Spanning almost 500 years, from 1066 to 1485, the Middle Ages were times of extremes: rich in art, scholarship and adventure, and burdened with poverty, servitude and plague. This was the age of the Crusades and the pilgrimage; of King Arthur and Robin Hood; of Gothic cathedrals and the illuminated manuscript; of the chivalric code, the feudal system and the Black Death.

With meticulous research and an eye for a good story, the Laings have constructed an intricate tableau of life in the medieval world, using existing evidence of art and architecture to explore all spheres of life, from the dizzy heights of courtly love to the fields of the humble serf.

With major sections on urban, rural, Church and court society, and including absorbing detail on medieval pastimes, science and superstition, art, attitudes to women and the more gruesome aspects of medical practice, this richly illustrated book brings to life the imagination, ambitions and everyday realities of the world which formed the foundations of modern western society.