An opportunity to experience the daily hustle and bustle of life in the late Middle Ages, " A Day in a Medieval City" provides a captivating dawn-to-dark account of medieval life. A visual trek through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries with seasoned historian and expert on medieval iconography Chiara Frugoni as guide this book offers a vast array of images and vignettes that depicts the everyday hardships and commonplace pleasures for people living in the Middle Ages. "A Day in a Medieval City" breathes life into the activities of the city streets, homes, fields, schools, and places of worship. With entertaining anecdotes and gritty details, it engages the modern reader with its discoveries of the religious, economic, and institutional practices of the day. From urban planning and education to child care, hygiene, and the more leisurely pursuits of games, food, books, and superstitions, Frugoni unearths the daily routines of the private and public lives of citizens." A Day in a Medieval City" is a charming portal to the Middle Ages that you'll surely want with you on your travels to Europe or in your armchair. With its color illustrations of rare paintings and artifacts, this thoughtful and informative, elegantly fashioned excursion into the life of a medieval city is a veritable feast of information and visual delights. Frugoni is a marvelously experienced historical travel guide. "Choice " Stunningly beautiful . . . and a good read as well. . . . It s amazing how much wealth of detail and image Ms.Frugoni has packed into this delightful, relatively small book. Steve Goode, "Washington Times " Charming and insightful. . . .Written with exceptional grace and infused with a warm sense of humanity. "Library Journal ""

Once regarded by historians as a period of intellectual stagnation, the Middle Ages were actually a time of extraordinary cultural and technological innovation. This entertaining romp through the inventions of the period tells the story of the first appearance of dozens of items and ideas of lasting significance. From this misunderstood age we get our buttons, our underwear, and our trousers; we entertain ourselves with medieval playing cards, tarot cards, and chess. It was during the Middle Ages that domesticated cats first found their way into our houses, along with glazed windows, dining tables and chairs, and fireplaces. Numerous labor-saving devices originated then as well, including the wheelbarrow, the windmill and watermill, and the effective use of the horse. War became more deadly with the introduction of gunpowder, while travel over water became less so thanks to the compass and the rudder. Time itself emerged into recognizably modern form, with the advent of clocks -- based on the escapement mechanism -- that measured hours of equal length independent of the changing seasons. More cosmic notions of time developed as well, as the new realm of purgatory broke the traditional dichotomy of heaven and hell. Even Santa Claus first captured the imagination of children during the Middle Ages. Ranging from the invention of eyeglasses (by a now-forgotten layperson who sought to keep his methods secret, the better to profit from them) to the creation of the fork (at first regarded as an instrument of diabolical perversion but embraced when it helped people handle another invention of the age, pasta), this beautifully illustrated volume is a fitting tribute to an era from which we still benefit today.