Medieval Women's Home Life Part One

                                                Rowena, pictured above, from Ivanhoe


Only in the past few decades have scholars come to realize the significance of women in Medieval Times. Many feminist today speak of ''the bad ole days when women were mistreated!'' In reality, Patriarchy contributes to women's happiness. For more on this, see Dr. Kantor's Work The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature. It is also not commonly talked about how women's happiness as been largely been deprived by irresponsible fathers in communities.
Peasant Women worked in the fields beside the men. Women were proud of their abilities to spin, weave, dyeing, and sewing. Most people in the country made their own clothes.
Women in the Middle Ages could not do many things that women can do today but this has also been exaggerated to portray Medieval women as only ''damsels in distress.''  Women were forbidden from being doctors, priests, judges, university or professors but they were allowed to pursue art and writing; craftswomanship and to be tradeswomen. Actually, the idea that women can only by housekeepers or child bearers only came about in the modern era. It is ironic that in many ways Medieval women were more responsible for work of different kinds than we often think! Whether it be Margery Kempe or Julian of Norwich, there was certainly influential Medieval women that wrote and were visionaries for their time.

In the Early Middle Ages, Monastic Women had a lot to do with bringing Europe to Christianity. Religious women throughout the Middle Ages tended to be mystical. Hildegard of Bingin wrote doctrinal literature that gained the support of the papacy.

I will stop there for tonight as I got reading to get too. In the following weeks, I will discuss more on the role of Medieval Women.

Also, check out my previous blog post:
https://themedievalist.blogspot.com/2019/01/some-brief-facts-of-women-in-medieval.html


Further Sources: Damsels not in Distress: The True Story of Women in the Middle Ages by Andrea Hopkins, The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages by Norman F. Cantor.