| Chapter | Page | |
| I. | The Fief of St. Aliquis; Its History and Denizens | [1] |
| II. | The Castle of St. Aliquis | [16] |
| III. | How the Castle Wakes. Baronial Hospitality | [41] |
| IV. | Games and Diversions. Falconry and Hunting. The Baroness's Garden | [51] |
| V. | The Family of the Baron. Life of the Women | [70] |
| VI. | The Matter of Clothes. A Feudal Wedding | [88] |
| VII. | Cookery and Mealtimes | [113] |
| VIII. | The Jongleurs and Secular Literature and Poetry | [132] |
| IX. | The Feudal Relationship. Doing Homage | [146] |
| X. | Justice and Punishments | [159] |
| XI. | The Education of a Feudal Nobleman | [176] |
| XII. | Feudal Weapons and Horses. Dubbing a Knight | [189] |
| XIII. | The Tourney | [208] |
| XIV. | A Baronial Feud. The Siege of a Castle | [224] |
| XV. | A Great Feudal Battle—Bouvines | [241] |
| XVI. | The Life of the Peasants | [253] |
| XVII. | Charity. Care of the Sick. Funerals | [275] |
| XVIII. | Popular Religion. Pilgrimages. Superstitions. Relic Worship | [286] |
| XIX. | The Monastery of St. Aliquis: Buildings, Organization. An Ill-Ruled Abbey | [312] |
| XX. | The Monastery of St. Aliquis: The Activities of Its Inmates. Monastic Learning | [330] |
| XXI. | The "Good Town" of Pontdebois: Aspect and Organization | [343] |
| XXII. | Industry and Trade in Pontdebois. The Great Fair | [357] |
| XXIII. | The Lord Bishop. The Canons. The Parish Clergy | [373] |
| XXIV. | The Cathedral and Its Builders | [393] |
Illustrations
| Life in the Middle Ages | [Frontispiece] | |
| The Castle of St. Aliquis | Page | [xiv] |
| Typical Castle of the Middle Ages | " | [17] |
| View of the Court and the Donjon | " | [25] |
| Upper Hall of the Donjon | " | [31] |
| Interior of a Thirteenth-century Apartment | Facing p. | [36] |
| A Thirteenth-century Bed | Page | [39] |
| A Game of Chess | " | [54] |
| A Game of Ball | " | [57] |
| Lady with a Falcon on Her Wrist | " | [58] |
| The Falcon Hunt | " | [59] |
| Noble Holding a Falcon in Each Hand | " | [61] |
| A Hunter | " | [63] |
| The Stag Hunt | " | [66] |
| Coiffure of a Noblewoman | " | [71] |
| Cradle | " | [81] |
| A King in the Twelfth Century Wearing Pellison | " | [90] |
| Wreath Made of Metal Flowers Sewed on Braid | " | [91] |
| Felt Shoe | " | [93] |
| Winter Costume in the Twelfth Century | " | [94] |
| Headdress of a Man | " | [95] |
| Costume of a Nobleman | " | [96] |
| Coiffure of a Woman | " | [97] |
| A Royal Marriage in the Thirteenth Century | " | [99] |
| Cooks | " | [114] |
| Pork Butchers (Bourges) | " | [115] |
| Servants Bringing the Food to the Table | " | [123] |
| Young Girls of the Nobility Serving at the Table | " | [126] |
| A Feast of Ceremony in the Twelfth Century | Facing p. | [128] |
| Small Portable Organ of the Thirteenth Century | Page | [132] |
| Acrobats | Page | [134] |
| Dancer of the Twelfth Century | " | [137] |
| Thirteenth-century Harp | " | [139] |
| Listening to a Trouvère in a Château of the Thirteenth Century | Facing p. | [140] |
| Banner of the Thirteenth Century | Page | [147] |
| The Coat of Arms of the Dukes of Bretagne (Thirteenth Century) | " | [148] |
| Seal of the Duke Jean of Bretagne (Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries) | " | [149] |
| Homage in the Twelfth Century | Facing p. | [156] |
| Costume of a Nobleman (Thirteenth Century) | Page | [177] |
| Gothic Writing | " | [179] |
| A Teacher Holding a Ferule in His Hand | " | [180] |
| Maneuvering with a Lance in the Thirteenth Century | " | [185] |
| A Knight at the End of the Thirteenth Century | " | [190] |
| German Helmets of the Thirteenth Century | " | [192] |
| A Thirteenth-century Shield | " | [193] |
| Thirteenth-century Swords | " | [194] |
| Horse Trappings | " | [196] |
| A Knight of the Thirteenth Century | " | [198] |
| A Thirteenth-century Knight | " | [199] |
| A Thirteenth-century Knight | " | [200] |
| A Beggar | " | [201] |
| A Tournament in the Twelfth Century | Facing p. | [214] |
| Knightly Combat on Foot | Page | [219] |
| A Combat in the Twelfth Century | " | [221] |
| A Catapult | " | [236] |
| An Attack with the Aid of a Tower | " | [237] |
| A Mantelet in Wood | " | [238] |
| Attack on a Wall with the Aid of the Sap | " | [239] |
| Group of Peasants and of Shepherds | " | [255] |
| Peasants at Work | " | [260] |
| A Laborer (Thirteenth Century) | " | [264] |
| Peasant Shoes | " | [265] |
| A Reaper | " | [265] |
| A Marriage in the Thirteenth Century | " | [266] |
| A Plow | " | [267] |
| A Leper | " | [278] |
| A Thirteenth-century Doctor | " | [281] |
| A Thirteenth-century Burial Scene | Page | [284] |
| A Group of Priests (Thirteenth Century) | " | [287] |
| A Shrine in the Form of an Altar (Thirteenth Century) in the Cathedral at Rheims | " | [324] |
| Richard Cœur de Lion | Facing p. | [302] |
| View of an Abbey of the Thirteenth Century | Page | [313] |
| The Galleries of the Cloister of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel (Thirteenth Century) | " | [316] |
| The Refectory at the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel (Thirteenth Century) | " | [318] |
| A Benedictine Monk (Thirteenth Century) | " | [320] |
| A Piece of Furniture Serving as a Seat and a Reading Desk | " | [335] |
| Cloth Merchants | " | [358] |
| A Commoner (Thirteenth Century) | " | [362] |
| Money-changers (Chartres) | " | [365] |
| A Fair in Champagne in the Thirteenth Century | Facing p. | [366] |
| The Sale of Peltries (Bourges) | Page | [370] |
| Episcopal Throne of the Thirteenth Century | " | [374] |
| A Bishop of the Twelfth Century | " | [376] |
| A Bishop of the Thirteenth Century | " | [379] |
| A Deacon (Thirteenth Century) | " | [388] |
| Notre Dame and the Bishop's Palace at the Beginning of the Thirteenth Century | " | [395] |
| Thirteenth-century Window in the Cathedral of Chartres, Representing Saint Christopher Carrying Christ | " | [400] |
Preface
This book describes the life of the Feudal Ages in terms of the concrete. The discussions center around a certain seigneury of St. Aliquis. If no such barony is easily identifiable, at least there were several hundred second-grade fiefs scattered over western Christendom which were in essential particulars extremely like it, and its Baron Conon and his associates were typical of many similar individuals, a little worse or a little better, who abounded in the days of Philip Augustus.
No custom is described which does not seem fairly characteristic of the general period. To focus the picture a specific region, northern France, and a specific year, A.D. 1220, have been selected. Not many matters have been mentioned, however, which were not more or less common to contemporaneous England and Germany; nor have many usages been explained which would not frequently have been found as early as A.D. 1100 or as late as 1300.
Northern France was par excellence the homeland of Feudalism and hardly less so of Chivalry, while by general consent the years around 1220 mark one of the great turning epochs of the Middle Ages. We are at the time of the development of French kingship under Philip Augustus, of the climax and the beginning of the waning of the crusading spirit, of the highest development of Gothic architecture, of the full blossoming of the popular Romance literature, and of the beginning of the entirely dissimilar, but even more important, Friar movement.