Samuel Peterson’s Reviews > The Middle Ages: Everyday Life in Medieval Europe > Status Update
Samuel Peterson
is starting
One page in and already I had to check: this was published in 1991 with this particular version published in 2013. There are a lot more pictures and paintings than previous versions, and they are in color! Also I'm glad that the author wrote in the introduction that this book will be focused on Northern and Western Europe sans Spain and Italy because of the cultural and institutional differences they had.
— Jun 02, 2026 02:06PM
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Samuel’s Previous Updates
Samuel Peterson
is on page 15 of 328
"The priest was called upon to provide blessings for salt, butter, and cheese, to bless eggs at Easter and seeds at planting time, to bless a child before its first haircut, and to bless a boy before his first shave." HA! Imagine if that practice was still around today.
— Jun 08, 2026 07:59PM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 14 of 328
"Various non-Catholic sects existed in the West...they had to survive more or less underground. The most widespread of these sects were the Cathars, who believed that God and the Devil were two equal powers in eternal conflict." Sounds like a Christian version of Zoroastrianism. I can see why the Catholic Church didn't like it with the Devil being equal to God, when God is supposed to be the Supreme Being.
— Jun 08, 2026 07:55PM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 13 of 328
The author uses "barbarian" as a descriptor of those people outside of known established borders. And here I thought that description has been dropped by this point.
— Jun 08, 2026 07:11PM
