I have read just about every book by the Gies couple, and I have to say that this book, Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages is by far their most academic book. What I mean by this is that there is a lot of meta discussion about what is a family, what makes up a family, what makes a marriage, etc. Oftentimes, this book feels philosophical in its delivery. Ultimately, once I got through the first couple of chapters, I really settled into its cadence and really fell in love with it.

The first couple chapters focus on what 'measurements' (for lack of a better term) Gies will use to identify and characterize families. After that, there is, what felt like, a hefty chapter on the late Roman Empire and the families during this time period. Again, it felt like Gies was trying to characterize what the medieval family was not. Honestly, I didn't find this particularly helpful and almost distracting. In picking up the book, I'm aware that I'm going to learn about medieval societies. I don't particularly care about what preceded them. I don't think it did much in setting up the backdrop for the medieval era, personally.

Once I got past this section, the book started getting more interesting. What impressed me was the breadth this book covered. Most of Gies' books cover English, French, and sometimes German medieval societies. Here, there were distinctions made for Spanish and Italian communities in various eras. There was a sense of hegemony between all of the eras but also a sense of uniqueness that made me want to pay attention so that I didn't miss anything.

When possible, Gies pulled from particular families to contextualize her facts, which I appreciated. The Pastons made an appearance, as they do in every book, but there were also Carolingian and Florentine families that managed to stick out of the crowd. When the spotlight was on these families, the facts really made sense. I finally understood how siblings were affected by primogeniture and how dowries evolved.

Yes, this book details the beginning of primogeniture, the entail, and the jointure in England. If you've read any historical book or watched a period drama set before 1910, then you know what these things are. I couldn't help getting excited during these sections, because it gave context to all of the Victorian and Regency novels I love to read. Honestly, this was probably the most exciting part for me, and I would venture to say it's the most recognizable or familiar part to readers, as well.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It's more difficult to read through than Gies' other books, but it's well worth it. You must read it if you hope to get a complete picture of medieval history. I can definitely see myself referencing it in future, though it might be ambitious to say I would re-read the whole thing again. ( )

Chronicling the subject from the end of the Roman Era to the Black Death, this is amongst the longest of the Gies works. Nevertheless, it is well worth the read, not just for those interested in Social History, but also for the more general reader- such is the appeal of these authors.

The chronological approach makes it relatively easy to find what you might be looking for, and looking at examples from across Europe and the social specturum gives a more well-rounded approach.

There are some- surprising revelations here- in the later half of the fifteenth century for instance, some female agricultural workers in the Midlands of England were paid the same wage as their male counterparts.
This was a condition that would not be achieved again for many ordinary women until well into the Twentieth century.

Altogether, a very worthwhile read. ( )

For anyone considering writing something set in the middle ages, the Gies' have a number of great reference works including this one. ( )

A more delicate problem for the Church arose in clerical marriage. In accordance with St. Paul's prejudice in favor of chastity, priests had been forbidden to marry as early as the third century. This did not prevent many men already married from taking orders. The issue did not become troublesome until the sixth century. A question was raised: could priests and prelates sleep with their wives, or were they obliged to avoid the contamination of sex?

Morality was more a concern of the preachers than of their parishioners, and virginity more valued by the former than the latter.