Family Life in The Middle Ages Linda E. Mitchell This study of family life in the Middle Ages is organized into two major sections. In Section I, each region or culture under study - Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, the Muslim World, and the Judaic Culture - will be introduced in separate chapters. In addition, these chapters are prefaced by one that outlines family structures in the later Roman Empire and the ways in which late Roman culture affected and influenced medieval family systems. The emphasis in Section I is structural. The intersections between law and definitions in the family; the ways in which roles of individual family members were defined; the criteria for determining lawful heirs; and the status of women in the family are the kinds of issues discussed. Section II is divided topically. Each chapter focuses on a specific element of family life: domestic space, relations between husbands and wives, the experience of children, the role of religion, work, and the existence of untraditional or atypical family structures. Each chapter addresses its particular topic in a comparative way. All four cultures' experiences are looked at together. Finally, a Glossary of terms and a list of recommended further reading appear at the end of the volume. Maps and illustrations also appear when necessary to illustrate particular issues. Linda E. Mitchell is Associate Professor of History at Alfred University. She is Hagar Professor of Humanities and Co-chair, Medieval & Renaissance Studies. She contributed to Events that Changed the World in the Eighteenth Century (Greenwood, 1997).