Hi there -- you may be interested in this section of our Books and Resources list. If you want a very approachable single-volume history, Chris Wickham's Medieval Europe will do you just fine -- it was recommended to me by u/sunagainstgold, who also will own up to really enjoying the (fictional) Pillars of the Earth as a novel that gets most things right.

I asked roughly the same questions but the moderator linked me this thread instead. I'm also interested in learning about this period, especially the political structures of those times (the monarchy, counties, the vatican,... and the conflicts that arose between these different structures). I'm interested in this period because I myself live in the Belgian part of Limburg and was researching about the history of this region. I found it a bit complicated and am looking for a book that gives a good overview but also goes more in depth about the governmental structures of that time. Any books that are recommendable?

(those cambridge books look interetsing but they seem expensive, I'm going to check out if my university library have them on their shelves).

I'd recommend, in addition to Chris Wickham, Jeffrey L. Singman's The Middle Ages: Everyday Life in Medieval Europe. It's probably the best and most even introduction to everyday life in the Middle Ages, although it does focus only on 13th century England for the most part.

Is there anything you'd like to know about the Middle Ages in particular?