History of Private Life, Vol. 2: Revelations of the Medieval World 2

The second volume of "A History of Private Life" is a treasure trove of rich and colorful detail culled from an astounding variety of sources. This absorbing "secret epic" constructs a vivid picture of peasant and patrician life in the eleventh to fifteenth centuries.

all The Mystery, Earthiness And Romance Of The Middle Ages Are Captured In This Panorama Of Everyday Life. The Evolving Concepts Of Intimacy Are Explored--from The Semi-obscure Eleventh Century Through The First Stirrings Of The Renaissance World In The Fifteenth Century. Color And Black-and-white Illustrations.

publishers Weekly

people Of The Middle Ages Were Suspicious Of Solitude. Feudal Dwellings Were Promiscuously Crowded, Monastery Layouts Reflected A Fear Of Isolation. Yet, The Idea Of Privacy, Linked To An Inner Life, Stubbornly Took Root. Intimacy Found Expression In Peasant Hearths, In Orchards Where Lovers Embraced, In Noble Households With Their Areas For Retreat, In Towers And Fortresses That Gave Ordinary People A Refuge From The Havoc Of War. The Private Sphere Spilled Out Into The Neighborhood. Moving From The Anonymous 11th Century To The Stirrings Of Renaissance Individualism, This Second Volume Of Essays In A Projected Five-volume Opus Is A Marvelous Re-creation Of History As It Was Actually Lived, An Archeological Excavation Of Daily Life Few Historians Have Attempted. Hundreds Of Apt Illustrations Complement Discussions Of Bedroom Design, Table Manners, Discovery Of The Body, Customs. The Growing Importance Of The Individual Is Traced Through Fables, Romances, Poems And A New Realism In Painting. The Contributors Are French Scholars; Duby Is A Professor At The College De France. History Book Club Alternate. (march)

The second volume of A History of Private Life is a treasure-trove of rich and colorful detail culled from an astounding variety of sources. This absorbing "secret epic" constructs a vivid picture of peasant and patrician life in the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. All the mystery, earthiness and romance of the Middle Ages are captured in this panorama of everyday life. The evolving concepts of intimacy are explored--from the semi-obscure eleventh century through the first stirrings of the Renaissance world in the fifteenth century. Color and black-and-white illustrations This fifth and final volume of an award-winning series charts the changing inner history of our times from the tumult of World War I to the 1990s, when personal identity was released from its moorings in gender, family, social class, religion, politics and nationality. Social life in Renaissance - Family in Renaissance - Renaissance women - Development of the concept of personal privacy What was private life like in the feudal age?