a woman's
life

medieval
women
at home

upper class &
noble women
at home

merchant &
townswomen
at home

rural & peasant women at home

births

weddings

divorces

death & dying

manners

cooking

housework

shopping

gardening

livestock &
poultry care

education

employment
opportunities

recreation
& hobbies

holidays &
feast days

board games

music

embroidery
& needlework

pet keeping

reading

dancing

horseriding

hawking

hunting

sex &
sexual health
PLEASE NOTE!
ADULT THEMES!

A Medieval Woman's Life

In spite of the often harsh life which many women encountered, celebrations, whether religious or personal, were fairly frequent. Education and employment opportunities did exist for girls in many cases. Men were defined by their jobs and their rank in society while medieval women were defined by their relation to the men around them in their family.

They were either (ideally) virgins, wives or widows. Whether wealthy or poor, a woman's lot depended on which of these she was. All of these states related to who was in charge fo her. A virgin or maiden or damsel lived at home or worked in service in someone else's domicile, but she was under the care and responsibility of her father. Wives were handed over from father to husband. Widows might revent to the care of a brother or back to her father in some cases. She might become a ward of the king and find herself on the register of wealthy widows, to be remarried off again to the most "suitable" match. She might also, if she was lucky, be able to live and work by herself if her husband had trained her in his trade.

Numerous women did not fit neatly into these categories; women who were beggars, itinerant, travelling performers or prostitutes. Nuns and cloistered women also found themselves in situations which required different rules.

A girl was an infant until 7 years of age, a child until 14, a youth until 28 and then an adult. Generally, a girl stayed with her mother until 7 years of age unless she was an orphaned heiress, where she may have been removed from her mother and put into 'suitable' care, although in many cases, mothers were able to apply for guardianship of their own child. Such an appeal may or may not have been successful depending on the enormity of the child's holdings.

A great deal of the fortunes of medieval women depended on her rank in society and her marital status. Everything from her clothes, diet, work, social and legal opportunities, dental care to familial obligations, her role in births, deaths and marriage options, all depended on her financial and social position at the time of her birth or at the time of her marriage.

According to legal historian Frederick Maitland, at certain times a medieval woman:

"...can hold land, even by military tenure, can own chattels, make a will, sue and be sued. A married woman will sometimes appear as her husband's attorney. A widow will often be the guardian of her own children; a lady will often be the guardian of the children of her tenants."

On the following pages you will find a general overview of each of these topics. This is by no means the complete guide to each occasion, but more of a springboard, a starting point for further reading.

BIRTHS - A look at the practices surrounding childbirth

WEDDINGS - Medieval wedding celebrations

DIVORCES - The rights of the divorcing woman

DEATHS - Funerals and death practices

MANNERS - Manners at table and in society

COOKING - Cooking, cook books and kitchen tools

HOUSEWORK - Keeping the house clean

SHOPPING - Shopping opportunities for medieval women

GARDENING - Medieval women and their gardens

LIVESTOCK & POULTRY CARE - caring for chickens, sheep and cows

EDUCATION - Opportunities for women

EMPLOYMENT - Where women worked

RECREATION - Hobbies, pets and passtimes, including:

- HOLIDAYS & FEAST DAYS - When and how to celebrate holidays and feast days
- BOARD GAMES - Chess, merrils, tric-trac and other board games
- MUSIC - Making music
- EMBROIDERY - Fine embroidery and needlework
- PET KEEPING - What kind of pet did the medieval woman have?
- READING - Books for instruction and pleasure
- DANCING - Who dances and when?
- HORSE RIDING - Riding for pleasure
- HAWKING - Hawking and falconing for the medieval woman
- HUNTING - Hunting with bows and arrows

SEX & SEXUAL HEALTH - Sex, contraception and sexual health ADULT THEMES

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