Early Modern European Women

“Compare and contrast women’s suffrage movements of the late nineteenth and early centuries with the European feminist movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s.”

     Many of people today feel trapped inside their homes, just how the women of Pre-Industrial Europe felt. Working day in and day out inside the homes, just to keep the family together, and make a little money on the side, these women were an integral part of Pre-Industrial families. Not only were the women important to Pre-Industrial European families, but so were the households. Much of the money was made in the households, and this is where families either succeeded or failed. The household and women of Pre-Industrial Europe played an integral role in the economy of the families, and more importantly, the women of these households kept them running

“ The belief that women were inherently inferior in intelligence, strength, and character was so persuasive that for men like Knox, a woman ruler was almost a contradiction in terms” (“Documents for Chapters 5&6”). In the 16th century, women were looked upon as a gender that should stay in the house and work, not have power and rule over a country. Discussing the govern of Queens during the 16th century, such as Mary Tudor, Lady Jane Grey, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, allowed prejudices to be lessened but never completely be erased. No matter how these four notable ladies came into power, the accomplishments they overcame, achieved and wrote about proved to be great and substantial in making history as it is written today.

During the Middle Ages, except for those in religious positions, women were only seen as three things, which were daughter, wife, and mother. But in the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries, new opportunities in learning humanism arose for only those in the higher class families. Even though they started to educate themselves, the majority had no rights whatsoever in money matters as well as estate. From the 17th century and up to the scientific revolution, women’s rights had consistently been improving. However, during the revolution, the study of the human body brought to attention that the male brain is quite larger than that of a female. This revelation set back the female race back to a limited role, but this time this setback was

A woman in medieval times was not considered a person, but property. A woman would be forced to wear layers of drab clothing, the style determining their social class ranking. A woman of wealth would wear decadent gowns and women in poverty would wear plain spun dresses. Their goal in life was to find a husband, to give in to his whims and be the epitome of submission. Sometimes, peasant girls would be forced to take up a trade prior to marriage. After the marriage, she was forced to give up this trade, the skill she possessed, and either maintain the lifestyle as a housewife, or help her husband with his trade. In regards to whom a woman married, there was little to no choice in the matter. Often, girls were married to strange men, men they

In the sixteenth century the role of women in society was very limited. Women were generally stereotyped as housewives and mothers. They were to be married, living their life providing for her husband and children. The patriarchal values of the Elizabethan times regarded women as the weaker sex.’ Men were considered the dominant gender and were treated with the utmost respect by females. Women were mainly restricted within the confines of their homes and were not allowed to go school or to university, but they could be educated at home by private tutors. Men were said to be the ones to provide for their families financially. Women were often seen as not intelligent. Property could not be titled in the name of a female within the family. Legally everything the female had belonged to her husband. Poor and middle class wives were kept very busy but rich women were not idle either. In a big house they had to organize and supervise the servants.

All throughout history, women have been thought of to be “weaker” and “not as capable” as men have always been thought to be. Due to this, gender roles were

The Mel Gibson film, released in 1995 in the United States, shows the struggle of William Wallace and his band of Scottish and Irish brothers going against the tyranny of English rule. Many people make the mistake though when viewing the film. From my own knowledge, I know that the Scottish did not paint their faces blue. That’s as far as my knowledge of the film before viewing goes. What I plan to do in this research essay is to write out the inaccuracies in the film, and address

16th century Europe might not have been as restricted for the fairer gender and other eras, but exceedingly greater than later on in time. Men were considered the dominant sex, they were known to be stronger, smarter, more tenacious and kept a firm hand on the life of his wife, sister or daughter. Submission was deemed necessary to keep order in the household, and a man was not above using extreme force to keep order. Since early childhood, girls were taught submission, obedience and subordinancy. Even if she was of high rank, education was not concrete.

The Middle Ages have been notoriously described as the Dark Ages, where war was unceasing, disease ravaged populations, societal structures collapsed, and growth seemed nowhere to be found. However, this bleak outlook has discounted many of the advancements of this time period, which laid very important foundations to modern education and reason. The Middle Ages was a time of growth for society where universities were born, agricultural and population boomed, and foundations of reason and religion coexisted.

The Renaissance was a time of enlightenment and discovery around the world. There were many advancements in culture, art, and science. An interesting area to look at for this period would be the advancements made based on gender. Historically, women do not always have a significant impact on their culture, and they do not always have the same standing as their male counterparts. Margaret L. King and Joan Kelly-Gadol delve deeper into the issue of gender advancements during the Renaissance when they analyze the issue of whether women and men benefitted equally during this period.

Once long ago, there was a world in which an illogical amount of moil had to be done from all of mankind, from servants who were settled in the village, to peasants on the countryside nearby. Unfortunately, this was a reality for people who lived in a time period situated with the name of The Middle Ages. As these people lived within the lowest social class, their lives were filled with many mishaps. During this era of history, servants had a heavy load on their shoulders--many goods were to be crafted, while diligent peasants were off planting crops and doing such drudgery for their lord while being fed with the least costly foods, and there was a variety of fabrics and styles to be seen.

Women from the medieval times had clear roles. The women had strict rules to follow by. When it came to marriage, the wives had to submit to their husbands and follow their lead. Women were supposed to be cleaning, stay at home with the kids, cook, make clothes, etc. The women who steered away from these “typical” roles, made very interesting characters. The majority of gender expectations came from the church and biblical history. Since Eve was the cause for the fall of man, there were a lot of anti-feminist feelings. Women were held accountable for the majority of man’s suffering, and were consequently inferior and to be dominated by men. Purity, holiness, and chastity, were all presumptions of women from outstanding role models like the Virgin Mary.

Between the 5th and the 15th century, European development had dramatically changed. The middle ages had sparked political, social, and economic growth. It created the foundation and change in European development that can still be seen in this day and age. Economic growth was greatly impacted by the influences of different nations and city states interactions. Expansion had grown tremendously as people started spreading out throughout Europe. People were able to go into craftsmanship and sell other good besides food. One major foundation that changed lives forever was the domestication of plants and animals. This lead to people being able to control their environment around them and create agriculture surplus through advances like crop rotation.

18th Century was the witness to the first wave of European Feminism. Contrary to popular notions, it was a time of questioning, of upheavals, of a time when women had started understanding their position in the private as well as public spheres and had started to recognize themselves as