Everyday Life in Medieval London: From the Anglo-Saxons to the Tudors

by Toni Mount

Our capital city has always been a thriving and colorful place, full of diverse and determined individuals, developing trade and finance, exchanging gossip and doing business. Abandoned by the Romans, rebuilt by the Saxons, occupied by the Vikings and reconstructed by the Normans, London would become the largest trade and financial center, dominating the world in later centuries. London has always been a brilliant, vibrant and eclectic place Henry V was given a triumphal procession after his return from Agincourt and the Lord Mayor s river pageant was a medieval annual spectacular. William the Conqueror built the Tower, Thomas Becket was born in Cheapside, Wat Tyler led the peasants in revolt across London Bridge, Chaucer made a living and a name for himself, and a century later his Canterbury Tales was the first book produced on Caxton s new printing press in Westminster.But beneath the color and pageantry lay dirt, discomfort and disease, the daily grind for ordinary folk. Like us, they had family problems, work worries, health concerns and wondered about the weather.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Medieval History, Audiobook, London, Historical

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2014

About the author

Toni Mount is a writer, teacher and speaker, specialising in ordinary lives and fascinating characters from history. She has an MA by Research from the University of Kent. Diplomas in European Humanities, Literature and Creative Writing and a first class honours degree from the Open University.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyday Life In Medieval London
By Toni Mount
This was presented so well! It is very easy to absorb and enjoyable too! It covered every aspect of life and the different castes, too. I have read a lot of this period, and this book is really an excellent book to learn, enjoy, and be surprised by the past.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Really interesting facts about the dark ages. I liked the parts about the Norman Kings best, especially hearing about London being banned from having a mayor by King Edward 1st, as they had insulted his mother.
I also learnt lots about medieval food and drink such as ale. Peasants( from a French word) ate bread and ale. Bakers with the town oven would steal dough from householders to make extra batches. Northern people had a better diet, in this regard of food as the ate porridge.
I will reread this book later as I found out so much, at the same time the matter of the book felt familiar. I loved the medicine part, learning about a few herbs which really helped. I also loved the Dick Whittington part as I hadn't read much about this in non history tales although I had heard the name.
Trying to think of a least favourite part is difficult it may well be the sewage parts. Someone drowned by falling in their cesspit.
This was a jam packed book.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thouroughbly enjoyable and very accurate account of the history, customs, traditions and everyday life of medieval English people, with incursions into religious life, entertainments, beliefs, shopping, regulations, law and order, medicine that were set out and practiced since the times of the Anglo Saxons Kings, till the times of the last Plantagenets. Never boring and very well written.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this! I will never not be intrigued by trivial, every day sorts of histories.

[SibylM · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book is pretty much not about everyday life in medieval London. It's more of a very general history of England, with some specific attention paid to London. Lots of stuff on kings and bishops and political issues and wars -- not really everyday life. The second half is more as billed, but not as in-depth as I would have liked. The tone was a bit informal and "gee whiz, what do you think about THAT?" kind of like it was addressed to high school students. I think this book has its uses but I don't think I am the target audience.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Source: Free copy from Amberley Books in exchange for a review.
Summary:
Everyday Life in Medieval London, covers the time period, AD 500 through 1500. Londinium became the Roman name of London, but the name London, is "of Celtic origin." The Romans had a double purpose, to conquer and to establish trade in Britain. The easy access of the Thames River to the waters of the channel and the Atlantic Ocean, brought a lucrative trade route for the extensive Roman Empire. By the year AD 410, the bulk of the Romans had left. The Anglo-Saxons from the Germanic region had been placed in England by the Romans, their population and influence steadily grew and enveloped the population. The Vikings began raiding the coastal region of England in the 800s. William the Conqueror invaded in 1066, and the French Norman influence prevailed, as well as ruled England for centuries. The Tudor rule began in 1485, with Henry VII, his marriage to Elizabeth of York, united the dynasty lineages of Lancaster and York.
The book is organized into three parts:
"Part I: Anglo-Saxon and Norman London, AD 500-1154,"
"Part II: London under the Plantagenet Kings, AD 1154-1400,"
"Part III: The City under Lancastrian, Yorkist and Tudor Rule, AD 1400-1500."
Everyday Life in Medieval London, addresses the monarchy, royal court, wars, and other historical events; but it also examines the everyday people, the common people who lived in London during the medieval age. What kind of homes they lived in, what they ate and how they cooked their food, diseases and what natural remedies were used, the Christian and pagan religions, fires and other disasters, clothing, books and literacy, ending with the "social change" bought about by the English Reformation.

My Thoughts:
Over the past two weeks I read five books concurrently (including this book), all with similar topics. I loved it that Everyday Life in Medieval London, both complimented the other books, and gave additional information unsupplied by the others.
The books I'm referring to are: Edwin: High King of Britain by Edoardo Albert, Blood and Roses: One Family's Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses by Helen Castor, She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor, The Annals of London: A Year-By-Year Record of a Thousand Years of History by John Richardson.
For example the Romans came to England for trade, but I did not know the land was rich in minerals: "gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, and iron." I'd known England had textiles, but did not know till reading Everyday Life in Medieval London, a "weatherproof" cape was a sought after apparel.
Tony Mount explains the city of London was desolate of people after the Romans left, it was a "relic" of what it had been.
The Anglo-Saxon people were "masters of the art of carpentry." They were known as "tree-wrights."
How law and order was decided in Anglo-Saxon England. The introduction of the "wergild", payment for a crime, specifically murder.
A pagan priest named Coifi, his king was Edwin. This story was a gem for me, as I was reading another book about the same people and events in Edwin: High King of Britain. I'd wondered how Christianity was accepted by the pagan people, how society changed, were there those who still hung on to the old ways and worshiped under both religions. Both of these books answered all my questions.
The pestilence from the sea, the Vikings. They came from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The English monks kept a record of the Viking's plunder and killings. The monks looked upon the Vikings as devils.
The story of Richard the Lionheart, and his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The English queens Eleanor, Matilda, and Isabella, are mentioned in both She-Wolves and Everyday Life in Medieval London.
In one of the final chapters, books and literacy is examined. As an avid reader and lover of books, I'm always interested in understanding how people established learning and literacy, and how material to read became available.

Everyday Life in Medieval London, is a fascinating and extensive exploration of the history of the city of London.
Toni Mount, made the reading adventure pleasurable by her relaxed, yet matter of fact writing style. She is a born teacher, able to teach and relate material in a highly digestible format for the readers mind.

[Quenby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened on audio. Lots of interesting information with a dry wit, it’s a great way to relax. 😎

[Julie Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title and the book blurb are totally misleading?!- this is not remotely about daily life in London but instead a brief, high level, not particularly analytical review of English kings for beginners only. I disagree w many of her viewpoints, and several things are outright wrong (for example king Richard died fighting a rebellion in Aquitaine instigated by king Philip Augustus; he was not looking for treasure! ) So I was pretty frustrated. If you want high level, opinionated overview- read Thomas Costain as he’s actually funny (while being opinionated and sometimes wrong)

Part 3, which used documents for reference in addition to archaeological evidence, actually did discus daily life for Londoners, as compared to kings.

Read at your own risk.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Full of facts and stories about this period of time.

[Blaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable book about life in London. More anecdotal than analytic, a mixture of archeology, general history and stories about individuals taken from law cases, chronicles, legislation and wills and contracts. I particularly liked the parts using legal sources but could have done without the general history, which did not tell much about everyday life.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and entertaining, this is a well-researched book and the knowledge the author shares recreates ordinary lives in London from its Roman origins to the rise of the Tudors. Recommended.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an engaging account of 1,000 years of London life.

As you might expect, the latter 500 years is more in-depth than the former.

This isn’t a dry scholarly work; it’s aimed at the general reader.

[Freyja Vanadis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of life in medieval London.

[The Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This an entertaining journey through the history of London, well researched and written in a warm and easy to read manner that leads you from the Anglo-Saxons, via the Normans and Plantagenets to the Tudors - but not the Royals or even the Lords and their Ladies, but named 'ordinary people' who lived, loved, shopped, brought up children, set up shops and businesses and died in our capital city. The Masters and their apprentices, the Femme-sole, the Hucksters, silk-women, regrators and the prostitutes - a great read.

[Leif Bodnarchuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy-to-read overview of...what it says on the cover.

No stuffy academic language, just straightforward writing in an accessible style. Plenty of "I never knew that!" moments to keep you interested. If you're an amateur history buff, give it a go.

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Informative and witty.

2024: listened to the audio version, excellently read and refreshed my knowledge of the book

[Jos Deroo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but not so much about everyday life as about the history of London, from 500 to 1500 ad.

[Jodie Paull · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not a history of Medieval London. It is a history of the English monarchy during that time, with the city of London getting a mention now and again. Disappointing.

[Andrew McAuley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Everyday Life in Medieval London. I was not previously aware of the work of Toni Mount, but became quickly impressed with her narrative style and the sub-sections which divide each chapter into bitesize chunks.

I would suggest, however, that, as is often the case with these sorts of books, it doesn't quite do what it says on the cover. The majority of the book is an overview of the period between 410 and 1500 as far as England in general is concerned, with particular focus on the major events in London's history. Daily life tends to be much more relegated to archaeological texts, such as those by Christopher Dyer, Francis Pryor etc, so I wasn't expecting too much focus on the actual daily life here - had it been so, it would've perhaps read more like a clone of Mortimer's fine book series. There are, however, enough elements of daily life to keep it relevant to the title, and we hear from all the various trades in London and glimpse some of the fascinating characters that lived there.

I didn't read this book to learn about London history, but for its relevance to medieval England as a whole and found that most of what we read about in this book is relevant to the rest of the country too, so it's not so london centric to exclude those with interest outside the city: to be honest, I always found london to be a stressful place best avoided where possible, but I found this book to be a colourful and thoroughly interesting read.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of this book is naturally history of England, but I like how it also focused the effect some of these well-known occurrences had on London. I like the organization of the book into topics and the highlighting of the rapid changes in society, language etc especially towards the end of the era covered (such as, language changing within Caxton's lifetime). The bibliography relied on mostly other published works, though with some of the existing chronicles and documents of the time. All in all, I very much enjoyed this book.

[Doug Lewars · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was a pretty good history of the middle ages and how Londoners lived. I read it for tips on world-building and there were a few but I don't think much of London in the middle ages would translate well in fantasy novels. The reality is, hygiene wasn't great and London would have been putrid. On a positive note, I learned where the term 'upper crust' applied to people of means comes from. If you're into history then I think this is a good resource; otherwise, not.

[Ade Windsor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and highly detailed this book covers a wider scope than just London with comprehensive explanations of events and the politics of the times which greatly enhances the readers understanding. There are also explanations for many of the sayings we are still using to this day and the evolution of the English language.

[My Little Happy Nook · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️

This was a very solid, enjoyable non-fiction read about London’s medieval history. I found the writing to be both accessible and educational.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was how the author would bring up specific individuals and walk you through situations in their lives to help you see what daily life was like for average individuals in that time period.

[Kayla Tornello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers an in-depth look at life in medieval London. This is such a broad subject covering such a long span of time. The author did a good job of organizing everything, although it does still jump around at times. This book was easy to read and full of fascinating little facts.

[Stoic_quin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating run through of c 8 centuries of history. It seemed oddly strongest when the documentary evidence was weaker (Anglo-Saxon Ludenwic) than in later time periods (Yorkist London) but overall an interesting history

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to Medieval England covering the period from the Saxons to the Tudors. Mrs. Mount’s research is thorough, and her writing is enjoyable. She covers a multitude of topics from a fashion to food, money to monasteries, and so much more! Highly recommend!!!

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant read, from start to finish, taking you on a 1,000 year tour of London and its inhabitants. Written with a tone that inspires laughter and learning, Toni Mount exquisitely enlightens the reader to an outstanding array of information.

[Sheffielder · Rating 4 out of 5]

In places it reads like it's written for kids, but it's nonetheless full of interesting detail and well worth reading.

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Interesting book about the city of London and the people who lived there in the medieval age. I enjoyed reading it and I reccomend it if you're interested in the subject matter.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very nice account of life in Medieval London. It delivers on the title and expectations although it does not make a larger point about the nature of that life.