Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death

Historian Dr. Helen Castor—who hosted the BBC-aired She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (VL-03/13), based on her own book—returns with this three-part 2013 series that investigates medieval attitudes concerning the great rites of passage in human life. Unsurprisingly, she finds that each was dominated by the teachings of the Catholic Church. A woman about to give birth would be assisted by a midwife, and a priest might be admitted if mother or child were in danger of death. Marriage, initially a purely personal commitment between a man and a woman, was gradually transformed into a clerically controlled sacramental process. And people were obsessed with the idea of “dying well,” or in a state of grace, which explains why a person at the point of expiring would be attended by priests rather than physicians. In all three cases, Castor notes, the Reformation brought significant change, given that the “clergy” in the Catholic sense no longer existed in Protestant lands. Medieval Lives, which centers on England, is largely built on evidence from the 15th and 16th centuries, with examples primarily drawn from the lives of the Tudor monarchs and the famous collection of letters associated with the Paston family of Norwich. While hardly groundbreaking, Medieval Lives is intelligent popular history presented with a feminist angle, combining Castor's able narration, interviews with additional scholars, location footage, and period artwork. Extras include a text bio of Castor and an illustrated viewer's guide. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)