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Life on a Medieval Barony
This book describes the life of the Feudal Ages in terms of the concrete. The discussions center around a certain seigneury of St. Aliquis. If no such barony is easily identifiable, at least there were several hundred second-grade fiefs scattered over western Christendom which were in essential particulars extremely like it, and its Baron Conon and his associates were typical of many similar individuals, a little worse or a little better, who abounded in the days of Philip Augustus.
No custom is described which does not seem fairly characteristic of the general period. To focus the picture a specific region, northern France, and a specific year, A.D. 1220, have been selected. Not many matters have been mentioned, however, which were not more or less common to contemporaneous England and Germany; nor have many usages been explained which would not frequently have been found as early as A.D.1100 or as late as 1300.
Northern France was par excellence the homeland of Feudalism and hardly less so of Chivalry, while by general consent the years around 1220 mark one of the great turning epochs of the Middle Ages. We are at the time of the development of French kingship under Philip Augustus, of the climax and the beginning of the waning of the crusading spirit, of the highest development of Gothic architecture, of the full blossoming of the popular Romance literature, and of the beginning of the entirely dissimilar, but even more important, Friar movement.
To make the life of the Middle Ages live again in its pageantry and its squalor, its superstition and its triumph of Christian art and love, is the object of this study. Many times has the author been reminded of the intense contrasts between sublime good and extreme evil everywhere apparent in the Feudal Epoch. With every effort at impartiality, whether praising or condemning, it is dangerously easy to write in superlatives.
No custom is described which does not seem fairly characteristic of the general period. To focus the picture a specific region, northern France, and a specific year, A.D. 1220, have been selected. Not many matters have been mentioned, however, which were not more or less common to contemporaneous England and Germany; nor have many usages been explained which would not frequently have been found as early as A.D.1100 or as late as 1300.
Northern France was par excellence the homeland of Feudalism and hardly less so of Chivalry, while by general consent the years around 1220 mark one of the great turning epochs of the Middle Ages. We are at the time of the development of French kingship under Philip Augustus, of the climax and the beginning of the waning of the crusading spirit, of the highest development of Gothic architecture, of the full blossoming of the popular Romance literature, and of the beginning of the entirely dissimilar, but even more important, Friar movement.
To make the life of the Middle Ages live again in its pageantry and its squalor, its superstition and its triumph of Christian art and love, is the object of this study. Many times has the author been reminded of the intense contrasts between sublime good and extreme evil everywhere apparent in the Feudal Epoch. With every effort at impartiality, whether praising or condemning, it is dangerously easy to write in superlatives.
427 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1922
18 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
William Stearns Davis
132 books8 followersWilliam Stearns Davis was an American educator, historian, and author of both fiction and non-fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 10, 2016
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I've read it three times.
August 25, 2014
I came across this book quite by accident when I was in junior high. I read it so many times that instead of forking over the late fees, I just bought the book.
It doesn't matter where you start in the book, its a good, solid informational book that exemplifies the narrative non-fiction style that was popularized later on in the century. While the family/setting is fictional, the information about what life was like during that time is not.
I can say without hesitation that this innocuous looking text is truly one of my favorite books, ever. Maybe its a personal attachment, but its truly a treasured book that strikes a good balance between a glimpse of 1200 medieval France and useful information (for the time, at least- modern research and archaeology have likely changed a few of the facts from when they were written in the early century).
It doesn't matter where you start in the book, its a good, solid informational book that exemplifies the narrative non-fiction style that was popularized later on in the century. While the family/setting is fictional, the information about what life was like during that time is not.
I can say without hesitation that this innocuous looking text is truly one of my favorite books, ever. Maybe its a personal attachment, but its truly a treasured book that strikes a good balance between a glimpse of 1200 medieval France and useful information (for the time, at least- modern research and archaeology have likely changed a few of the facts from when they were written in the early century).
February 27, 2018
Although published in 1923, this book is an engaging and eminently readable survey of various aspects of life in medieval France. Davis handles the text like a cinematographer wields his camera, panning over expansive scenery before zooming in closely to various scenes of interest.
While the barony and its inhabitants described are fictional, serving as a sort of amalgamation of typical elements from the time period, numerous footnotes compare and contrast aspects with specific named holdings and personages from history. The result is an entertaining and enlightening presentation of the "gist" of life in this era, rather than a potentially dry summation of events and lineages and so forth.
Highly recommended to both history students and fans of fantasy fiction hoping to learn a bit more about how things were in the real world.
While the barony and its inhabitants described are fictional, serving as a sort of amalgamation of typical elements from the time period, numerous footnotes compare and contrast aspects with specific named holdings and personages from history. The result is an entertaining and enlightening presentation of the "gist" of life in this era, rather than a potentially dry summation of events and lineages and so forth.
Highly recommended to both history students and fans of fantasy fiction hoping to learn a bit more about how things were in the real world.
November 14, 2016
Really loved this one. Not only did it give a vivid look at the 1300s, it did so with an unexpected playfulness. The author invents a fictional barony and town, but applies real research to this invention. I think he maintains a pretty good balance between admitting the problems experienced during that time without depicting the Middle Ages as being utterly awful and foolish. If anything, he seems to feel an authorial fondness for his made up baron and family, but it serves to show them as being human rather than a distant concept. This is definitely a book for anyone interested in the Middle Ages (and hey, my fellow Game of Thrones fans could benefit too).
May 14, 2019
I used this book for a research project on the Medieval era, and was pleasantly surprised at how both detailed and interesting it was! Unlike many of the other books I had read, this one took a much more unique approach, telling things as though, instead of feeling as though you're simply reading a text-book, one was being taught in a classroom with a particularly interesting teacher. Enjoyed this book- recommend to all interested in this era.
March 3, 2025
I found out about Life on a Medieval Barony from the notes and acknowledgments section of Tracy Chevalier’s novel The Lady and the Unicorn where she spoke of it as one of the books she read as research into the Medieval/Renaissance life. I was intrigued enough to try and find it and although it seems out of print at the moment, I did luckily find the free ebook available on the Project Gutenberg site and it was such a great read!
It reminded me very much of Ian Mortimer’s much more recent time traveller’s guide series, but without being bogged down by the dry lists of statistics Mortimer likes to include in his books. I saw that Stearns Davis also wrote several books about different time periods so perhaps once you start exploring the day-to-day life of one time period, the likelihood is high you will later be drawn to others.
I liked the old-fashioned voice of the narrator and how the tone was often used to ironical ends while highlighting certain aspects of the Medieval life. I have read enough books about Medieval times in general and visited enough castles and Medieval towns by now to have a fairly good understanding about what life was like back then, but I love these kinds of books because of the unusual details that each author invariably mentions, which add further depth to my understanding of how people used to live.
I particularly enjoyed the chapters detailing the wedding, adoubement and tourney. It was interesting to see how, although they still had few rights, medieval women were still relatively free compared to later times (or other places), being allowed to ride horses, hunt, flirt and revel in the company of men. Another interesting point made was the big part boredom played in Medieval life and, in particular, in small scale armed conflict.
Stearns Davis is a well-versed scholar, who has a deep understanding of his topic. I am constantly surprised by how people writing about history at the beginning of the 20th century when you would think they would have less access to information than we do today, write so clearly and accurately about past times. I will definitely try to find more of his books!
It reminded me very much of Ian Mortimer’s much more recent time traveller’s guide series, but without being bogged down by the dry lists of statistics Mortimer likes to include in his books. I saw that Stearns Davis also wrote several books about different time periods so perhaps once you start exploring the day-to-day life of one time period, the likelihood is high you will later be drawn to others.
I liked the old-fashioned voice of the narrator and how the tone was often used to ironical ends while highlighting certain aspects of the Medieval life. I have read enough books about Medieval times in general and visited enough castles and Medieval towns by now to have a fairly good understanding about what life was like back then, but I love these kinds of books because of the unusual details that each author invariably mentions, which add further depth to my understanding of how people used to live.
I particularly enjoyed the chapters detailing the wedding, adoubement and tourney. It was interesting to see how, although they still had few rights, medieval women were still relatively free compared to later times (or other places), being allowed to ride horses, hunt, flirt and revel in the company of men. Another interesting point made was the big part boredom played in Medieval life and, in particular, in small scale armed conflict.
Stearns Davis is a well-versed scholar, who has a deep understanding of his topic. I am constantly surprised by how people writing about history at the beginning of the 20th century when you would think they would have less access to information than we do today, write so clearly and accurately about past times. I will definitely try to find more of his books!
June 21, 2023
A dated style though no less engaging.
When I began reading LMB I was a little out off by the simple style of the author. I was anticipating a learning curve so I persevered. Turns out I was amply rewarded.
The lives of these ancients were brought to life with respect, humor and nonjudgementaly.
The author let's you see how the varied strata of medieval people lived in the quasi fictional barony of St. Aliquis.
I enjoyed his descriptions of the mideval world. It's like reading about another planet. (Although, full disclosure - I've only been to one.) The obligations forced upon the villeins by their Lord and the Church really makes you appreciate the relative freedoms, both intellectual as well physical, we enjoy today. Our civilization may rightly be judged by the people of St. Aliquis but the abject ignorance that most people lived in is intolerably stifling to our eyes.
Still, I said farewell to the world of St. Aliquis with respect and fondness.
When I began reading LMB I was a little out off by the simple style of the author. I was anticipating a learning curve so I persevered. Turns out I was amply rewarded.
The lives of these ancients were brought to life with respect, humor and nonjudgementaly.
The author let's you see how the varied strata of medieval people lived in the quasi fictional barony of St. Aliquis.
I enjoyed his descriptions of the mideval world. It's like reading about another planet. (Although, full disclosure - I've only been to one.) The obligations forced upon the villeins by their Lord and the Church really makes you appreciate the relative freedoms, both intellectual as well physical, we enjoy today. Our civilization may rightly be judged by the people of St. Aliquis but the abject ignorance that most people lived in is intolerably stifling to our eyes.
Still, I said farewell to the world of St. Aliquis with respect and fondness.
June 25, 2025
Davis is said to be one of the first professional historians to humanize his chosen subject and that's aptly demonstrated here. The people and the community featured in this book may be fictional but the professor does an excellent job of bringing them to life. This is history that captivates you, envelopes you in a time and place far, far removed from today and yet even the most complex, and yes sometimes bewildering institutions of that time are presented in an understandable and engaging manner. And even while the professor offers up this incredible array of facts and data he delights us with lines like the following:
"The taint of ignoble blood clings like a shirt of pitch, even after achieving prosperity and wealth."
The book is 102 years old but remains a highly readable and entertaining work.
4.5 stars
"The taint of ignoble blood clings like a shirt of pitch, even after achieving prosperity and wealth."
The book is 102 years old but remains a highly readable and entertaining work.
4.5 stars
March 30, 2018
Interesting and informative account of 13th century life. The conceit of writing as though it was written as a contemporary account wears a bit thin after a while.
July 24, 2021
Very readable for a book written in 1923. Informative and vivid. It must be said there are at least a couple pages full of terrible anti-Semitic descriptions 😐
gone-gave-away
March 25, 20241923 HB. Donating. Stearns Univ. Minnesota. Harper & Brothers.
July 28, 2018
Tracy Chevalier lists this as one of the more 'entertaining' books she has read on life in medieval Europe - and it certainly has a charm to it, if no footnotes or bibliography. It is, perhaps, a passing resemblance of the Middle Ages but appears to be heavily filtered through Walter Scott and a good many other idealised sources. A comment as to how dancing can take place "in bright daylight with the merry feet twinkling on God's soft green grass" will doubtless give you a flavour of what is between its covers.
June 14, 2025
Useful for the details of daily life, though some of the information feels dated.
August 11, 2016
Useful picture of mediaeval life.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews