Medieval People

scribed various aspects of social life of the era by drawing on such sources as account books, diaries, letters, records, and wills. She starts the book with an essay entitled "The Precursors," (that previously has never been published) which describes the barbarian conquest of Rome. In this, she describes the lives of three men, Ausonius, Sidonius and Fortunatus and uses them to predict the life that would re-emerge in the Middle Ages. She starts by imagining a day in the life of the Peasant Bodo, in the time of Charlemagne. From her study of primarily economic documents from the Middle Ages of this time, she not only extrapolates but truly brings to life Bodo and his wife Ermentrude. From there, she goes on to the better documented life of Marco Polo, and also describes how he served as an inspiration for Columbus. Madam Eglentyne is next. Here, Power humorously describes in details the inner workings of a gossipy nunnery and how Eglentyne would have gone about her life as an aristocratic women of God. She next details the life of a middle class Parisian housewife by studying the contents of the Menagier's Wife and validating many of its points by referring to other documents. She concludes by detailing the lives of the two Thomases; Betson and Paycocke of Coggeshall. Both are merchants and provide a chance for Power to really show off her grasp of medieval economics as well as an ability to compile disparate correspondences into a story of a life. This is a rare scientific work that truly entertains while being read. "Medieval people" gives readers a realistic vision of that life, of how people saw the world in those times. This book is a real trip to Medieval times. Eileen Power managed to masterly combine a serious scholar work with a fascinating story that amazes from the very first page. The book is written in a simple readable style easy for understanding (and what is also quite important, for remembering). Divided into several stories about different people, this great work will not ever become boring during reading. It is full of interesting facts, the will surely amaze you. Author’s idea about describing lives of several people is really great, because it gives the chance to make a full all-sided impression about those times. This book will be interesting both for students and their teachers, as it is written in a simple language, and you don’t need to be a professor of History to catch the idea of the work.