Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain, 850-1520
by Christopher Dyer
On This Page
Description
Dramatic social and economic change during the middle ages altered the lives of the people of Britain in far-reaching ways, from the structure of their families to the ways they made their livings. In this masterly book, preeminent medieval historian Christopher Dyer presents a fresh view of the British economy from the ninth to the sixteenth century and a vivid new account of medieval life. He begins his volume with the formation of towns and villages in the ninth and tenth centuries and show more ends with the inflation, population rise, and colonial expansion of the sixteenth century.This is a book about ideas and attitudes as well as the material world, and Dyer shows how people regarded the economy and responded to economic change. He examines the growth of towns, the clearing of lands, the Great Famine, the Black Death, and the upheavals of the fifteenth century through the eyes of those who experienced them. He also explores the dilemmas and decisions of those who were making a living in a changing world-from peasants, artisans, and wage earners to barons and monks. Drawing on archaeological and landscape evidence along with more conventional archives and records, the author offers here an engaging survey of British medieval economic history unrivaled in breadth and clarity. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
The subtitle: The People of Britain 850-1520 is somewhat more accurate, but the real title is Economic changes in England, Wales, and Scotland 850-1520 and why it was never just one thing. It wasn't completely deadly, but it felt very repetitive as it went on.
Packed with information but deadly dull. It reads like a financial report. I couldn't force myself to finish it. That said, if you're preparing a paper or writing a novel set in Britain between the years of 850 and 1520, this would make great source material.
Great bibliography, however details are no referenced to primary sources. Learned much for Regia Anglorum, SCA
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
25+ Works 571 Members
Christopher Dyer is Emeritus Professor of History, University of Leicester.
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain, 850-1520
- Important places
- England, UK; Scotland, UK; Wales, UK
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Economics, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 330.941 — Society, Government, and Culture Economics Jobs & Careers Economic geography and history Europe British Isles -- Scotland, Ireland
- LCC
- HC254 .D93 — Social sciences Economic history and conditions Economic history and conditions By region or country
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 211
- Popularity
- 154,226
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.69)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 2
