(Part 2) Top products from r/MedievalHistory

And on vikings - primary sources though not all of battles - here’s a quick overview of sources https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/professions/education/viking-knowledge/archaeology-and-history/written-sources-for-the-viking-age/

They may be found around the web but here are links to a few to buy

I can recommend the
Icelandic sagas, personally I find them great fun lots of skull bashings - you may have to buy them.

at least some are here https://sagadb.org Or here https://archive.org/details/sagalibrarydonei01snoriala


Icelandic sagas
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Icelanders-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0141000031/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=icelandic+saga&qid=1559118780&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Saxo gramattucus or Saco’s saga (13th century danish ‘history’ of kings
https://www.amazon.com/Saxo-Grammaticus-History-English-Commentary/dp/0859915026


Snorris saga
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Norse-Kings-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/8209101730 - not sure if there is a newer more comprehensive translation as I read in original language

and the Eddas

Younger Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Illustrated-Snorri-Sturluson-ebook/dp/B00NCCEJ6O/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=edda+saga&qid=1559118593&s=gateway&sr=8-6

Elder Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Elder-Edda-Viking-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140435859/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?keywords=edda+saga&qid=1559118649&s=gateway&sr=8-11


And on vikings - primary sources though not all of battles

I can recommend the
Icelandic sagas, personally I find them great fun lots of skull bashings - you may have to buy them.

at least some are here https://sagadb.org Or here https://archive.org/details/sagalibrarydonei01snoriala


Icelandic sagas
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Icelanders-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0141000031/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=icelandic+saga&qid=1559118780&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Saxo gramattucus or Saco’s saga (13th century danish ‘history’ of kings
https://www.amazon.com/Saxo-Grammaticus-History-English-Commentary/dp/0859915026


Snorris saga
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Norse-Kings-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/8209101730 - not sure if there is a newer more comprehensive translation as I read in original language

and the Eddas

Younger Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Illustrated-Snorri-Sturluson-ebook/dp/B00NCCEJ6O/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=edda+saga&qid=1559118593&s=gateway&sr=8-6

Elder Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Elder-Edda-Viking-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140435859/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?keywords=edda+saga&qid=1559118649&s=gateway&sr=8-11

I'd probably start here in order to get an idea of Britain on the macro scale.
While bountyonme mentions Saxons ruling from 410AD to 1066, the term "rule" is rather loose, as they were constantly being attacked and invaded by Nordic peoples, even having one as their king for a period of time.
And before even that, there was the Roman rule of England, which shouldn't be overlooked, as the Romans had a major impact on the entirety of Europe, and with England so far away from Roman Empire's Mediterranean hub, there was a different flavor of Roman imperialism there than in Italy or France, which left its mark on Britain even after the fall of Rome
Finally, when you're looking at British history, if you're curious about the various cultural elements of the Isles, and how the Brits perceived themselves and others, I would suggest reading Beowulf, with Tolkien's essay on it which examines how the tale provides a peek into the cultural mindset of the period. Also, if you want a somewhat amusing read, check out Gerald of Wales' Topography of Ireland, the section on Irish miracles is especially interesting.
Also, returning to bountyonme, definitely definitely definitely read The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's poetry is equal parts beautiful and humorous. I would suggest reading it in its original Middle English, if you can get a handle on it. Many of the translations remove much of the beauty and humor of the work, leaving a dry, lifeless piece of shit and besmirching the genius's name. I would suggest this edition if you can handle the price or get it through interlibrary loan, it's well-footnoted, provides a primer on how to read/understand Middle English, and uses the most complete edition of the texts.
Welcome to the confusing/frustrating/entertaining/well-worthwhile arena of Medieval history.

Daily Life in Medieval Europe may be a bit too general for what you are looking for, but it does include a section on clothing and even includes some cloth patterns if you are trying to make your own medieval clothing.

Another book, Fashion in the Middle Ages may be closer to what you are looking for, but again this is much broader than your specific 'winter/cold weather' clothes.

This book Medieval Tailor's Assistant: Making Common Garments 1200-1500 may be your best bet. From a customer review:
>This book covers everything you ever wanted to know about medieval clothing, from measurements, patterns and materials to methods of construction. It has over 400 illustrations of medieval clothing, and 121 patterns for shirts and smocks, cotes, doublets, kirtles, hose, surcotes, cotehardies, gowns, overkirtles, cloaks, children's clothing, headwear, and accessories.


Sorry I couldn't be of much help other than a few Amazon links, but hopefully one of these will at least point you in the right direction.

Edit: oops! Saw someone else recommended Tailor's Assistant already. My apologies, but let us know if you find anything interesting!

If you're interested, there's several books by Francis Gies that are decent surveys of medieval life, accessible reading, and affordable. They are a part of the Medieval Life anthology, which focuses more on society rather than tedious tudor biographies (ok so I'm biased).

https://www.amazon.com/Knight-History-Medieval-Life-ebook/dp/B003JBHVOA

The link there takes you to the book on knights, but all of them are pretty good.

[Montaillou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montaillou_(book) by Emmanuelle Roy la Durie is a classic social history, and actually pretty entertaining. Christopher Dyer is an English economic historian who's books Standards of Living in the Middle Ages and Making a Living in the Middle Ages seem exactly what you're looking for, though they are more academic.

I'd also recommend looking up some micro-histories. They're snapshots of events in the lives of medieval people. The Return of Martin Guerre is pretty famous and there's always like 5 copies in my local used bookshop. Giovanni and Lusanna is also good. I also have Stephen Bednarski's book on my shelf and it looks very interesting, but I haven't read it yet.

Edit: fixed link.

There's most of a chapter devoted to them in James Reston's Warrior's of God but Reston doesn't use footnotes so it feels like he made up a bunch of his quotes and more minor facts. On the + side it's an entertaining read.

You should check him out if you have some free time. Very interesting read regarding the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. I read it alongside Gibbon, it's a very useful perspective and takes a more critical perspective on traditional understandings of the ending of the classical era and the beginning of the middle ages.

http://www.amazon.com/Mohammed-Charlemagne-Henri-Pirenne/dp/0486420116/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318814339&sr=8-1-spell

For anyone interested in this area in the previous century, this book is just great.

I have heard good things about both Goodwin's "Fatal Colours" and Sadler's "Towton" from friends more interested in these conflicts than I am.

Hicks' "Wars of the Roses" seems to want to be the authoritative go-to text for the subject.

This article has a perspective on age of criminal responsibility.

Google seems to offer a lot of results. The Ties that Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England appears to have some info, but its Google Books preview is pretty limited. Let me know if you want me to do a quick search of academic journals when I get home. This is an interesting question so I'd like to read up on it, too.

I absolutely loved both The Hundred Years War and Wars of the Roses both by Desmond Seward.

As freondlas pointed out, it really depends which time period you're interested in. For UK history this can roughly be divided into Anglo-Saxon England (pre 1066 and the Battle of Hastings) and Norman England (After 1066). That's a very rough breakdown/divide. If you want an academic but easy-to-read book I would suggest Julia Smith's Europe After Rome: 500-1000 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Europe-after-Rome-Cultural-500-1000/dp/0192892630) or if you want to get your nails into proper Anglo-Saxon work and primary sources (in translation) try Beowulf; it's a good read.

Reminds me a bit of this book. Which is utterly fantastic:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Cat-Massacre-Episodes/dp/0465012744

The Narrators of Barbarian History showed up on another thread. Looks promising, although it's from 1991, so perhaps not the most current of readings.

Thank you for pointing this out. I ordered it today alongside Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism by Fred Turner

If you're writing about people who use swords, you should read Guy Windsor's short work on that: Swordfighting, for Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists

Lots of first-hand accounts in Chronicles of the Crusades: Jean de Joinville's lively and detailed account of Louis VII's mid-13th century crusading in the Holy Land features lots of vivid battles and Geoffrey de Villehardouin's eyewitness account of the sack of Constantinople in 1204.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Jean de Froissart's account (lots of free translations on line) of some major battles of the 100 Years' War is a classic.

A lot of it is total BS, such as #7, about the beer and wine drinking. Many people drank Ale as an alternative to water because the water was polluted; both adults and children drank it, and Ale was a thriving home business from the 1100s to the 1400s (I think) run mainly by women. #14 is also totally false, as women could NOT inherit businesses (they could only if their husbands died, and could not pass it on to their non-male kin). They could NEVER buy and sell property (unless they were the in the highest 1%), and as for legal rights, there were few. They even suffered greater fines for lesser crimes such as scolding (causing a public fuss) than men did for assault and robbery.

Source: Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World