Women in the Middle Ages

As many would believe, women were thought and viewed to be inferior to men throughout history. Based on this, they were not seen as ones to take on the same important roles as men would in their societies like political jobs, warfare, influencer and innovators, and scientists. During the Medieval period, women rose and began defying the normal stereotypes, even more than usual, and were recognized by their actions. One woman was Margaret of Anjou, the queen consort of England. Margaret was the daughter of René of Anjou and the wife of Henry VI. Her home country France was at war against England and she was offered to King Henry VI as a peace treaty. Being a queen consort, she did not rule and was an asset to the king. When King Henry suffered from an illness, Margaret believed she was the one who should temporarily rule in his place. Unfortunately, title was given to the Duke of York. This occurrence caused a rivalry to emerge between the House of Lancaster and the House of York; This was called the War of the Roses as Lancaster wore red roses in battle and York wore white. The second woman is Lady Murasaki, a daughter of Fujiwara family and a Japanese novelist in the Heian period. She was very intelligent was a young girl and her father still allowed her to get an education despite it being unsuitable for girls. After the death of her husband, she went to court and wrote in a diary about the life she has in court and her thoughts. It is believed that Murasaki sensed that

Marie de France lived in a time when social graces were paramount to a good reputation, lordships and to securing good marriages. A woman was considered less valuable if she lost her virginity; a wife was subjected to her feudal lord, father, brother or son after her husband’s death. According to Angela Sandison’s article “The Role of Women in the Middle Ages”, this was because in the Middle Ages the Church and the aristocracy controlled public opinion and the legal system. These authorities of the times believed a woman’s place was in a submissive role to a man. In The Lay of the Nightingale, we will see how this social and religious hierarchy will impact the behaviors of the three people involved.

Today, women in the United States have a majority of the same liberties as men; however, this is not the way it has always been. Women were powerless in the Middle Ages, doing little more than caring for homes, tending to children, and occasional manual labor in the fields to assist their husbands. Some of the richer women had servants to help them, although many did not (Alixe Bovey). While some may argue that women were powerless in the Middle Ages, I argue that the Wife of Bath breaks this stereotype because she manipulates the Knight into doing what she wants and holds authority over him, which suggests that Chaucer did not believe in the aforementioned female stereotypes.

Women of Medieval Times In the beginning of the Middle Ages, women of higher class owned land and had a high social reputation, as if they were equal to men. As the 12th century hit, female roles started to fall apart. Women in the upper class were now below their husbands. Females could not attend school and they were also excluded from politics because men thought they were not fit to understand them.

In medieval times, women were viewed as subordinate to men. They were considered “vulnerable to the powers of evil” and thought to not be involved in the church. The perfect woman in their time was compared to Mary in the Bible. She was an idealistic image to society, virginal, mild and pure. Even though they were viewed as subservient and useless, they were given opportunities to find themselves through Christianity. Within these opportunities for women were nuns, anchoresses and beguines. They all gave themselves up to God and served for their religion. Nuns lived in beautiful convents and worked day and night from growing food to providing healthcare.

Medieval women also had many images that were expected of them. “Some women were known as witches, capable of sorcery and healing. Others became nuns and devoted their lives to God and spiritual matters” (Feudal Life). They were given the image of being a witch for doing things men thought women were incapable of doing also to give themselves a better image the women became nuns and gave their lives to God. The most common symbol of the Peasant women was the distaff. Eve is often illustrated with a distaff showing her performing manual labor after the fall from paradise. In medieval art it shows a woman waving her distaff at a fox with a goose in its jaws. In satirical images, it shows women attacking their husbands with a distaff or other

This research paper on the role of women in the Middle Ages proposes to describe the story of women that was treated as second class citizens. This paper will highlight the many issues that women was faced with in the Middle Ages. Hard working, child bearing women whose life was revolved around men and their needs.

The Roles of Women in the Middle Ages are intricately connected with the Church. The Catholic Church was not only a system which challenged secular leaders for governing power, it also maintained an ideal of morality. One third of surviving Anglo-Saxon poetic texts are translations of biblical material (Greenblatt 109). For the most part, only churchmen were literate and spent much time copying manuscripts during this time period. Thus, we see plenty of religious topics in the written works of that era. For example, Judith written by Aelfric is a biblical narrative inspired by Anglo-Saxon poetry in which represents an ironic women warrior who defends her town. The irony is in the fact that in the 10th century, if women had any power, it was

During the middle ages, women were abiding to their husbands. Women didn’t have power but are treated as an object. Women take care of the house and bear a child. Men have power and are in charge of the relationships. In “The Canterbury Tales” the Wife of Bath sets as a counter of women in the middle ages.

The roles of women in early Anglo-Saxon culture were strictly defined. Women were viewed as possessions and served the function of the peace-weaver. In this role women were married off to warring tribes to promote peace and were to perform duties such as passing the cup from warrior to warrior during ceremonial functions. Women in Anglo-Saxon culture possessed virtually no autonomy and consequently were consistently at the mercy of their lords or husbands. The sense of isolation and desperation felt by these women is captured in the “The Wife’s Lament” as the speaker describes her inability to control her own situation. The female characters Wealhtheow, Hildeburh, and Freawaru in Beowulf also display the limited

The power struggle between man and woman has been tangible since the time of Adam and Eve. In Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, a plethora of characters share stories that reflect their personalities and lives. Several of these stories revolve around the female position and focuses on the role they play in society. Although women are usually seen as subordinate to the male, in Canterbury Tales, they are portrayed as independent human beings. The Wife of Bath embodies her independence through her dominance over her first three husbands in marriage. Additionally, Alison from “The Miller’s Tale” is representative of this strong female character, for her denial towards the males in her lives, manifests how independent she is.

The medieval britain time period was the start of the noticeability for women. Women were beginning to rise in control in this time period. They were gaining more respect and honor than previous time periods, whereas women were only known to keep the house and children. However, women were also known for their seductiveness in this time period. They also were more loved for their virtues rather than their prettiness. Women in the medieval time period were being put in more higher places and were being on more power. In the medieval time period women were increasingly becoming more noticed as well as being put in high places.

The manner of women in the middle age according to O’Pry-Renolds in society was one of chastity, purity, and goodness. In society, women had limited economic mobility that was restricted greater than a man’s. O'Pry-Renolds said, that not every woman was a damsel in distress during the medieval period, this is evident in The Canterbury Tales and "The Wife of Bath's Tale." One character from The Canterbury Tales, known as the Nun or Madam Eglantine, she was by no means a damsel in distress. She was very courtly in her manners and did not follow the Nuns attributes, for she ate, spent, and dressed well out of the ordinary. A woman, whom took no name, in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” was sovereign in her actions towards the knight. She too was not a damsel in distress for she controlled the relationship fully from the start.

Middle Ages was a period of tremendous social, political, and economic change. It was also

Although many women lacked vast political power during the medieval period, some women were able to contrive power through the ownership of property. Often garnered through inheritance, both noble and lower class women were able to make some sort of gain either in terms of status or power via ownership. While lower class women maintained some level of equality among men in their class due to the need for an equal share of physical labor and trade efforts, they still lacked significant power, and many had little means of increasing their status is society. In the upper class, while women may have been titled, they often lacked political power. However, both aristocratic and peasant women gained power through land ownership, as it made them more