The Renaissance for Students: Everyday Life in the Renaissance

Using the concept of a video producer going to Europe to get “the real story” on “this Renaissance thing, ” the five volume The Renaissance for Students series visits various sites to illuminate historical, cultural, and social aspects of Renaissance life. In Everyday Life in the Renaissance, most of the residential examples shown (substantial houses with glass windows, beds with mattresses and sheets) reflect the lives of the new upper-middle class merchants, but the video also discusses how improvements in agriculture and animal husbandry meant a better standard of living for many (the narration also points out the difficulty of illustrating the lives of the common folk due to the scarcity of records they left behind). Also briefly discussing the economy, arts, and dress of the time--with appropriate visual examples for each--this is a well-done overview of “everyday life” with only one relatively minor drawback: the “producer” constantly addresses her narration to “the boss,” jarring the viewer out of the lesson being learned and forcibly returning our focus to the cutesy framing device. The other titles in the series are: A History of the Renaissance; Renaissance Science & Invention; Renaissance Art, Music & Literature and Renaissance Travel, Trade & Exploration. Recommended. Aud: J, H, P. (R. Reagan)