This four-book series takes a close-up look at life in Europe during the period 1400-1600. The books are illustrated in full color with reproductions of Renaissance art work. Each volume makes use of quotations from primary sources and includes information on women's roles and activities and on childhood in the various segments of Renaissance society. Sidebars offer close-ups on special topics--such as the first Jewish ghetto and a day in the life of Elizabeth I--and also present period games, recipes, and songs. Each book offers a glossary, list of books for further reading, list of recommended Web sites, and bibliography.

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"These books are handsomely designed, beautifully illustrated with many period paintings, and written in a clear and lively manner.... With many fascinating details that bring the period to life, these well-organized books provide the sort of information required in school reports and should be first purchases for libraries needing material on the Renaissance."

--School Library Journal

"The four-volume Life in the Renaissance set features well-written texts and excellent color illustrations in a format that is unusually attractive.... [a] handsome, fact-filled, readable set."

--Booklist

"Classical, elegant design, great printing quality... classy... very attractive clean design--good choice of colors used on covers and interiors... elegant and simple."

--judges' comments, 18th Annual New York Book Show
(Life in the Renaissance placed second in the category of High School Book Series)

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Women who worked in the crafts ususally did so as part of a family workshop. It was fairly common for a craftsman to be assisted by his wife and daughters as well as by his sons. For example, in Christophe Plantin's printing business in Antwerp, his younger daughters worked as typesetters; his sons-in-law worked as translators, editors, and proofreaders; and his wife and older daughters ran the family's bookstore. Artists, too, might train and employ their daughters. Marietta Tintoretto worked alongside her brothers in the workshop of their father, the Venetian painter Tintoretto. Ermonia Vivarini belonged to a family of Venetian artists and glassmakers and learned to make beautiful glass luxury objects.

After a daughter married, she might continue working at her family's craft, even if her husband was in another trade. Or the husband might teach his business to the wife; if he died, she could continue the family work. Wives of craftsmen often trained and supervised apprentices, even in cities where they were not legally allowed to. (Since businesses were based in the home, this was only natural.) Some cities, especially in Germany and the Low Countries, but also in England and France, allowed women to become guild members, not only as widows of master craftsmen, but as masters in their own right. For a widow or unmarried woman, having a trade could be crucial to survival.

--Life in the Renaissance: The City

The Lord's Day

Both Catholics and Protestants celebrated Sunday as a holy day and a day off from work. In many places, such as England, the law required people to attend church every week and to take Communion a certain number of times a year. (And from 1570 into the 1590s, the law also demanded that Englishmen, except for nobles, wear woolen caps to church--part of a government plan to support the nation's wool industry.) After the worship service, or between morning and evening services, there was often time for fun and relaxation.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, English country people enjoyed playing a rough form of football on Sunday afternoons. This kind of thing was fiercely criticized by Puritan writers and preachers: "Any exercise which withdraweth us from godliness, either upon the sabbath or any other day, is wicked and to be forbidden. . . . As concerning football-playing, I protest unto you it may rather be called a friendly kind of fight than a play or recreation, a bloody and murdering practice than a fellowly sport or pastime."

Puritans and other followers of Calvin took very seriously the biblical commandment, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). Sunday was a day of rest from regular work, but it was also the Lord's day. Puritan church services could be very long, with sermons lasting two or three hours. People were expected to spend most of the rest of the day in Bible study and similar activities--definitely not playing football.

--Life in the Renaissance: The Church

[quotation (Philip Stubbes) from A. L. Rowse, The Elizabethan Renaissance: The Life of the Society. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971. p. 221.]

T = Take all the candies from the center bowl.
N = You get nothing.
P = Put a piece of candy into the center bowl.
H = Take half the candies from the bowl.

According to the Rule

Monks and nuns were expected to follow a specific rule of behavior. Many monasteries used the sixth-century Rule of Saint Benedict, sometimes altered to reflect the goals of different monastic groups. A portion of the Rule was read aloud in the monastery every morning so that everyone would remember how they were supposed to behave. By the Renaissance, however, there were numerous complaints that monks and nuns were not living the simple life that the Rule required. In the wake of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church made an extra effort to encourage monks and nuns to go back to closely following the Rule. To give a picture of what was expected of them, here are some quotes from an English translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict:

Of Obedience
The first degree of humility is obedience without delay.... This obedience, however, will be acceptable to God and agreeable to men then only, if what is commanded is done without hesitation, delay, lukewarmness, grumbling or complaint, because the obedience which is rendered to Superiors is rendered to God.

Of Silence
Because of the importance of silence, let permission to speak be seldom given.... For it belongeth to the master to speak and to teach; it becometh the disciple to be silent and to listen. If, therefore, anything must be asked of the Superior, let it be asked with all humility and respectful submission. But coarse jests, and idle words or speech provoking laughter, we condemn everywhere to eternal exclusion; and for such speech we do not permit the disciple to open his lips.

Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
The vice of personal ownership must by all means be cut out in the monastery by the very root, so that no one may presume... to have anything whatever as his own, neither a book, nor a writing tablet, nor a pen, nor anything else whatsoever.... Let all things be common to all, as it is written.

Of the Clothing and the Footgear of the Brethren
Let clothing be given to the brethren according to the circumstances of the place and the nature of the climate in which they live.... Let the monks not worry about the color or the texture of all these things, but let them be such as can be bought more cheaply..... Let those who receive new clothes always return the old ones, to be put away in the wardrobe for the poor....

For their bedding, let a straw mattress, a blanket, a coverlet, and a pillow be sufficient. These beds must, however, be frequently ... to prevent personal goods from being found....

If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things
If, perchance, any difficult or impossible tasks be enjoined on a brother, let him nevertheless receive the order of him who commandeth with all meekness and obedience. If, however, he see that the gravity of the task is altogether beyond his strength, let him quietly and seasonably submit the reasons for his inability to his Superior, without pride, protest, or dissent. If, however, after his explanation the Superior still insisteth on his command, let the younger be convinced that so it is good for him; and let him obey from love, relying on the help of God.