For Medieval peasants, life certainly wasn’t easy. But the stretches of time for rest and leisure were enviable.

Rodney Hilton, 85, a British historian who wrote influential works on the rise of capitalism and medieval peasant revolts, died June 7 at his home in Birmingham, England. The cause of death was not ...

(THE CONVERSATION) When people think of the European Middle Ages, it often brings to mind grinding poverty, superstition and darkness. But the reality of the 1,000-year period from 500 to 1500 was ...