Women's Roles in the Middle AgesInformation about women in this truly fascinating period from 500 to 1500 is in great demand and has been a challenge for historians to uncover. Bardsley has mined a wide range of primary sources, from noblewomen's writing, court rolls, chivalric literature, laws and legal documents, to archeology and artwork. This fresh survey provides readers with an excellent understanding of how women high and low fared in terms of religion, work, family, law, culture, and politics and public life. Even though medieval women were divided by social class, religion, age, marital status, place and period, they were all subject to an overarching patriarchal structure and sometimes could transcend their inferior status. Numerous examples of these exceptional women and their words are included. |
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... nunneries required a payment similar to a dowry before one could enter . During the early Middle Ages , women in nunneries often exercised a great deal of control over their own lives , and abbesses - the heads of nunneries - were ...
... nunneries . Some nunneries , such as Chelles in France or Gandersheim in Germany , ac- quired reputations as centers of learning and scholarship . Many early me- dieval nunneries educated both girls and boys , as well as fostering ...
... nunneries to be associated with them , but treated them very much as second - class mem- bers . Some monastic orders , such as that of the Premonstratensians , tried to expel women from their ranks . The numbers of religious houses for ...
Contents
Women and Religion | 27 |
Women and Work | 59 |
Women and the Family | 91 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown