Gangs of youths often rampaged noisily around villages, banging drums, playing instruments, often drunk and seeming disorderly. This was known as a charivari and far from rebelling against the restrictions of society: it actively enforced them.

The charivari existed to actively reinforce the norms of society by the ceremonial mocking of those who offended it. These offences included remarriage, often by widowers, to a much younger person: as this removed people from the marriage ‘pool’. Other offences included remarriage where the children of the first marriage may be neglected – this is where the fairytale Evil Stepmother stems from.

The charivari was a safety valve, carefully channeling youthful energy and sexual frustrations into a reassertion and reinforcement of the traditional orders of the society.

Carnivals were also a popular occasion of the period, the offered a chance for the community to unite. These carnivals (or carne-vale – farewell to flesh) were often a celebration before periods of fasting, such as Lent, where they offered a chance to over indulge before the abstinence began. Often included in these celebrations was a masquerade, which frequently took the form of men dressing as ‘unruly women’, who did not fulfil their role and submit to male domination.

The carnival, like the charivari, was a carefully channeled outlet for the tensions that built up in a hierarchical society when political expression was severely limited. They also offered an exciting change from the tedium of life.

In the church’s view, women were two-fold beings. These were two contradictory images of woman: Eve, the temptress and the cause of man’s fall from grace; and Mary, the virgin mother of God.

These two images were reflected in society. Women were traditionally believed to have only a fragile control of insatiable lust: which was seen to threaten the stability and order of the community and family as a whole.

Conversely, popular at the time was the concept of courtly love, when a woman’s virtues could be extolled at length. A woman could hold her lover at her beck and call and he would place her on a pedestal whilst humbly praising her beauty. This was virtually the only instance that a woman was seen to hold power over a man.

The real position of women was one of defenselessness. Having not the legal or social standing of men, if she was brought to court, her word was given much less importance than that of a man. It was for this reason that the presence of women in the seventeenth century was so prominent among the religious prophets. To represent themselves via divine revelation was one of the only ways that a woman would be listened to as she was denied the right of preaching or political comment.

Widows held an advantage, as they were able to keep hold of and manage their dead husband’s estate and affairs, meaning that wealthy widows were conspicuous in society and held much power. However, in marriage and law a woman was not considered an individual. Before marriage, her property belonged to her father, who held responsibility for her; after marriage, her property belonged to her husband. Under Canon law, wife beating was perfectly acceptable and suspicions of adultery were considered sufficient reason to kill a wife.

The church of the Middle Ages was a different scene to the familiar church of today. The structure of the building was the same, but inside there were no pews, so the congregation wandered around, gossiping and playing. They simply did not see themselves as disciplined and passive. The churchyard was used as open space for dancing and sports – a practice condemned by sixteenth century reformers. The gargoyles surrounding the church were not merely ornamental, but were intended to repel evil spirits and demons from the church, and perhaps from the minds of its members.

The lack of discipline of the congregation did not, however, indicate a lack of interest in religion, nor does it point to widespread atheism. Church services gave an identity and security to the community, the Church’s religious calendar followed the seasons, which reflected the agricultural community and made the services and celebrations relevant to its congregation.

The Church was also essential in a society so dominated, as it was, by death. One in five children died within a year and only two-thirds survived until the age of ten. Forty-five percent of the population were children, the average age was twenty-seven. Lack of medical knowledge meant that death was a reality for the population as a whole.

The Church was, however, not only present at times of death. It was an essential aspect of life, with baptism and marriage, and also as a social occasion.