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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... typically work all day for six days a week and often part of the day on Sundays . Even in cities in which some households employed ancillae , much do- mestic work was carried out by servants . Many servants were drawn from the ranks of ...
... typically dictated to clerics or no- taries and often followed the same format . A husband might tell the notary " my wife gets everything , " for instance , and the notary might record , " I leave my property to my dearest wife . " The ...
... typically had the least freedom of choice , since family members exerted strong pressure to make marriages that would benefit family status . Although the notion of a love match was not unknown , it tended to be frowned upon . For one ...
Contents
Medieval Women | 1 |
Women and Religion | 27 |
Women and Work | 59 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown