High-born and low-born, women workers abounded in medieval Europe, running estates, brewing, baking, cloth-making and hunting, for example. Among the women profiled are Marguerite de Navarre, Hildegard of Bingen, Margaret Paston and Christine de Pizan.

Publisher description

Praise for the first edition: 'It is difficult to imagine another book in which one could find all this diverse material, and no doubt Amt's collection, in its richness, and in its genuine clarity and simplicity will takes prominent place in our expanded, diversified medieval curriculum, a curriculum that takes class, gender, and ethnicity as central to an understanding of world cultural history.' - The Medieval Review Long considered to be a definitive and truly groundbreaking collection of sources, Women’s Lives in Medieval Europe uniquely presents the everyday lives and experiences of women in the Middle Ages. This indispensible text has now been thoroughly updated and expanded to reflect new research, and includes previously unavailable source material. This new edition includes expanded sections on marriage and sexuality, and on peasant women and townswomen, as well as a new section on women and the law. There are brief introductions both to the period and to the individual documents, study questions to accompany each reading, a glossary of terms and a fully updated bibliography. Working within a multi-cultural framework, the book focuses not just on the Christian majority, but also present material about women in minority groups in Europe, such as Jews, Muslims, and those considered to be heretics. Incorporating both the laws, regulations and religious texts that shaped the way women lived their lives, and personal narratives by and about medieval women, the book is unique in examining women’s lives through the lens of daily activities, and in doing so as far as possible through the voices of women themselves.

What was the status of women in the Middle Ages? How have women fared in the hands of historians? And, what is the current state of research about women in the Middle Ages? Susan Mosher Stuard addresses these questions in a collection of essays that delve in to the history and historiography of women in medieval England, France, Italy, and Germany. Contributors include Barbara Hanawalt, Diane Owen Hughes, Suzanne Wemple, Denise Kaiser, and Martha Howell. One of the most interesting observations made in Women in Medieval History and Historiography is the way in which the history of women in each country has followed a distinct course that is in rhythm with other concerns of national historical writing. Women in Medieval History and Historiography will interest historians, scholars of women's studies, and medievalists.

In the early Middle Ages, until as late as the thirteenth century, women were active and independent participants in many sectors of economic life. Even apart from agriculture, they were prominent in all phases of cloth making, in brewing, medicine, education, administration, and in the dispensation of religious counsel. In the late Middle Ages, clearly so by the fifteenth century, women lost that prominence as well as their economic independence. Using a great variety of original sources, both literary and statistical, David Herlihy vividly demonstrates that the subordination of women within a household economy was specifically the product of the late Middle Ages. Opera Muliebria, the medieval Latin term for "women's labors," is the first comprehensive survey of women's participation in economic activities throughout Europe from ancient times to about 1500. Herlihy illustrates how medieval women lived and worked, and how their lives were transformed as the Middle Ages ended. He traces the dramatic change in their participation in productive enterprise to the establishment of guild monopolies and reveals that the virtual confinement of women's labors to work within the home was not an ancient arrangement, but rather the heritage of the late Middle Ages. Covering the entire continent of Europe for over a millennium of its history, Herlihy's work contributes to a better understanding not only of medieval women but of the entire social world of the Middle Ages. Author note: David Herlihy is Mary Critchfield and Barnaby Keeney Professor of History at Brown University and President of the American Historical Association in 1990. He is the author of several books including Medieval Households.

From women's medicine and the writings of Christine de Pizan to the lives of market and tradeswomen and the idealization of virginity, gender and social status dictated all aspects of women's lives during the middle ages. A cross-disciplinary resource, Women and Gender in Medieval Europe examines the daily reality of medieval women from all walks of life in Europe between 450 CE and 1500 CE, i.e., from the fall of the Roman Empire to the discovery of the Americas. Moving beyond biographies of famous noble women of the middles ages, the scope of this important reference work is vast and provides a comprehensive understanding of medieval women's lives and experiences. Masculinity in the middle ages is also addressed to provide important context for understanding women's roles. Entries that range from 250 words to 4,500 words in length thoroughly explore topics in the following areas: · Art and Architecture · Countries, Realms, and Regions · Daily Life · Documentary Sources · Economics · Education and Learning · Gender and Sexuality · Historiography · Law · Literature · Medicine and Science · Music and Dance · Persons · Philosophy · Politics · Political Figures · Religion and Theology · Religious Figures · Social Organization and Status Written by renowned international scholars, Women and Gender in Medieval Europe is the latest in the Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages. Easily accessible in an A-to-Z format, students, researchers, and scholars will find this outstanding reference work to be an invaluable resource on women in Medieval Europe.