For the medieval period that was witness to a legion of political and
natural disasters, the rise and fall of empires across the globe and one
of the most devastating and greatest pandemics human kind has ever
experienced, the fourteenth century was transformative.
Peering through the looking-glass to focus on one of Europe's largest
medieval cities, and center of an international melting pot on the
global stage, this is a social history of England's (in)famous capital
and its multi-cultural residents in the first half of the fourteenth
century.
Using a rich variety of important sources that provide first-hand
accounts of everyday life and personal interactions between loved ones,
friends, foreigners and foes alike, such as the Assize of Nuisance,
Coroners' Rolls, wills, household accounts, inquisitions post mortem and
many more, this chronicle begins at the start of the fourteenth century
and works its way up to the first mass outbreak of the Black Death at
the end of the 1340s. It is a narrative that builds a vivid,
multi-layered picture of London's inhabitants who lived in one of the
most turbulent and exciting periods in European history.
