THE TYPICAL MEDIEVAL PEASANT LIVED THEIR ENTIRE LIFE HAVING NEVER LEFT THEIR TOWN OF BIRTH
The typical medieval peasant lived their entire life having never left their town of birth, they almost certainly couldn’t read, they had no say over governance, they labored hard from a young age, they didn’t pick their jobs, and they likely saw no distinguishable changes from one generation to the next. Is it possible for our modern minds to imagine ourselves in their shoes? Our hyper-individualized world today encourages the discovery and cultivation of one’s “self,” but in a world without clocks, maps, or newspapers; was an ego, sense of self, or understanding of ones place in the world possible in the way we understand it? While we love to read of the fascinating affairs and quarrels of kings, popes, and knights from this time period, William Manchester does an excellent job at showing how these events likely had little or no effect on the common folk; they may not have even been aware of most of it (a broad and over-generalized description, but nonetheless, excellent). Names wer