Medieval Lives - Book 12

(Note: with spring coming on, I decided the blog needed a new look!)


Medieval Lives by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame is a well written peek into life in the so called Middle Ages. Jones tackles this big subject by characterizing and analyzing different types of folk we think of when we think Middle Ages. It starts with Minstrels or Jongleurs, in the French, and ends with Kings such as the never mentioned King Louis of England or the falsely maligned (according to the author) Richard II. In between you also learn about peasants, monks, outlaws like Robin Hood, and philosophers (really alchemists), knights and damsels.

Jones is a debunker. That seems to be the main thrust of each chapter. He sets the reader up with the usual modern perception of whatever character he is about to explore and then produces interesting fact after interesting fact that turns that perception on its head. I do think though sometimes his humor is a little too glib and he is a little too swift to present things in just the right light to suit his purposes. I probably would not have noticed this about him except for the fact that I am also listening to Professor Daileader's Teaching Company lectures on the High Middle Ages. The professor is a lot more objective and fair in his presentation than Jones, who is obviously going for laughs or titillation value while still trying to present a solid history. It did make me distrust Jones a bit. For instance Jones presents the Cistercian monks as money-grubbing hedonists. He calls the rapid spread of their monasteries McMonasteries comparing them outright to money-making franchises like McDonald's. Prof Daileader does not say this. He asserts that the Cistercians were a reform movement in reaction to corruption that had occurred in Benedictine monasteries. Because monastic life was so hard, certain inevitable circumstances led to them starting out rigid and then relaxing and eventually becoming corrupt. This was a pattern they experienced over and over again. Jones doesn't go into this, instead he focuses on bizarre happenings like civil strife and fighting that went on between one monastery and the town near it.

In some places though Professor Daileader and Jones overlap or coincide quite well. But in many others there is that emphasis on anything squalid by Jones whereas Professor Daileader has a more objective, comprehensive view.

I do think Jones writes a good history book though. He really delves into detail about things I had never heard about. He knows his stuff and quotes from original sources quite frequently. So he really debunks well! For instance, he presents King John Lackland in a completely different light then I have ever seen before. I'm not an expert but I did read a book on the Magna Carta several years ago, so his take on events is very different from what I've encountered. It makes for very interesting reading and food for thought, but at the same time I prefer the good Professor's presentation more. I just feel like Jones' agenda made things a little too biased.

Still, I would recommend this book. I think it is a companion book to a BBC program Jones did by the same title. Here's a random clip I found on youtube.

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