Terry Jones' Medieval Lives

When Terry Jones joined Monty Python, he kept his day job. He is a scholar and professor of medieval studies. Which means, MEDIEVAL LIVES is serious history for general readers, but it is also history dished up in a fluent voice that chuckles over human folly, is appropriately stern at the abuses of power that caused incredible pain and suffering, and returns with awe at the lights of human achievement that managed to flicker in an epoch of constant bloodshed. Nothing seems to annoy Jones more than the inaccuracies that have circulated as fact about the period he defines as beginning with the Norman Conquest in 1066 and ending when Henry VIII effectively dismantled the old church in 1536. The overarching inaccuracy is that the medieval period was static and primitive. Au contraire says Jones and developed a BBC series taking the 470 years archetype by archetype, looking at how things changed often dramatically in that long period, sometimes progressively, sometimes regressively for the likes of peasants, minstrels, monks, outlaws, scientists, knights, women and kings. He stomped forcibly on the inaccuracies and falsehoods largely promulgated in the Renaissance and Victorian eras. This book is the companion volume to that series. As someone who has not seen the television series, I can vouch that you never miss it. The book is a stand alone triumph. Jones manages to pull together an amazing amount of material and information in a relatively short book, weaving social, political and religious history. As such, the book is like a survey course, which is not a bad thing at all. To see what Jones can really do when he throws all his scholarly resources and colleagues at a medieval subject, see WHO MURDERED CHAUCER? That is top-notch historical investigation and criticism that skimps on nothing.

This is an excellent overview of an often misunderstood and underappreciated era. The authors present copious quanties of information, but never become pedantic or tiring. This book would be a good introduction to the era for those whose history education fell short in this respect. I've been a student of the medieval period for years and I learned a good bit that was new to me.

I loved Terry Jones book "Who Murdered Chaucer", and really enjoyed the series for "Medieval Lives". And yes, I still watch the reruns of Monty Python. This book is fun and interesting, making it clear that our idea's of the way people lived in the past, based on Movies and Television, are incomplete and incorrect - at least in some cases. I think most individuals interested in the Medieval ages would find it interesting as well.

I really enjoyed Terry Jones' Medieval Lives when it was airing on TV, so I was even more thrilled when I discovered this book! If you liked the series, this book will not dissapoint you,and if you haven't seen the series, this book will not dissapoint you. Really a great addition to any British History collection.

Terry Jones of Monty Pyhton fame is less well-known as an accomplished historian. He skillfully uses his comic ability to make the scholarly material more accessible to laypeople, like me. Despite that it is cramped with facts and analyses it reads very easliy, and left me with wishing it had been longer. My favourite sections were the ones about the friaries that drove the financial and technological development of early middle ages, and the king that has been struck from British lists of regents. With this book Jones wants to remedy a lot of misconceptions we have of life in the middle ages. Some, like financially astute monks and knights, are reaonably well-known, but others, like affluent peasants, sexually liberated women, and kings that served as defenders of the law, are less known. I do consider myself well-read, but there was a lot of new stuff in here for me. Even if some of his conclusions might be a bit shaky they are still of interest, and can serve as basis for further studies. Do avoid the television series: it is very shallow and a bit incoherent because of all the unneccessary animations.