Persona/period research...

[Chris Walden]

There is an excellent book called "The Medieval Home Companion" which 
gives good descriptions of daily life.  It is a letter from a older 
man to his young bride telling her how to properly run her household. 
 The translator edited out most of the parts that she didn't agree 
with, so some of the full sprit of the thing is altered, but it 
provides a lot of interesting info on their point of view.

I would seek out other writings that are of the period, more than 
about the period.  I find that many books that are interpretations of 
history tend to have an agenda and they try to "read between the 
lines" more than tell you what they said.

Time lines will sometimes help you pinpoint people and literature 
that you can look up.

It's an interesting process.  I now read things for pleasure that I 
never would have imagined myself reading at all!  Let me know if you 
need anything else and I'll help where I can.

Antoine Sebastian Dore
Alden's