Peter Coss brings to life the day-to-day domestic life of the medieval gentry, from their obsession with display, to social codes of conduct and the treatment of guests. Drawing on the rich and rarely studied archive of the Multon family of Frampton, Coss provides an essential contribution to the study of 'gentry culture'.

Peter Coss is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Cardiff.

• 1: Introduction


• 2: The Multons and Frampton


• 3: Gentry Household: The Locus of Consumption


• 4: Household, Locality and Social Interaction


• 5: The Gentry Estate: The Locus of Production


• 6: Commercialisation and Estate Management


• 7: Human Resources: The Lord and his Tenants


• 8: The Church as Cultural Space


• 9: The Gentry and the Parish


• 10: The Culture of the Cartulary: The Gentry Family and the Protection of Estates


• 11: Lawyers and Literacy


• 12: Literature and Household Entertainment


• 13: The Urban Dimension: The Gentry, Towns and Merchants


• 14: Conclusion: Cultural Horizons