58 pages • 1-hour read
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village
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Chapters 5-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, graphic violence, death, ableism, animal death, child abuse, and bullying.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Thomas, the Doctor’s Son”
Thomas is the son of the lord’s physician. He thinks about all the skills he has gained by working with his father, like knowing “five kinds of fever” (18), having the ability to “sniff out dysentery” (18), and administering remedies like bloodletting.
He notes that he is working on soothing patients and on collecting their payment. He says that when first meeting a patient, the doctor should emphasize the severity of the illness and admonish the family for failing to call him in earlier. As his father has taught him, Thomas notes, “This sort of talk protects you if he dies. / If he recovers, it was all your skill” (19).
Chapter 6 Summary: “Constance, the Pilgrim”
A pilgrim named Constance is traveling to Saint Winifred’s well in hopes of being miraculously healed of a physical condition that she has had since birth. She expresses optimism and certainty, often repeating, “I will be cured at Saint Winifred’s well” (20). Constance then relates the story of Winifred and the origins of the well.
Winifred was a beautiful maid whom an evil man desired. When she refused him, “[h]e took up his sword, and smote off her head” (20). However, because she loved God, her blood ran clear. The earth opened, swallowing the man, and Winifred’s “neck went back to her head” (21).
Constance notes that a magical spring still remains on the spot. Though the travel is difficult for her, Constance plans to pray by the well so that she may be cured.
Interlude 2 Summary: “A Little Background: Medieval Pilgrimage”
This interlude describes the medieval practice of pilgrimage, in which people would travel to a holy site (such as a saint’s burial place), often in the hopes of being healed of their affliction. Schlitz notes that another version of Saint Winifred’s story involved an uncle who “clamped her head back onto her neck” (23), after which Winifred became an abbess. She died in approximately 650 AD.
Journeys were often strenuous and long, but thousands of pilgrims traveled to sites like Winifred’s well, and Schlitz notes that many holy sites were associated with water. The author posits that the supposed healing power of such places may be explained in some instances by the physical characteristics of the water, or the presence of mineral salts that might help cure infections.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Mogg, the Villein’s Daughter”
Mogg recalls the previous winter, during which her father died, “and also the chickens” (24). She reflects on the trouble she had with caring for the chickens, only to have them die, then reminds herself to return to her narrative about her father’s death. She admits to being relieved at his illness, because he could no longer beat her, her mother, or her little brother, Jack. Mogg remembers being tasked with taking the grain to the mill in her father’s stead. The mill was broken, so she had to wait all day to grind her grain, then give the requisite amount to the lord, according to the law. When she returned home, her father was dead.
Mogg muses that although her father was abusive, he was fiscally responsible enough to buy a cow. Mogg reflects on the cow’s name, Paradise, and recalls all the benefits it gave the family.
Mogg explains that at one point, her mother reminded her that when a man dies, the lord has the right to take his best animal. Mogg declares, “I could have killed father for dying” (25). She remembers the lord coming to look at the cow. However, before the lord’s arrival, the family had craftily switched their prized cow with a neighbor’s cow, which was “mangy, ribs showing […] a beast not worth the price of its hide” (26). The lord chose their best pig instead, and they waited until after dark to retrieve their cow, Paradise.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Otho, the Miller’s Son”
Otho reflects on his father’s trade as the miller, acknowledging that he himself will eventually take over the family business. He is aware of the dishonest nature of his profession and states, “It’s been drummed into my head: / How to cheat the hungry customer / And earn my daily bread” (27). Otho thinks about his father, “a hard man” (27) and his grandfather, who was similar, and who was found “in the millpond / With his skull bashed in” (27). He wonders why the peasants hated the millers so much, then admits, “They think we pick their pockets—and they’re not far wrong” (28). Specifically, his father “grinds their flour / And replaces it with chalk” (28).
Otho remembers trying to play with other village children as a four-year-old child, but even then, they already hated him.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Jack, the Half-Wit”
Jack contemplates the names that the other villagers call him when he walks by, such as “lack-a-wit / numbskull / mooncalf / fool” (30). He never replies to their bullying because he is waiting until he “get[s] big / and can hit hard” (30). He remembers his sister telling him that he is skilled at milking the cows and gathering the eggs, and he takes pride in those skills. He admits that life is better now, after his father’s death. He notes that, “Heaven must be like this: / Nobody ale-drunk, / nobody yelling, / or hitting / or jeering ‘lack-a-wit’ / Just friends” (31).
Jack thinks about a secret friend that not even his sister knows about: Otho. He remembers helping Otho when the miller’s son had just endured a beating from the other boys. Otho cried, and Jack stayed by his side. Jack notes that they have been friends since that day, and Otho “hasn’t forgotten, / and never joins in / when the other boys shout” (33) and otherwise abuse Jack.
Chapters 5-9 Analysis
Just as the earliest stories in the novel introduce the differences between a lord’s family and more lower-class individuals, this section focuses on the various trades and crafts that contributed to the vibrancy of medieval communities. To this end, Thomas’s story helps to characterize the dubious nature of medicine in the Middle Ages. As Thomas learns his father’s trade and expresses his pride at his own growing medical knowledge, he nonetheless spends the majority of the narrative discussing the importance of collecting payment from the patients and lowering their expectations of recovery and survival. With the inclusion of Thomas also mentions dubious beliefs such as his faith in the efficacy of bloodletting, as well as his belief in the idea that a body is comprised of four different “humors.” To explain these references further, Schlitz includes footnotes to contextualize the medical practices of the time better, explaining that some medieval practices were based on fairly sound logic. For example, she states that “an egg white makes a good dressing because it’s relatively sterile” (84). Even so, Thomas’s narrative highlights the ineffectiveness of some of the cures of the time, and it is clear that Thomas and his father’s chief concern is not to heal their patients, but to avoid blame for the deaths that will inevitably occur.
Schlitz then creates an implicit tone of irony by following Thomas’s quasi-medical narrative with Constance’s hopes that Saint Winifred’s well will magically cure her “crooked” back. While Thomas shows little confidence in the efficacy of his treatments, Constance is fully convinced that the powers of the well will miraculously cure her of her physical ailments. By juxtaposing these two narratives, Schlitz emphasizes the stark contrast between conventional medicine and faith cures. Based on the speakers’ perspectives, the medieval mind accords the latter with a better chance of success, and Schlitz addresses this contrast directly in the interlude that follows Constance’s narrative. Specifically, the author notes that some cures can be explained by characteristics of the natural environment, like the presence of a cleansing mineral salt in so-called “holy” springs. Schlitz therefore contends that compared to the nascent science of the time, some faith cures were likely to have been more effective (or at least less harmful) than the cures practiced by doctors.
The narrative also emphasizes the importance of religion and faith in the Middle Ages. Most of the narratives in the book include references to religious practices, which were an important aspect of life at the time. For example, Thomas and his father tell patients, “We’ll have to ask the saints. / Make sure you pray” (18). However, Thomas’s narrative focuses on managing the expectations of patients’ families, while Constance expresses true, unquestioning faith when she repeats, “I will be cured at Saint Winifred’s well” (20). Her words emphasize her firmly held belief that the miracle will happen, and her fervency shows the differing degrees to which individual faith and religious practice influence the characters’ lives.
Throughout the novel, the various first-person narratives are delivered by a single speaker, and only a few are written in prose. Of the verse narratives, some include rhyme and some do not, and even the purpose of the rhymes changes from story to story. At times, rhyming is used for comedic effect, as when Thomas’s narrative uses rhyme to emphasize the contrast between the doctor’s ostensible goal of helping others and his need to look after his own interests. As Thomas states, “Think of ways to simplify your diet— / That trencher full of venison I see / Is much too rich! Just hand it back to me!” (19). In this instance, rhyme enhances the humor of the passage by emphasizing the ridiculous nature of the request. However, rhyme is used to a very different effect in Otho’s narrative, for when the miller’s son declares, “Every man’s a cheater, and so every man is fed, / For we feed upon each other, / when we seek our daily bread” (27), his stark words reflect his family’s unscrupulous nature. In short, Otho’s statement reflects the bleak inevitability of using dishonest practices to survive in this era.
Schlitz uses form and structure to emphasize The Importance of Human Connection. To this end, Otho’s narrative is placed between those of siblings Mogg and Jack. Sequentially, Mogg’s hatred for Otho and his cheating father are followed by Otho’s own narrative, in which he explains why his family is hated, and his tone of wounded resignation reflects the Brutality of Life in the Middle Ages. Finally, Jack’s narrative creates a new, unique sense of connection that mitigates the harsh tone of the previous stories. Because Jack understands what it feels like to be hurt, he willingly helps Otho to recover from the effects of a hate-fueled beating. Thus, despite the characters’ differences in cognitive abilities, parentage, and class, Otho and Jack develop a connection that transcends the ugliness of their circumstances.
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