Life in a Medieval Gentry Household

In the Middle Ages the household was such a fundamental part of the social structure that the post-1350 era has been termed ‘the Age of the Household.’ Academic studies have generally focused on the grand, itinerant households of the wealthy aristocracy, illuminating the lifestyles and pastimes of this elite class. Using the household accounts of Alice de Bryene, a widowed gentlewoman, together with bailiffs’ and stewards’ reports from her home in Suffolk and other estates further afield, this r