A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages by Thomas Wright, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas Wright ISBN: 9781465627117
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Thomas Wright
ISBN: 9781465627117
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English

Much has been written at different times on the costume and some other circumstances connected with the condition of our forefathers in past times, but no one has undertaken with much success to treat generally of the domestic manners of the middle ages. The history of domestic manners, indeed, is a subject, the materials of which are exceedingly varied, widely scattered, and not easily brought together; they, of course, vary in character with the periods to which they relate, and at certain periods are much rarer than at others. But the interest of the subject must be felt by every one who appreciates art; for what avails our knowledge of costume unless we know the manners, the mode of living, the houses, the furniture, the utensils, of those whom we have learnt how to clothe? and, without this latter knowledge, history itself can be but imperfectly understood. In England, as in most other countries of western Europe, at the period of the middle ages when we first become intimately acquainted with them, the manners and customs of their inhabitants were a mixture of those of the barbarian settlers themselves, and of those which they found among the conquered Romans; the latter prevailing to a greater or less extent, according to the peculiar circumstances of the country. This was certainly the case in England among our Saxon forefathers; and it becomes a matter of interest to ascertain what were really the types which belonged to the Saxon race, and to distinguish them from those which they derived from the Roman inhabitants of our island. We have only one record of the manners of the Saxons before they settled in Britain, and that is neither perfect, nor altogether unaltered—it is the romance of Beowulf, a poem in pure Anglo-Saxon, which contains internal marks of having been composed before the people who spoke that language had quitted their settlements on the Continent. Yet we can hardly peruse it without suspecting that some of its portraitures are descriptive rather of what was seen in England than of what existed in the north of Germany. Thus we might almost imagine that the “street variegated with stones” (stræt wœs stân-fáh), along which the hero Beowulf and his followers proceeded from the shore to the royal residence of Hrothgar, was a picture of a Roman road as found in Britain.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Much has been written at different times on the costume and some other circumstances connected with the condition of our forefathers in past times, but no one has undertaken with much success to treat generally of the domestic manners of the middle ages. The history of domestic manners, indeed, is a subject, the materials of which are exceedingly varied, widely scattered, and not easily brought together; they, of course, vary in character with the periods to which they relate, and at certain periods are much rarer than at others. But the interest of the subject must be felt by every one who appreciates art; for what avails our knowledge of costume unless we know the manners, the mode of living, the houses, the furniture, the utensils, of those whom we have learnt how to clothe? and, without this latter knowledge, history itself can be but imperfectly understood. In England, as in most other countries of western Europe, at the period of the middle ages when we first become intimately acquainted with them, the manners and customs of their inhabitants were a mixture of those of the barbarian settlers themselves, and of those which they found among the conquered Romans; the latter prevailing to a greater or less extent, according to the peculiar circumstances of the country. This was certainly the case in England among our Saxon forefathers; and it becomes a matter of interest to ascertain what were really the types which belonged to the Saxon race, and to distinguish them from those which they derived from the Roman inhabitants of our island. We have only one record of the manners of the Saxons before they settled in Britain, and that is neither perfect, nor altogether unaltered—it is the romance of Beowulf, a poem in pure Anglo-Saxon, which contains internal marks of having been composed before the people who spoke that language had quitted their settlements on the Continent. Yet we can hardly peruse it without suspecting that some of its portraitures are descriptive rather of what was seen in England than of what existed in the north of Germany. Thus we might almost imagine that the “street variegated with stones” (stræt wœs stân-fáh), along which the hero Beowulf and his followers proceeded from the shore to the royal residence of Hrothgar, was a picture of a Roman road as found in Britain.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book The Gulistan by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book A Handbook of Illustration by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book The New Pun Book by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book Gabriel: A Story of the Jews in Prague by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book Molly Brown's Post-Graduate Days by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book A Decade of Italian Women (Complete) by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book Miss Arnott's Marriage by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book Sir George Tressady (Complete) by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book Random Rhymes and Rambles by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book Modern Superstition by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book The Dungeons of Old Paris: Being the Story and Romance of the most Celebrated Prisons of the Monarchy and the Revolution by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book The Refutation of All Heresies (Complete) by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar by Thomas Wright
Cover of the book The Patriarchs: Being Meditations Upon Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job; The Canticles, Heaven and Earth. by Thomas Wright
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy