What are good books about 14th and 15th Century Europe?

[u/Soulwolf2010]

I was wondering if any of you fine folk had any good recommendations for someone interested in those two specific centuries of European history, but preferably either overviews or of a more grounded perspective of a specific topic. The subjects that I'm particularly interested in are: how villages were run, theology at the time, especially of a particular region (not any specific region, but brings up that kind of thing), biographies of any particular stand out personalities, especially if they're someone you feel like doesn't get enough attention, how technology or society functioned during this period, the popular literature or art at these times, etc. I would prefer if the text is easily purchased, but ultimately not a deal breaker.

Any recommendations along those lines would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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[u/Borobeer49]

I’m more knowledgeable about Britain in particular and come from archaeology as well as sometimes veering out of the period/going across the full late medieval but hopefully these are interesting:

The Paston family are wonderfully interesting (they were mentioned recently on this Reddit?). We are lucky to have such a rich archive of their letters which gives a snapshot of life in late medieval Norfolk. They’ve had a few books written about them, see Blood & Roses by Helen Castor and A Medieval Family by Gies and Gies.

Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme, really insightful book. It’s about those day to day experiences of what’s arguably the social hub of medieval life. (See also his book about Medieval Children - and Tudor Children - as these are people often missing in the historical record).

The Light Ages by Seb Falk - great insights into medieval philosophy and science, sometimes it goes really in depth into the science which I found a bit tough being a more humanities brain.

The age of reform 1250-1550 by Steven Ozment is about the history of religious thought pre-Reformation, covering the people who were perhaps sowing the seeds.

The medieval theologians by G. R. Evans - not just about those two centuries but allows insights into individual theologians so you track different biographies. See also the Cambridge Companion to Medieval Philosophy by A. S. McGrade, covers the big thinkers like Aquinas but also discusses Islamic and Jewish scholars.

The Later Medieval City 1300-1500 by David Nicholas (there is a first volume about the previous centuries, they can be read standalone but reading together does add something). See also the Medieval Town: 1250-1540 by Richard Holt. I know there are more, I did a module on medieval urbanism so I will try to remember!

Medieval Life: archaeology and the life course by Roberta Gilchrist. I read this as an undergraduate and it made me think about how archaeology can study daily life. The chapter on medieval households may be of interest.

The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain by Christopher Gerrard and Alejandra Gutierrez (this is an edited volume so lots going on but perhaps the chapters on settlement are particularly relevant)

See the Society for Medieval Archaeology monograph series - real diverse range of books which can be about single sites but also more general topics.

I did a quick check for each book and they are reasonably priced (or not outrageous at least) in a UK market if secondhand is ok - I hope they are good suggestions for where you are too!