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!
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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
Copyright
© Rosalie Gilbert
All text & photographs within this site are the property
of Rosalie Gilbert unless stated.
Art & artifact images remain the property of the owner.
Images and text may not be copied and used without permission.
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