Margaret Paston's Piety

The Paston Letters are the best known source for private life in late medieval England, and Margaret Paston emerges as the dominant figure in the letters. Through her hundred letters and long will, we get an invaluable example of the personal and religious in daily life during the fifteenth century, including details on running a large household, confronting domestic and political crises, coping with widowhood, and difficult children and in-laws. Drawing on a close reading of these personal letters, this book reveals how popular religion was integrated intodaily life. Book jacket.

Joel Rosenthal is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at SUNY-Stonybrook.