Daily Life in Medieval Europe Book

Probably the best book I have read so far on what daily life in Medieval Europe looked like. It does not focus on just one aspect, but gives details on a wide variety of people. One of the areas I found most interesting was that of life in a monastery, as for most people that would be living in luxury compared to most other locations, and led to a secular monastery as a result. I was also surprised to find some a number of monks joined late in life, almost treating it as retirement.

While people are often nostalgic for medieval times, this book explains the difficulty involved in everyday life. Much of life was simply focused on getting enough to eat. Hygiene was typically lacking, running water was virtually non existent, and a poor harvest could doom an entire region. While some aspects of medieval life do indeed some enjoyable and simple, daily life was clearly much more of a struggle for the vast majority of people compared to what exists now.

Overall a fascinating look into medieval life that would be enjoyable for anyone interested in medieval history.