Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Reviewed by Jennifer

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

VIOLENCE

ADULT THEMES

2008 Newbery Medal Winner

Violence: A boy and his uncle kill a boar with spears. The knight’s son wants to go on the crusade to “sharpen my sword on the Saracen’s throat – crush the bones of the heathen horde – all for the glory of Our Lord!”

Adult Themes: Class distinctions. Children were sometimes beaten by parents. The miller is dishonest and fills the flour bags with chalk, the baker steals the bread and the peasant steals from the lord. Dislike between Jews and Christians. The beggar boy fakes a crushed foot and he and his father stage a miracle healing with holy water in order to make  money. Note: these are not major themes, but will provide opportunities for discussion with your children.

Synopsis

This collection of 22 individual but related poems and essays gives the reader an exceptional overview of a typical English Medieval village. Each selection is from the perspective of a child or youth in the village and through their narration we learn how children were treated, their social standing, how the village functioned and even what they ate. There are also six one to two page explanations on topics pertinent to the narratives such as the crusades, medieval pilgrimages, and Jews in medieval society. Beautiful artwork adds to the charm of this book.

I found this a fascinating read.  My favorite character is Barbary, the young girl who takes her toddler twin brothers to the market to buy fish because her step mother is at home pregnant with another baby. One of the twins grabs the fish out of her basket and throws it on the ground. Barbary has to wade through the mud to pick it up, then the other twin has a messy diaper all over her. Just then she sees the Lord’s daughter in a beautiful blue dress with her hair combed “sleek as an otter.” Barbary feels the injustice of life and throws mud at her, but she only enjoys her vengeance for a moment before she feels guilty. She stops by the church on her way home to pray for forgiveness and realizes, “all women are the same – silk or sackcloth, all the same.”

Children 4th grade and up will enjoy this book. It would be fun to get a group of friends together and memorize some of the selections.

©2009 The Literate Mother