Posted on 09/11/2007 8:28:04 AM PDT by blam
Medieval women 'had girl power'
Books, songs and legal documents were studied
A new study by an academic says that "girl power" was alive and kicking around 600 years ago. Dr Sue Niebrzydowski at Bangor university said medieval women enjoyed a golden era with a greater life expectancy than men.
"We found women running priories, commissioning books, taking early package tours to visit the Holy Land," she said.
She added women were also defending their property and property rights.
Dr Niebrzydowski's research involving middle aged women in the middle ages will be discussed at a conference at the university on Wednesday.
The medievalist at Bangor's Institute of Early and Modern Studies, studied legal records, literature and songs to build up a picture of life for women between the 12th and 15th Centuries.
Dr Niebrzydowski, whose research is funded by the Royal Historical Society and the British Academy, said: "Women were often widowed by the age of 30 and it gave them greater freedom.
"They could be more sexually liberated as there would be no child as evidence of their fornication or adultery.
'Misconceptions'
"And if wealthy, they could enter the marriage market on their own terms - and for their own reasons, whether economic, for love, companionship or pleasure."
The study's findings will be explored on Wednesday at a conference in Bangor, attended by some of Britain's top female academics in the fields of archaeology, history, language and law.
Dr Niebrzydowski said: "We assume that women in the past had little economic independence or social power and that they were reliant on fathers or husbands for most of their lives.
"But we should be wary of holding too many misconceptions about women's lives in the past.
"It is true that most of the information we have is drawn from art, literature or historical records which relate to wealthier women, but middle aged women in the middle ages had far more power and independence than we might first imagine."
The conference, which runs until Friday, will bring together experts in literature, archaeology, art and history.
GGG Ping.
yikes...kinda looks like Mad Max Waters
Only in England - the rest of Europe wasn’t so enlightened.
Ya, woman ruled in the past (ya right)
They also were able to enjoy political and ecclesiastical authority and to build and run business ventures.
In the High Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was pretty much the only game in town theologically - yet feminists despise the Church.
Things were a little different in the Islamic World then... and now too.
Women have always ruled — one way or another.
I am reading a fine biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was once the biggest landowner in all of Europe! She owned about a third of France at one time.
The reality is quite different.
that’s the way most in the middle east would like to keep it
Yup. They’ve had the power since before humans walked upright. It’s in their jeans.
Oops, I mean GENES.
This is so true as to be obvious. Women had a great deal of power and influence in the middle ages. Abbesses and Pioresses and female saints were highly influential in the Catholic Church.
The influence of women was greatly reduced by the Renaissance and Reformation—you can take your pick as to which of these intertwined movements was most responsible.
Of course, to call it “girl power” is an anachronism. Back in those days, it was thought important to mature and grow up. You didn’t find people remaining adolescent into their 50s and 60s the way you do today. To say that there were powerful and influential women, not girls, would be more accurate.
Freudian slip?
Really? I was under the impression that the upper classes bartered their women like cattle.
I can't see that phrase without hearing Mr./Ms. Garrison shouting, "Who wants to pound my v-----!"
Sometimes, especially with young girls. However, many wealthy women, whether widows or heiresses, took control of their own property and were quite independent.
Eleanor of Acquitaine is a good example, and she was an example for other women of her time: educated, cultured, and politically aspiring. Of course, sometimes it worked out and sometimes it didn't; Eleanor was under house arrest for a dozen years in her late middle-age.
An excellent source on this subject is Women in the Age of the Cathedrals, by Regine Pernoud.
Thank you. I must look that up to add to my medieval books collection. I have a “Reader”that has many original documents. Those on women were very sexist.
A favorite book I have is a day planner that was never used which is full of Romance writings (I call it my “dirty book.”) People think we’re obsessed with sex. They were, too. It was just more literary. I blushed while reading some of the poems.
Definitely.
Women may have held some power in the Middle Ages, but I would bet lots of money that girls didn’t.
Which is one of many reasons I despise the phrase “girl power.” All girls have the power to do are giggle, squeal, and monopolize the bathroom.
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Thats for sure!
But then you could not have the viscious misandry of today unless you had first constructed lies about the past. Which is exactly what the feminists did. None of the findings are “new” and for them to have this “ain’t this a surprise” moment is at best disingenuous.
And I despise feminists.
lmao!
I think freedoms varied from town to town for everyone. But it certainly makes sense that during a time when a lot of men were often off fighting that their women at home assumed a lot more responsibility. I also think that the middle ages has gotten the rep for being a very backward age. That’s not necessarily true at all.
LOL!!!
Women likely took sexist rhetoric for granted, and concentrated on social and financial power instead.
I blushed while reading some of the poems.
Duke William of Aquitaine was a frisky old dog :-). It's funny how each new generation thinks it discovered sex!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen
One of my faves, Hildegard of Bingen was advisor to Frederick I Barbarossa, who launched the third crusade. Hildegard’s lasting influence came through her mystical visions and glorious music. Today, she’d probably be “diagnosed” as bipolar for her mystical visions. She was popularized in the 1980s by Fr. Matthew Fox while he was still in the relatively good graces of the Catholic Church. He wrote at least one book about her — and a good one, with color illustrations of her visions, which had been translated into art by a contemporary of hers.
I have no clue what this line is doing here. What's the reasoning?
Regine Pernoud argued that the revival of Roman Law and growing elite admiration for classical pagan culture led to the reintroduction of their hard patriarchal systems.
Maybe the author is thinking that women in their mid-30’s would be menopausal?
Aside from that, the author clearly thinks promiscuity is a good thing, and is projecting that “value” onto historic figures.
Empress Theodora of the Byzantine Empire died in 548 AD
One of my favorite groups, The Medieval Baebes, sing music from the Middle Ages in the original languages, and there is one called "I Am Eve" from the thirteenth century that they sing.
The language of the song is Irish, thirteen century Irish at that, and of course I can't understand the words, but the song sure sounds like a feminist anthem.
It's a very good song, and sounds rather powerful for it's time. I'd love to know what the words mean.
I love what I’ve heard of her compositions.
“yet feminists despise the Church.”
I agree. Christianity is the key to women’s freedom. The current hatred has a lot to do with leftist theology and not much to do with true freedom.
#####Dr Sue Niebrzydowski at Bangor university said medieval women enjoyed a golden era with a greater life expectancy than men.#####
Haven’t women always lived longer than men? I know that childbirth was once dangerous, but so was most of the daily work men did.
#####”They could be more sexually liberated as there would be no child as evidence of their fornication or adultery.#####
Something tells me that one is about as fanciful as the occasional claims that the medieval world was pro-same sex “marriage”.
Now that I have the translation, I can see that it's definitely not "feminist"!
Wow- what a wonderful song. Thanks so much for posting the English- I searched for hours and could find nothing that would give me the English version.
Joust married:
Bride weds her knight in shining armour at medieval ceremony
Daily Mail | 11th September 2007 | Colin Fernandez
Posted on 09/11/2007 11:58:14 PM EDT by Lorianne
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1895074/posts
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