. It also confirms something that I've thought for a while: it's a better to be a medieval peasant as a woman than a woman of means at just about any time in Western history.

The premise of this book is: what factors go into shaping how families are formed? Using scholarship regarding families from about 400AD to 1500AD in what is now England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, the Gies argue that many factors from the Catholic Church to financial fortunes to climate contributed to the significant changes in family structure. Especially interesting are the ways in which the Catholic Church succeeded and failed to make marriage about love and monogamy rather than financial benefit and concubinage.

In general I appreciate the Gies' agnosticism with regards to the moral value of certain family structures over others. They are far more interested in exploring the permutations than they are assigning moral value to certain family structures. This books goes into the sheer complexity of the factors that go into deciding on family structure, from legal to religious to financial, and how these factors play out in an era of extremely high mortality rates. The Gies even point to the Church's enforcement of the single/married dichotomy as removing a good deal of family structure flexibility that has only reemerged in the 20th century with the rise in unmarried cohabitation.

This book examines in detail what makes families form, from methods of inheritance to dowry size to age of marriage to the legal bounds of incest. Before reading this book I had never really thought about how people formulated ideas about incest. I know why successive generations of family members repeatedly marrying their siblings or cousin are bad for genetic reasons (See: the Habsburg Dynasty or Queen Victoria's progeny). But with an absence of that kind of information, what does make someone too close to marry? And it turns out that this determination of who is too close to be married and who was not had huge consequences in the Middle Ages. To the point where it was easier to get out of a marriage by finding proof that your wife was your 6th cousin than it was for any other reason, including adultery. This church adjucation and the ways in which it could be corrupted for the price is noted as a major cause of the Protestant Reformation.

Especially interesting to me was the exploration of how all systems of family creation had unwelcome negative externalities. Give every child part of the estate? That fosters a thriving land sale market causing prudent and lucky people to win big, and unlucky and unwise people to lose everything. Give everything to the eldest child? Lots of younger sons with no prospects and elder sons who can only afford to marry when their father dies, causing middle-aged men to marry prepubescent girls. Etc. etc.

The lack of queer people in this book is a notable silence to me, and I am left wondering how this book would be written today as a result of thirty years of queer scholarship into relationships and families.

There's a lot of complexity present in this book, which I appreciate, and it definitely has lead me to have a better understanding of how modern families form and why.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read just about every book by the Gies couple, and I have to say that this book, Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages is by far their most academic book. What I mean by this is that there is a lot of meta discussion about what is a family, what makes up a family, what makes a marriage, etc. Oftentimes, this book feels philosophical in its delivery. Ultimately, once I got through the first couple of chapters, I really settled into its cadence and really fell in love with it.

The first couple chapters focus on what 'measurements' (for lack of a better term) Gies will use to identify and characterize families. After that, there is, what felt like, a hefty chapter on the late Roman Empire and the families during this time period. Again, it felt like Gies was trying to characterize what the medieval family was not. Honestly, I didn't find this particularly helpful and almost distracting. In picking up the book, I'm aware that I'm going to learn about medieval societies. I don't particularly care about what preceded them. I don't think it did much in setting up the backdrop for the medieval era, personally.

Once I got past this section, the book started getting more interesting. What impressed me was the breadth this book covered. Most of Gies' books cover English, French, and sometimes German medieval societies. Here, there were distinctions made for Spanish and Italian communities in various eras. There was a sense of hegemony between all of the eras but also a sense of uniqueness that made me want to pay attention so that I didn't miss anything.

When possible, Gies pulled from particular families to contextualize her facts, which I appreciated. The Pastons made an appearance, as they do in every book, but there were also Carolingian and Florentine families that managed to stick out of the crowd. When the spotlight was on these families, the facts really made sense. I finally understood how siblings were affected by primogeniture and how dowries evolved.

Yes, this book details the beginning of primogeniture, the entail, and the jointure in England. If you've read any historical book or watched a period drama set before 1910, then you know what these things are. I couldn't help getting excited during these sections, because it gave context to all of the Victorian and Regency novels I love to read. Honestly, this was probably the most exciting part for me, and I would venture to say it's the most recognizable or familiar part to readers, as well.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It's more difficult to read through than Gies' other books, but it's well worth it. You must read it if you hope to get a complete picture of medieval history. I can definitely see myself referencing it in future, though it might be ambitious to say I would re-read the whole thing again.

[Lisioł Czyta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przeżyj miłość z Lisiołem
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Lisioł dostał w swoje łapki niezwykle ciekawą książkę historyczną pod tytułem „Przeżyj miłość w średniowieczu”. Popełnili ją Frances i Joseph Gies – duet autorów odpowiadający za serię „Życie w…” średniowiecznej wsi, mieście itp. Lisioł przepada za tą serią, dlatego ochoczo wsadził swój nochal pomiędzy stronice.
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Lisia przygoda zaczęła się od poważnej przebieżki po historii pojęcia rodziny. Autorzy nie oszczędzali Lisioła, przedstawiając mu różne typologie oraz ewolucję pojęcia rodziny i małżeństwa od starożytności do średniowiecza. Nie brakuje tutaj takich smacznych kąsków jak rozwody czy pokuta za cudzołożenie, czasem kończąca się metr pod ziemią.
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Powoli, krok po kroku, zanurzamy się coraz głębiej w średniowiecze, przy czym autorzy nie zapominają o ważnym tle społecznym i ekonomicznym. Żona to spory wydatek! Futrzak mógł przy okazji poznać takie szalone słowa jak poliptyk, czyli spis majątków ziemnych z dużą ilością zakładek – jak widać, świat od dawna choruje na papierologię.
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Im dalej w tekst, tym ciekawiej. W końcu miłość ma wiele odcieni: żona, dzieci, kochanka, majątek… Wraz z sytuacją ekonomiczną zmieniało się też podejście do miłości. Od małżeństw kontraktowych aż po obopólną zgodę obu małżonków. Czyli początkowo Lisioł musiał mieć majątek, żeby kupić żonę, w późniejszym okresie musiał mieć majątek, żeby kupić żonę i dobrze by było, jakby niewiasta wpuściła go do wspólnego łoża.
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Do tego dochodzi też kwestia rozwodów, dość trudna, gdyż kościół rośnie w siłę, narzucając brak rozwodów. Oczywiście od każdej reguły są wyjątki, więc przychodzi czas na gimnastykę rozwodową. Zwłaszcza na królewskich sedesach, bo przecież jak to bez konkubiny, kochanki czy służącej żyć?
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Do tego wśród chłopów nastał trend braku chęci mieszkania z rodzicami po ślubie. Majątki zaczęto dzielić, aż nie było co dzielić. Tak rozpoczął się triumf primogenitury oraz proces powstania nazwisk rodowych, genealogii, herbów i tego całego bajzlu z tym związanego. Ciekawe prawda?
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Lisioł poleca książkę fanom średniowiecza oraz zainteresowanym tematyką, gdyż prosty język z pewnością ułatwia odbiór. Poza tym, kto by nie chciał przeżyć miłości w średniowieczu?

[Jelenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przyznam się bez bicia. Średniowiecze uznawałam za najnudniejszą epokę historyczną. Nigdy za nią nie przepadałam. Czy to w kwestiach kultury, sztuki i literatury ale i historii samej w sobie. Dopiero niedawno zaczęłam odkrywać ją na nowo, a książka "Przeżyj miłość w średniowieczu" pomogła mi tę wiedzę zgłębić. Wkręciłam się na tyle w temat, że zaopatrzyłam się w "Przeżyj rok w średniowieczu" za który niebawem się zabiorę.

"Przeżyj miłość w średniowieczu" to wydawnicza perełka, która skrywa niesamowitą historię jednej z najważniejszych instytucji społecznych w historii ludzkości - małżeństwa i rodziny. Frances i Joseph Giesowie w kolejnych rozdziałach rozprawiają o tym jak zmieniały się koncepcje małżeństwa przez lata, jak nawiązywano relacje, jak tworzono rodziny od upadku Cesarstwa Rzymskiego po Czarną śmierć. Czytając byłam mile zaskoczona tym jak bardzo kronika średniowiecznego małżeństwa mnie wciągnęła. Autorzy w bardzo plastyczny i przystępny sposób opowiadają o średniowiecznych zasadach, zwyczajach i schematach łączenia się ludzi w pary i rodziny. Porównują życie rodzinne na wielu płaszczyznach i w różnych klasach społecznych. Opowiadają również o zmieniających się stanowiskach Kościoła, osób wysoko i nisko urodzonych m. in w takich kwestiach jak rozwody, zdrady, aborcja czy monogamia. Frances i Joseph Giesowie wiedzą jak napisać książkę, dla zwykłych zjadaczy chleba, tak by nie nużyć a zaintrygować. Robią to w doskonałym stylu.

Dla mnie była to fascynująca i arcyciekawa lektura. Prawdziwa gratka dla miłośników książek historycznych!

[Ben Causey]

Yes, it's dry. Yes, I fell asleep while listening to the audiobook. Twice.

But...

I would still consider this essential reading for those of us that are interested in not just medieval history, but history entire. The lives of the average man, woman, and child are not considered when reading the grand, sweeping narratives of the ages. Only in fiction can we find representative depictions and even then, those are limited. Marriage presents details of the customs, laws, and daily lives of the common folk. It's banality is necessary.

The powers-that-were were really concerned with the degrees of consanguinity in regards to marriage. Lots of detail provided around this subject. It's also interesting that before the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century, "marriage" was a somewhat loose term for some; there was much debate over the exact wording used in a marriage ceremony, or if a ceremony was even required. Some authorities found it acceptable that a couple simply love each other to be considered married. Cool stuff.

Qualified recommendation: This is definitely something you'd find at a college library that has been checked out maybe twice. It's niche, but I think it's a potent reminder that the vast majority of individuals throughout time have been common peasants (or peasant-like - you know what I mean). Reading about all of the deaths caused by countless battles hits a little more when you know that all of them were sons, brothers, fathers, husbands, uncles, etc.

P.S. "Concubinage" is a funny word.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book purports to be about family and marriage customs and lives in the Middle Ages. Really, this book should add “of the Nobility” to its title. There is little to no information on peasant and serf marriages, and not much more on the artisan and merchant classes. Granted, this is because the literate people during this time were either detailing the history of the nobility or were members of the nobility themselves. Even knowing this going in, the title gave me hope that there would be some nuggets as to how my non-royal side of the family lived.

The book is also incredibly dry, even for a history book. I read dry books on history and psychology all of the time and enjoy them. Rather than the dry wine of those books, this one is an overcooked Thanksgiving bird that even the most salubrious amount of gravy can’t help.

In the end, this book didn’t provide new or novel information that I had learned from other, more engaging books.

[Sarah Cohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable for a historical survey. I am very interested in idea that women’s relative freedom, instead of progressing linearly (is that a word?) from early modernity onward, kind of waxes and wanes as a byproduct of the social, economic, and religious needs of a society. Plus!! That aristocratic women and peasant women often led very different lives (in some eras they were more similar than others), but our imagination veers towards that of the aristocrat.
As someone who knows very little about the first millennium and a half of the Catholic Church, this book was a great primer on how much power the church had over peoples’ daily lives in a time when very few people could really read or own examples of church doctrine. I want to read more about the cathars!!!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book from the approach family historian and genealogist. Medieval genealogies are a no-go, and I remember learning about that. The nobility lines which go back to Adam are considered as fraudulent.
Another point that was smoothed out for me was the affection parents had for their children; I remember reading books which claimed that parents had no paternal affection towards their offspring during the Middle Ages, and I found that to be unfathomable to even comprehend or believe.

My only hang-up with the authors was their positive spin on depopulation as a result of the Christian Crusades and the Black Death that plagued Europe: I reject this Malthusian outlook. We are all children of God and we are of great worth to Him.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Good good good. Very interesting, lots of surprising facts about marriage in the early Middle Ages, how it "officially" came about, what preceded it etc. Now I will say this was very disjointed and hard to follow, mainly because I read this like a novel and it's really more of a textbook, because, well...it IS a textbook. 😅

In all honesty though, this was a fascinating and insightful look into the history of the family unit and monogamous marriage as we know them today. I sent some book suggestions like this to my husband for Mother's Day and he got me this and another one! Can't wait to read through the next one.


Four stars.

[Melanie Mansfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. I mean, other than I was going to learn about family in the Middle Ages. But, wow… it was chock full of truly interesting facts. You focus on three different areas (Italy, France, and England) and, at times, are able to learn directly from families who left behind some great letters that talked specifically about their practices in regard to marriage and life. I think the most intriguing aspect of the book was learning the medieval church’s role in forming families. Hold on to your horses because it ain’t biblical! 😂

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting description of how the idea and practice of marriage evolved in Western society from the time of the Roman Empire through the Medieval period. It also offers some interesting contrasts and comparisons of different family structures and practices during that time across Western Europe. The book covers all of the different strata of society, and while a little dry at times still was an interesting read.
3.5 stars

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am giving this four stars. For me, it was more three stars, because it contained way more detail and reference material than I was looking for, making it a slow read for me. However, it was still interesting, and important to get a historical perspective, instead of just relying on recent culture norms. If you are more interested in the textbook-like approach, you would probably find it a five-star book. Average the two, and get four stars!

[Alan Lampe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gies offer up another excellent research book on life during medieval times. This one focuses on how marriage and the family transformed during that period. It is a great resource if you are writing fiction set in the Middle Ages, if you want authentic life struggles. Francis and Joseph are wonderful historians.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book describing marriage and the family in the Middle Ages. It is a must read for those who are interested in social history, which is the real history of us all, not just of the small numbers making up the ruling and privileged classes.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A remarkable combination of research and readability. More complexity and development over 1000 years of history than one might suspect, and condensed in a sprightly text filled with anecdote and entertainment.

[Agnieszka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niestety, stare wydanie przefarbowane na nowe, nie ma informacji że książka mówi głównie o historii Francji i Anglii. Brakowało mi gdzieniegdzie podważania pewnych przytoczonych źródeł, ogólnie jestem trochę rozczarowana.

[Dave Jorgenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting at times, dull at others.

[Ryan Ricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super interesting read

[Kamil Świątkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for everyone. But if the Middle Ages are your slice of pie, that book should be a must.
Gieses have a way of telling stories.

[Susan Abernethy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! This book should be on all required reading lists for anyone studying medieval history.