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_Daily Life in Chaucer's England_
Hi!
I pulled this off the West Kingdom list. I thought many of you might be
interested.
- Anarra
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 1996 11:38:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Naomi Grace Walenta <nomes@uclink2.berkeley.edu>
To: sca-west@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu
Subject: A new book
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9603061131.C14927-0100000@uclink2.berkeley.edu>
Greetings from Elsa!
A friend of mine who works in the library pointed out this book
to me, and I thought others might be interested. So...
_Daily Life in Chaucer's England_
Jeffrey L. Singman and Will McLean
1995, Greenwood Press
Blurb from the back:
"The medieval world comes alive in this indispensable "hands-on"
resource to life as it was actually lived--with authentic recipes,
clothing patterns, songs, dances, and games. The first book on medieval
England to arise out of the "living history" movement, it recreates the
daily life of ordinary people, not just the aristocracy, by combining a
hands-on approach with the best of current research...A chronology of
medieval England, a glossary, appendixes with information and ideas on
organizing a medieval event, and suggestions for further reading complete
the work..."
The book contains a lot of useful information and trivia. The pictures
are all hand-drawn, not reproductions of existing works. Sources are
cited nicely (good footnotes). There are very basic patterns for clothing
and shoes, as well as simple recipes and songs. All in all, a fun book
especially because it is geared towards recreation movements.
FYI, Appendix A refers you to various organizations. Here's what the
authors had to say about the SCA:
"Among the organizations in North America involved in medieval living
history, the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is by far the
largest, with chapters all over the continent and a fair number abroad.
The SCA covers a broad temporal scope (roughly AD 500-1600) and
accomodates very diverse interests, some of them oriented towards
history, others not. The educational quality of the SCA's activities is
therefore quite variable. However, the SCA does provide a context for
many people with a genuine interest in the Middle Ages to pursue their
interests and meet others of a like mind, and it had helped foster a good
deal of valuable research, particularly in the field of medieval crafts."