Managed to Finish Reading Ian Mortimer's Guide to Medieval England
Itâs not the woman-erasing disaster Goodreads made it out to be. Here are my thoughts about the book:
1. Itâs not nearly as male-focused as people claimed.
Once you get past the introduction and into the chapters, Mortimer does talk about women quite a bit, actually. Clothing, laws, social expectations, health, hygiene, and personal conduct⊠all covered for both men and women.
Chapter 5 (on clothing) has pages devoted to what women should and shouldnât wear â pages 128, 132, 138.
Chapter 6 touches on how women travelled in the 14th century (page 159).
Later chapters discuss medicine, cleanliness, religious roles, and legal rights for both genders. He even includes royal women when relevant.
2. But yes, Mortimer can be⊠long-winded.
At some point, I found myself thinking, âSir, I didnât ask for the entire inventory of a medieval butcherâs stall.â He listed everything. Gemstones, meat cuts, fabric types, market stalls! Itâs like the medieval IKEA catalogue. Very detailed but also pretty exhausting.
3. Mortimer vs Goodman â the perspective gap is real.
Ruth Goodman has lived the Tudor life. Sheâs scrubbed the floors, worn the wool, cooked the meals, slept in the straw, and probably questioned her life choices while churning butter at 5 AM. So when she writes, she writes from inside the experience. Mortimer, meanwhile, has not:
not lived as a 14th-century traveller
not walked medieval roads on medieval horses
Hence, his writing combined evidence-backed statements with educated guesses. And he leaned into doom-and-gloom quite a fair bit â plagues, bad omens, discomfort, terrible food, worse hygiene. Overall, the vibe was: âMedieval England was amazing, if you ignore the part where you might die horribly.â
4. The last two chapters were a bit of a drag.
His wit becomes very dry, very sarcastic, and very âprofessor whoâs been lecturing for two hours without water.â It's neither academic nor groundbreaking. But surprisingly enjoyable once you tune into Mortimerâs wavelength. Iâm still glad I read it. It was fun if you treated it exactly as what it was meant to be â a detailed, slightly overexcited guidebook to a world none of us can visit. It was exciting while it lasted.
And now, I shall jump into Scotland's Merlin: A Medieval Legend and its Dark Age Origins by T. J. Clarkson.