Women in England in the Middle Ages

Description

Medieval women faced many of the problems of their modern counterparts in bringing up their families, balancing family and work, and responding to the demands of their communities. Of many women in the period of a thousand years before 1500 we know little or nothing, though their typical ways of life, on farms or in the towns, can be reconstructed with accuracy from a variety of sources. We know more about a far smaller number of elite women, including queens such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Margaret of Anjou; noblewomen, whose characters and attitudes can be sensed directly or indirectly; and a variety of religious women. Literary sources help flesh out real attitudes, such as those of Chaucer's Wife of Bath. Jennifer Ward shows the life-cycle of medieval women, from birth, via marriage and child-rearing, to widowhood and death. She also brings out the slow changes in the position of women over a millennium.

Jennifer Ward spent much of her career at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where she taught medieval and regional history. Since retirement, she has continued with historical research and writing on Essex and East Anglian history as well as on medieval women. Publications include: English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages; Women of the English Nobility and Gentry 1066-1500; and Women in Medieval Europe 1200-1500.

"Dr Ward's bibliography testifies to the large body of work over the past two or three decades which has illuminated the lives of half of the English population in the middle ages. Her study is a very good summary of that work: it is comprehensive, full of telling examples and supplemented by some interesting informations. It is definetely to be recommended" Reviewed by Anne Crawford, Re Ricardian XVIII, 2008 "The chapter headings and topics Jennifer Ward has chosen signal important aspects of medieval women's lives in general...Ward enriches her narrative with reference to primary sources such as wills, letters, household accounts, and court records, and thus the book offers a good place to begin an exploration of medieval English women....The writing style is clear; the illustrations of English tomb engravings and some photographs of monasteries are attractive...A brief glossary of English legal terms at the end of the book is very helpful." - The Historian -- Miriam Shadis "Ward (Univ. of London) provides a comprehensive general introduction to the role of women in medieval English society, examining the female life cycle and emphasizing commitments to immediate family members and local communities. Extensive notes and bibliography lead readers to publications that are more specific, and guide student research projects. Summing up: Recommended. General readers, undergraduates, researchers/faculty." - CHOICE * Choice * Title mention in The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2007 * Chronicle, The *