A History of Everyday Life in Medieval Scotland

A History of Everyday Life in Scotland

by Edward J. Cowan (Editor), Lizanne Henderson (Editor)

This book examines the ordinary, routine, daily behaviour, experiences and beliefs of people in Scotland from the earliest times to 1600. Its purpose is to discover the character of everyday life in Scotland over time and to do so, where possible, within a comparative context. Its focus is on the mundane, but at the same time it takes heed of the people's experience of wars, famine, environmental disaster and other major causes of disturbance, and assesses the effects of longer-term processes of change in religion, politics, and economic and social affairs.

In showing how the extraordinary impinged on the everyday, the book draws on every possible kind of evidence including a diverse range of documentary sources, artefactual, environmental and archaeological material, and the published work of many disciplines. The authors explore the lives of all the people of Scotland and provide unique insights into how the experience of daily life varied across time according to rank, class, gender, age and religion.

Genres: History, Scotland, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2010

About the author

Edward J. Cowan FRSE was a Scottish historian. He was born in Edinburgh and educated at Dumfries Academy.

He was Professor of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow and Director of the university’s Dumfries Campus, he previously taught at the Universities of Edinburgh and Guelph, Ontario. A fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he was also a Visiting Professor in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.

Reviews

[Barbara Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Varied and interesting articles, covering a relevant time period for my research.

[Linda Street-Ely · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book in the series about history of everyday life in medieval Scotland. It's jam-packed full of details, a one-stop shop for any researcher or avid Scottish history fan. It is also easy to read and very interesting - nothing dull or boring here! I took my time with it, read other books in between, but love coming back to this book again and again. Highly recommend.