
Life in a Medieval Village
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Narrated by:
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Anne Flosnik
About this listen
Life in a Medieval Village, by respected historians Joseph and Frances Gies, paints a lively, convincing portrait of rural people at work and at play in the Middle Ages. Focusing on the village of Elton, in the English East Midlands, the Gieses detail the agricultural advances that made communal living possible, explain what domestic life was like for serf and lord alike, and describe the central role of the church in maintaining social harmony. Though the main focus is on Elton, c. 1300, the Gieses supply enlightening historical context on the origin, development, and decline of the European village, itself an invention of the Middle Ages.
Meticulously researched, Life in a Medieval Village is a remarkable account that illustrates the captivating world of the Middle Ages and demonstrates what it was like to live during a fascinating - and often misunderstood - era.
©1990 Frances and Joseph Gies (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
In this account of Europe’s rise to world leadership in technology, Frances and Joseph Gies make use of recent scholarship to destroy two time-honored myths. Myth One: that Europe’s leap forward occurred suddenly in the “Renaissance,” following centuries of medieval stagnation. Myth Two: that Europe achieved its primacy through “Western” superiority.
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Good Info, Bit Dry
- By PG on 04-15-25
By: Frances Gies, and others
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Medieval Horizons
- Why the Middle Ages Matter
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Ian Mortimer
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a dark, backward, and unchanging time characterized by violence, ignorance, and superstition. By contrast, we believe progress arose from science and technological innovation, and that inventions of recent centuries created the modern world. We couldn't be more wrong.
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Altered my perception of History
- By IowaGreyhound on 06-25-24
By: Ian Mortimer
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In Search of the Dark Ages
- By: Michael Wood
- Narrated by: Marston York
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In Search of the Dark Ages is an unrivalled exploration of the origins of English identity, and the best-selling book that established Michael Wood as one of Britain's leading historians. Now, on the book's 40th anniversary, this fully revised and expanded edition illuminates further the fascinating and mysterious centuries between the Romans and the Norman Conquest.
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Michael Woods Narration makes it more enchanting to listen to
- By Little Willow on 11-23-23
By: Michael Wood
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A Medieval Family
- The Pastons of Fifteenth-Century England
- By: Frances Gies, Joseph Gies
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The Pastons were members of the English gentry, a group of roughly 1,000 households sandwiched between the ruling nobility and the peasants and a rough analog for the contemporary “middle class.” Their existence was fairly typical, except for the fact that it was recorded in an extraordinary collection of nearly 1,000 letters that have survived to this day. Through these letters, which cover the years from 1421 to 1484 and the lives of three generations of Pastons, historians Frances and Joseph Gies provide a rare window into the day-to-day life of this family.
By: Frances Gies, and others
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The Story of the Country House
- A History of Places and People
- By: Clive Aslet
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The Story of the Country House is an authoritative and vivid account of the British country house, exploring how they have evolved with the changing political and economic landscape. Clive Aslet reveals the captivating stories behind individual houses, their architects, and occupants and paints a vivid picture of the wider context in which the country house in Britain flourished and subsequently fell into decline before enjoying a renaissance in the 21st century.
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Very thorough
- By Ladyethyme on 07-19-23
By: Clive Aslet
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The Fires of Vesuvius
- Pompeii Lost and Found
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ruins of Pompeii offer the best evidence we have of life in the Roman Empire. But the eruptions are only part of the story. In The Fires of Vesuvius, acclaimed historian Mary Beard makes sense of the remains. She explores what kind of town it was - more like Calcutta or the Costa del Sol? - and what it can tell us about "ordinary" life there. From sex to politics, food to religion, slavery to literacy, Beard offers us the big picture even as she takes us close enough to the past to smell the bad breath....
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Delightful Description of Life in Ancient Pompeii
- By Emily on 08-27-19
By: Mary Beard
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A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages
- Brief Histories
- By: Martyn Whittock
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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A fascinating new portrait of Medieval Britain that brings together the everyday and the extraordinary. Using wide-ranging evidence, Martyn Whittock shines a light on Britain in the Middle Ages, bringing it vividly to life. Thus we glimpse 11th century rural society through a conversation between a ploughman and his master. The life of Dick Whittington illuminates the rise of the urban elite.
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Really good book
- By Claire on 11-11-18
By: Martyn Whittock
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Weavers, Scribes, and Kings
- A New History of the Ancient Near East
- By: Amanda H. Podany
- Narrated by: Amanda H. Podany
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In this sweeping history of the ancient Near East, Amanda Podany takes listeners on a gripping journey from the creation of the world's first cities to the conquests of Alexander the Great. The book is built around the life stories of many ancient men and women, from kings, priestesses, and merchants to brickmakers, musicians, and weavers. Their habits of daily life, beliefs, triumphs, and crises, and the changes that people faced over time are explored through their own written words and the buildings, cities, and empires in which they lived.
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word of advice
- By Jim Davis on 08-04-23
By: Amanda H. Podany
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The Wordhord
- Daily Life in Old English
- By: Hana Videen
- Narrated by: Sara Powell
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Old English is the language you think you know until you actually hear or see it. Unlike Shakespearean English or even Chaucer's Middle English, Old English—the language of Beowulf—defies comprehension by untrained modern readers. Used throughout much of Britain more than a thousand years ago, it is rich with words that haven't changed (like word), others that are unrecognizable (such as neorxnawang, or paradise), and some that are mystifying even in translation ( gafol-fisc, or tax-fish).
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So Great! More please.
- By Danielle on 05-27-22
By: Hana Videen
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The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
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Chaucer's People
- Everyday Lives in Medieval England
- By: Liza Picard
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Chaucer wrote about everyday people outside the walls of the English court-men and women who spent days at the pedal of a loom, or maintaining the ledgers of an estate, or on the high seas. In Chaucer's People, Liza Picard transforms The Canterbury Tales into a masterful guide for a gloriously detailed tour of medieval England, from the mills and farms of a manor house to the lending houses and Inns of Court in London. In Chaucer's People, we meet, again, the motley crew of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury.
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A delight
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Liza Picard
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Medieval Woman
- Village Life in the Middle Ages
- By: Ann Baer
- Narrated by: Sarah Whitehouse
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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A history of peasants in the Middle Ages, the story takes the listener into the life of Marion, the carpenter's wife, and her extended family as they struggle to survive through hardship, featuring a year in their lives at the mercy of the weather and the Lord of the Manor. Existing without soap, paper or glass and only with the most basic of tools, we learn how they survive starvation, sickness, fire and natural disaster in their home on the edge of the Weald.
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Listen to this on a cold dark night.
- By V on 03-07-19
By: Ann Baer
What listeners say about Life in a Medieval Village
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Josh Hall
- 11-17-23
it gets very dry but still interesting
if you're interested in medieval life, then it will keep your attention no problem. however it does go on quite long with just reading old records.
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- J Bubba
- 01-02-19
Very thorough and informative.
A great reference for medieval English life. I found myself having to go back to catch something missed due to the density of information.
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1 person found this helpful
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- JW
- 11-04-24
Reads like a good text book
Overall has some interesting things. This is not a lecture series like the great courses series. It reminds me of a good text book.
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- Li-Chi Young
- 08-02-19
a reliable academic text
I wish the chapters were titled by audible but ice complaints go that's really kind of petty LOL
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3 people found this helpful
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- Diana
- 10-02-19
A step back in time
Using a English village as the template, this book shows you what life was like in a medieval village. It busts a lot of misconceptions I had and helps to really make these people feel like real people.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Dixey
- 05-13-21
Simply Insightful.
Easy to understand narration at a decent pace. Easy to pick and up and continue on without confusion even mid phrase.
Chapter divisions were at sinple placements for stoppages and left little less breaks to be desired.
Content is insightful and full of colorful vocabulary, most of which is came across then defined in terms or in contextual distinction of the times. Not only paints a proportioned picture of an aversge village life in Medieval England of which this is centered, but also gives a wider bredth into how it was different from that on the content of Europe
Enjoying listen and Id assume an enjoying read aswell.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Elizabeth Hagan
- 04-23-25
Well researched and well presented.
The only thing I don’t like about the performance is the way the presenter handles quotes. She switches to a weird low register stuffy voice. It’s a minor thing but I find it unnecessary. Other than that I like it very much and have listened to it over and over.
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- Shadowdarkling
- 12-22-20
Short but Good Survey of Village Institutions
Focusing on social institutions such as landholding, law courts, and the parish, and including prologue and epilogue histories before the Normans and after the Black Death, this is a good survey of information available on the Medieval village. Includes a number of primary but also tertiary source quotations.
The narration is not monotonous but repetitive, unfortunately. And there is a noticable affectation for deepening the voice artificially when reading quoted material. Otherwise very clear narration.
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- Deborah Greer
- 02-01-25
Dry and boring records read
All of it. Even the reader was dull. I tried it three times and could not stomach it.
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