Women in Medieval Life - Hardcover

Labarge, Margaret Wade

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241118093 ISBN 13: 9780241118092

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd, 1986

Synopsis

Medieval women with the exception of such vivid and unrepresentative characters as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Heloise and Joan of Arc, have generally been categorised in terms set by their male contemporaries. These men considered women inferior, weak but dangerously seductive, quarrelsome and irrepressibly talkative, or - less frequently - as remote beauties untouched by tiresome realities. The current interest in the history of everyday life and female contributions to it encourages a more balanced look at the part played by women in medieval society. This study of their activities in north-western Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth century focusses on a series of often unfamiliar individuals who have left discernible traces of their lives. They range from queens and noble ladies to prostitutes and felons, as seen against the background of the physical and legal realities and the social expectations of their own time. Many interesting personalities emerge, such as Mahaut d'Artois, autocratic noble lady; Hildegard of Bingen, the extraordinary mystic and scholar; Sr. Perronnelle de Vertjus, an early example of the gossipy nurse; and the prolific writer, Christine de Pizan, whose advice to her fellow women struck a new note of realism and sympathetic understanding. This lively description of the activities and interests of medieval women suggests that it is high time to abandon the earlier male stereotype in order to look closely at the more complex but also more interesting reality.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd
• Publication date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241118093
• ISBN 13: 9780241118092
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256