Finished January 2024 – Kindle Edition
I love history books like this. Mortimer provides an immersive experience for the medieval traveler. He writes from the perspective of someone who stepped off a time machine and into the fourteenth century. Trying to resist chronological snobbery I read with an open mind.
One of the features of medieval culture I found interesting was the class system. Mortimer explains the estate divisions, “There are three sections of society, or ‘estates,’ created by God – those who fight, those who pray, and those who work the land.” In an egalitarian age like our own such widely accepted class distinctions are unthinkable. Likewise, other features of 14th century England like lack of clean water in cities and larger towns, legally sanctioned wife abuse (as long as she is not killed or maimed), and medical treatments such as bloodletting are thankfully no longer passable in the western world.
On the other hand, one has to respect the resiliency of a society able to survive and rebuild after the ravages of bubonic plague. As Mortimer describes, “The total population shrinks by 9 to 10 percent between 1315 and 1325, by 30 to 40 percent in the Great Plague of 1348-1349, and by a further 15 to 25 percent over the rest of the century.” I cannot fathom our society as a whole in 21st century America possessing the spiritual, psychological, and emotional make-up to endure such a widespread, apocalyptic trauma.
I enjoyed this page turner very much. I give it an 8 out of 10.
Page Turner Book Blog by Kyle Page 