Eleven essays by internationally-known medievalists are assembled in this book with the aim of creating a panoramic picture of medieval society from Florence to Paris and Seville to Warsaw and bringing to life clerics, craftsmen, burghers, beggars, warriors, intellectuals, nobility, prostitutes, peasants and others. The editor's previous books include "The Civilization of Medieval Europe", "The Birth of Purgatory" and "Time, Work and Culture in the Middle Ages".