Living in Medieval England: The Turbulent Year of 1326

Kathryn Warner

Sep 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Lucy Rayner

About this audiobook

1326 was one of the most dramatic years in English history. The queen of England, Isabella of France, invaded the country with an army of mercenaries to destroy her husband's powerful and detested lover, Hugh Despenser the Younger, and brought down her husband, King Edward II, in the process. It was also a year, however, when the majority of English people carried on living their normal, ordinary lives: Eleyne Glaswreghte ran her own successful glass-making business in London; Jack Cressing the master carpenter repaired the beams in a tower of Kenilworth Castle; Alis Coleman sold her best ale at a penny and a half for a gallon in Byfleet; and Will Muleward made the king "laugh greatly" when he spent time with him at a wedding in Marlborough. England sweltered in one of the hottest, driest summers of the Middle Ages; a whale washed ashore at Walton-on-the-Naze; and the unfortunate John Toly died when he relieved himself out of the window of his London house at midnight, and lost his balance. Living in Medieval England: The Turbulent Year of 1326 tells the true and fascinating stories of the men and women alive in England in this most eventful year, narrated chronologically with a chapter devoted to each month.

About the author

Kathryn Warner has been an expert on the reign of Edward II for more than ten years and is recognized as one of the country's leading medieval historians. Her book Long Live the King: The Mysterious Fate of Edward II challenged the historical orthodoxy around Edward's death.

Lucy Rayner is an award-winning British actress who has worked on both sides of the Atlantic in a number of theater productions and films, many of which have screened at festivals around the world. She loves to tell stories and has narrated many wonderful audiobooks.