What do you think?
Rate this book
Medieval Women: A Social History of Women in England 450-1500
Medieval Women looks at a thousand years of English history, as it affected - and was made by - women.
Henrietta Leyser considers the problems and attitudes fundamental to every woman of the time: medieval views on sex, marriage and motherhood; the world of work and the experience of widowhood for peasant, townswoman and aristocrat. The intellectual and spiritual worlds of women are also explored.
Based on an abundance of research from the last twenty-five years, Medieval Women describes the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages.
Henrietta Leyser considers the problems and attitudes fundamental to every woman of the time: medieval views on sex, marriage and motherhood; the world of work and the experience of widowhood for peasant, townswoman and aristocrat. The intellectual and spiritual worlds of women are also explored.
Based on an abundance of research from the last twenty-five years, Medieval Women describes the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages.
337 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
78 people are currently reading
3530 people want to read
About the author
Henrietta Leyser
15 books11 followersAn English historian: an expert on the history of medieval England, in particular the role of women.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
Read
June 8, 2019You've climbed up through woodland to the summit of a hill. From there your companion points out below the flash of sunlight on a distant stream, a stretch of path emerging then disappearing among the trees, a corner of a glade. That was my experience of reading this book – the closest thing I've ever come across to a historical If on a Winter's Night a traveller.
Each chapter covers different topic . The chapters, bar one or two references, are not interlinked, you could read them as free-standing, well not as free-standing essays because the chapters plainly are not like essays – they pose no one question and come to no one answer. It makes for a curious reading experience, like wandering through the bare bones of a very much longer book that hasn't yet been written.
The reality of the book undermines the subtitle, there can't be a history – a narrative – of all women, covering a thousand years and more, even if one only considers England . Perhaps that is a point that Leyser wanted to make.
The downside of this is that if you asked me to recommend a book to learn about the lives of Anglo-Saxon aristocratic women, Female monasticism, peasant women, I could not recommend this one on it's own, Leyser eludes comprehensiveness. She shares insights, and at the paragraph level I read happily, but the abrupt changes of direction tired me, the prospect of the next chapter was a little wearying, so much so that Seierstad was able to grab me by the hand and drag me off to spend One Hundred and One Days in Baghdad with her in the middle of reading Leyser's book. There, I became an adulterous reader.
Leyser has many interesting things to say – on Anglo-Saxon politics being family politics the role of the English Queen – invariably non-English after 1066 they at once played the role of intermediary and intercessor with the king as well as the part of hated foreigner coming over here with a boat load of grasping, greedy, work-shy relatives, the difficulty of approaching female spirituality for instance we understand that women were excluded from the formal structures of the medieval church and churchmen could be at a complete loss as to what to do with a holy woman yet at the same time there were the Anchoresses, described as the anchors holding steady the ship of the church against the powers of evil.
I am, perhaps by nature and nurture both, strongly in agreement with Leyser's cautious reading of evidence. Looking at wills left by Anglo-Saxon women, she points out, we don't and can't know if they really express their wishes or what they had previously agreed with their husbands or families, likewise she stresses caution in making judgements of misogyny in medieval literature particularly when one work would denigrate women and the same author in their other work praise them, nor is it wise to take at face value Christine de Pisan leaping in with her own response. These are literary people engaged in a literary culture, a literary culture which was more about performance than private reading than today's, their writings may or may not reflect personal views they certainly represent an opportunity for them to show off their abilities.
Among other interesting titbits since the home and the family were the basic labour unit, women are involved with craftwork of all kinds, and even though they had no guild status court cases show widows were expected to continue the training of apprentices (or allow for the training to be continued). There were virtually no tasks that were not undertaken by women in the countryside and in places joint tenancies for husbands and wives were normal, after the Black Death women only tenancies were not unusual – though Leyser mentions one lord who allowed women to only hold their tenures for a year before getting married – perhaps he thought that the promise of their broad acres and bushy copses would lure in yeomen to boost the numbers of his tenants. Castration was a popular non-judicial punishment for rape or assumed rape - as famously in the case of Héloise and Abelard. In marriage both parties were considered to be in debt to each other – both could agree to be celibate, but for one to withhold or be sexually incapable, were grounds the other could go to court over. In cases of alleged male impotence, wise women were appointed to observe the couple's attempt to copulate – this is graphically described in the court records - which no doubt if the root of the problem was performance anxiety was a great help.
What is clear is that Leyser is drawing on decades of research into court records, but these courts are often enough incomplete, or we lack other evidence to flesh out the picture of the people involved in the cases. The evidence itself works against a grand social history of medieval English women as much as it allows for an understanding of women's centrality in the ale business. But then incompleteness of evidence was part of the medieval experience itself, as much as it is in how we experience our own lives. The penultimate chapter on religious experience shows us a church on the back foot when it comes to dealing with the enthusiasm of women for a more religious life. A priest, noticing Margery Kemp's famously excessive weeping and wailing during a church service, tells her to still her tears as Jesus died long ago, only for Margery to prompt upbraid him – all Christians should feel the passion of their saviour as if they were present at the cross themselves. Here we are at the boundary between orthodoxy and heresy – Margery in the course of her wanderings was to be accused four times of being a Lollard. This is also typical of the reading experience – we are at the point at which Leyser could push her argument and discuss the role of women at leading religious change and make a wider point, but she doesn't, moving on to something else – something else interesting no doubt, but she consistently shies from conclusions. So perhaps I will too.
Each chapter covers different topic . The chapters, bar one or two references, are not interlinked, you could read them as free-standing, well not as free-standing essays because the chapters plainly are not like essays – they pose no one question and come to no one answer. It makes for a curious reading experience, like wandering through the bare bones of a very much longer book that hasn't yet been written.
The reality of the book undermines the subtitle, there can't be a history – a narrative – of all women, covering a thousand years and more, even if one only considers England . Perhaps that is a point that Leyser wanted to make.
The downside of this is that if you asked me to recommend a book to learn about the lives of Anglo-Saxon aristocratic women, Female monasticism, peasant women, I could not recommend this one on it's own, Leyser eludes comprehensiveness. She shares insights, and at the paragraph level I read happily, but the abrupt changes of direction tired me, the prospect of the next chapter was a little wearying, so much so that Seierstad was able to grab me by the hand and drag me off to spend One Hundred and One Days in Baghdad with her in the middle of reading Leyser's book. There, I became an adulterous reader.
Leyser has many interesting things to say – on Anglo-Saxon politics being family politics the role of the English Queen – invariably non-English after 1066 they at once played the role of intermediary and intercessor with the king as well as the part of hated foreigner coming over here with a boat load of grasping, greedy, work-shy relatives, the difficulty of approaching female spirituality for instance we understand that women were excluded from the formal structures of the medieval church and churchmen could be at a complete loss as to what to do with a holy woman yet at the same time there were the Anchoresses, described as the anchors holding steady the ship of the church against the powers of evil.
I am, perhaps by nature and nurture both, strongly in agreement with Leyser's cautious reading of evidence. Looking at wills left by Anglo-Saxon women, she points out, we don't and can't know if they really express their wishes or what they had previously agreed with their husbands or families, likewise she stresses caution in making judgements of misogyny in medieval literature particularly when one work would denigrate women and the same author in their other work praise them, nor is it wise to take at face value Christine de Pisan leaping in with her own response. These are literary people engaged in a literary culture, a literary culture which was more about performance than private reading than today's, their writings may or may not reflect personal views they certainly represent an opportunity for them to show off their abilities.
Among other interesting titbits since the home and the family were the basic labour unit, women are involved with craftwork of all kinds, and even though they had no guild status court cases show widows were expected to continue the training of apprentices (or allow for the training to be continued). There were virtually no tasks that were not undertaken by women in the countryside and in places joint tenancies for husbands and wives were normal, after the Black Death women only tenancies were not unusual – though Leyser mentions one lord who allowed women to only hold their tenures for a year before getting married – perhaps he thought that the promise of their broad acres and bushy copses would lure in yeomen to boost the numbers of his tenants. Castration was a popular non-judicial punishment for rape or assumed rape - as famously in the case of Héloise and Abelard. In marriage both parties were considered to be in debt to each other – both could agree to be celibate, but for one to withhold or be sexually incapable, were grounds the other could go to court over. In cases of alleged male impotence, wise women were appointed to observe the couple's attempt to copulate – this is graphically described in the court records - which no doubt if the root of the problem was performance anxiety was a great help.
What is clear is that Leyser is drawing on decades of research into court records, but these courts are often enough incomplete, or we lack other evidence to flesh out the picture of the people involved in the cases. The evidence itself works against a grand social history of medieval English women as much as it allows for an understanding of women's centrality in the ale business. But then incompleteness of evidence was part of the medieval experience itself, as much as it is in how we experience our own lives. The penultimate chapter on religious experience shows us a church on the back foot when it comes to dealing with the enthusiasm of women for a more religious life. A priest, noticing Margery Kemp's famously excessive weeping and wailing during a church service, tells her to still her tears as Jesus died long ago, only for Margery to prompt upbraid him – all Christians should feel the passion of their saviour as if they were present at the cross themselves. Here we are at the boundary between orthodoxy and heresy – Margery in the course of her wanderings was to be accused four times of being a Lollard. This is also typical of the reading experience – we are at the point at which Leyser could push her argument and discuss the role of women at leading religious change and make a wider point, but she doesn't, moving on to something else – something else interesting no doubt, but she consistently shies from conclusions. So perhaps I will too.
April 2, 2023
Interesting, but hard to recommend. This is a scholarly book on the lives of medieval Englishwomen—it is accessible to the general reader if you’re interested in the topic, but erudite enough that you have to pay attention. Leyser also seems like the kind of academic who hates generalizations so much that she refuses to provide any straightforward takeaways; the book doesn’t really have an argument so much as it describes findings in various areas of scholarship related to medieval women. It is clearly well-researched, drawing heavily on historians working with primary sources, and its scholarly tone and refusal to generalize was a nice antidote to some of the more ideologically feminist works I’d read recently. It’s nice to have a historian observe the good and bad in a situation rather than simply froth about misogyny.
That said, it also wasn’t quite what I was looking for as a book covering 1000 years of history, even in just one country—I wanted more on how things changed over different eras, but the book is organized topically rather than chronologically (for the most part—the Anglo-Saxon period comes first though with less evidence that section is shorter, and then most of the book focuses on post-Conquest England). Certainly interesting topics—marriage, sex and motherhood; women’s work; widowhood; religious women; women in literature.
Some of the author’s arguments are questionable though. For instance, she asserts that the right to choose one’s spouse was generally respected in medieval England, and cites as proof that one of the daughters of King Edward I married against her father’s wishes. What she leaves out is the hugely important fact that this was Joanna’s second marriage: at this point she was a grown adult and a widow, holding wealth and power in her own right through her inheritance from her first husband (and even then, her clandestine second marriage was a source of drama). Joanna and her sisters all complied with their arranged marriages the first time around. So I am unconvinced that this episode proves much about the cultural importance of consent. Alongside that is the wild fact of landowners requiring peasants to marry, and having a local jury choose their matches for them. The peasants could reject the proposed spouses, and more often than not they did (though they had to pay a fine), but they were still required to marry someone, presumably pronto. Again, this doesn’t exactly seem like an emphasis on the voluntary.
Leyser also seems to dislike the whole question of whether one historical period or another was “better” for women, and reluctant to admit to any real differences. In response to arguments that the Anglo-Saxon period was better than the Norman because women had more legal rights, she argues that Anglo-Saxon women’s authority to dispose of their own property probably didn’t mean much because they most likely just wrote their wills based on whatever their husbands wanted, which seems like a weird argument. Certainly social constraints on exercising legal rights exist, but she produces no evidence of these.
On the other hand, it’s certainly interesting to see many examples of women making their own way, whether in business (usually after marriage, sometimes carried on completely separate from the husband), as evangelists, or as widows making highly specific legal contracts to ensure their comfort as they rented out their property to younger people. It’s also worth noting that medieval England wasn’t always the best place to be a man, either: men who were unable to sexually perform with their wives were subject to observation by juries of local “wise women” and humiliation in court, as this was one of the rare acceptable grounds to end a marriage. Another was consanguinity, which included not just an actual blood relationship between the couple within four degrees (meaning that you were descended from the same great-great-grandparent), but also a prior sexual relationship—if your prospective spouse was found to have banged your cousin, the marriage was off.
The most challenging part of the book for me were the religious chapters at the end, medieval religion in its more extreme (and therefore better-recorded) forms being so inaccessible today that it’s hard not to read some of these choices as pathological. For instance, the anchoresses: women who chose to spend their lives shut up in a small cell near the church, having food passed to them through a window (the ceremony for enclosing an anchoress included singing psalms for the dead!). This sounds to me like the decision of a traumatized person, influenced by the extreme regard her society had for religiosity—the modern equivalent might be anorexia. Likewise, it’s hard not to poke holes in some of these hagiographies of noblewomen, like the princess whose whole life was about prayer and simplicity—but the fact that she could give away her dress to the poor every time she returned from church says a lot about how often new clothing was made for her.
At any rate, overall an informative read, if sometimes slow going. I did appreciate the inclusion of longer extracts from primary sources, though some of these were more enjoyable than others. But I have to admit a preference for slightly more popular histories with a stronger thesis—and of course I’d love to see more of this sort of work focused on countries other than England.
That said, it also wasn’t quite what I was looking for as a book covering 1000 years of history, even in just one country—I wanted more on how things changed over different eras, but the book is organized topically rather than chronologically (for the most part—the Anglo-Saxon period comes first though with less evidence that section is shorter, and then most of the book focuses on post-Conquest England). Certainly interesting topics—marriage, sex and motherhood; women’s work; widowhood; religious women; women in literature.
Some of the author’s arguments are questionable though. For instance, she asserts that the right to choose one’s spouse was generally respected in medieval England, and cites as proof that one of the daughters of King Edward I married against her father’s wishes. What she leaves out is the hugely important fact that this was Joanna’s second marriage: at this point she was a grown adult and a widow, holding wealth and power in her own right through her inheritance from her first husband (and even then, her clandestine second marriage was a source of drama). Joanna and her sisters all complied with their arranged marriages the first time around. So I am unconvinced that this episode proves much about the cultural importance of consent. Alongside that is the wild fact of landowners requiring peasants to marry, and having a local jury choose their matches for them. The peasants could reject the proposed spouses, and more often than not they did (though they had to pay a fine), but they were still required to marry someone, presumably pronto. Again, this doesn’t exactly seem like an emphasis on the voluntary.
Leyser also seems to dislike the whole question of whether one historical period or another was “better” for women, and reluctant to admit to any real differences. In response to arguments that the Anglo-Saxon period was better than the Norman because women had more legal rights, she argues that Anglo-Saxon women’s authority to dispose of their own property probably didn’t mean much because they most likely just wrote their wills based on whatever their husbands wanted, which seems like a weird argument. Certainly social constraints on exercising legal rights exist, but she produces no evidence of these.
On the other hand, it’s certainly interesting to see many examples of women making their own way, whether in business (usually after marriage, sometimes carried on completely separate from the husband), as evangelists, or as widows making highly specific legal contracts to ensure their comfort as they rented out their property to younger people. It’s also worth noting that medieval England wasn’t always the best place to be a man, either: men who were unable to sexually perform with their wives were subject to observation by juries of local “wise women” and humiliation in court, as this was one of the rare acceptable grounds to end a marriage. Another was consanguinity, which included not just an actual blood relationship between the couple within four degrees (meaning that you were descended from the same great-great-grandparent), but also a prior sexual relationship—if your prospective spouse was found to have banged your cousin, the marriage was off.
The most challenging part of the book for me were the religious chapters at the end, medieval religion in its more extreme (and therefore better-recorded) forms being so inaccessible today that it’s hard not to read some of these choices as pathological. For instance, the anchoresses: women who chose to spend their lives shut up in a small cell near the church, having food passed to them through a window (the ceremony for enclosing an anchoress included singing psalms for the dead!). This sounds to me like the decision of a traumatized person, influenced by the extreme regard her society had for religiosity—the modern equivalent might be anorexia. Likewise, it’s hard not to poke holes in some of these hagiographies of noblewomen, like the princess whose whole life was about prayer and simplicity—but the fact that she could give away her dress to the poor every time she returned from church says a lot about how often new clothing was made for her.
At any rate, overall an informative read, if sometimes slow going. I did appreciate the inclusion of longer extracts from primary sources, though some of these were more enjoyable than others. But I have to admit a preference for slightly more popular histories with a stronger thesis—and of course I’d love to see more of this sort of work focused on countries other than England.
August 28, 2009
The title's misleading: this is a collection of essays on various topics concerning medieval women. They are very interesting essays but hardly constitute a cohesive "history" of medieval women in the traditional sense. I recommend this book for scholars or serious amateurs but not for those who want an introductory popular-history type of source.
July 18, 2023
Lots of in-depth evidence and stories.
I enjoyed the middle chapters best, 6,7,8, which surprised me as I thought I'd enjoy the 11th chapter best- about religious women. Leyser steered well clear of the ideas of hysteria in women which is misogynistic especially religious hysteria.
I thought the marriage chapter was full of monetary fines which was funny as men and women could get fined and peasants had to get out of chosen marriages with money. Lots of silver pennies mentioned. Leyser gave a explanation of what kind of half farthing, half Pennie and marks were used. Silver was brought from Germany. England was very rich in wool and produce.
There was a contrast given between a Portuguese monastery and a English monastery- this was intriguingly showing how in-depth religion developed and spread. Leyser was explaining and describing how Christianity developed through hagiography and aristocratic monasticism.
I'm not really sure what to say about this book as I learned quite a lot but also it was written very differently from history books I had read before. I believe this may be because it was intricate. As another review says, she avoided "generalisations". She is probably very feminist and so avoided anachronistic comment but wished to show detail is a way that was understood as a positive rather than constant rape. In other words she avoided the murk of womanhood by showing the real equality which was unexpected... She showed laws protecting women in coordance with male laws.
I enjoyed the middle chapters best, 6,7,8, which surprised me as I thought I'd enjoy the 11th chapter best- about religious women. Leyser steered well clear of the ideas of hysteria in women which is misogynistic especially religious hysteria.
I thought the marriage chapter was full of monetary fines which was funny as men and women could get fined and peasants had to get out of chosen marriages with money. Lots of silver pennies mentioned. Leyser gave a explanation of what kind of half farthing, half Pennie and marks were used. Silver was brought from Germany. England was very rich in wool and produce.
There was a contrast given between a Portuguese monastery and a English monastery- this was intriguingly showing how in-depth religion developed and spread. Leyser was explaining and describing how Christianity developed through hagiography and aristocratic monasticism.
I'm not really sure what to say about this book as I learned quite a lot but also it was written very differently from history books I had read before. I believe this may be because it was intricate. As another review says, she avoided "generalisations". She is probably very feminist and so avoided anachronistic comment but wished to show detail is a way that was understood as a positive rather than constant rape. In other words she avoided the murk of womanhood by showing the real equality which was unexpected... She showed laws protecting women in coordance with male laws.
May 9, 2019
This book is a much-needed addition to the growing body of non-fiction that seeks to fill the enormous gap in our understanding of women in history. Where social history was once ignored in favour of power struggles, geographical conquest, religious upheaval, exploration and wars, the stories of (mostly) men, Leyser is an historian who turns to the role of women to understand social history and the people who lived it, in order to provide layers and depth to the broader landscape with which we are already familiar. Leyser does this by offering historical insights into the lives of medieval women from different walks of life - peasant, towns-woman, aristocrat, religious orders - and both confirms and challenges other historical understandings as well as contemporary preconceptions about the role of women in medieval, patriarchal society. For example, Leyser analyses other historians' work as well as source material from the era to demonstrate that women, in marriage, widowhood, spinsterhood and as daughters, sisters and mothers, played a more significant role and often undertook greater responsibilities than popular history may suggest. Able and entrusted to manage businesses and lands in their husbands' absence (mostly during wars) and after their death, many women not only thrived in the Middle Ages, but earned respect and an independence that women today might envy. While some were treated as chattels of exchange between men in order to advance social and/or financial standing, others found the role of 'wife', merchant, nun, beguine, and even spinster, liberating. If they survived childbirth and outlived their husbands, some women opted (or were maybe directed through a husband's will) to remain unmarried, thus granting them control over their destiny. Others were able to go on to choose their future husbands, this time from a position of power as opposed to need or to advance their own or families' social standing. Obviously, the idea that persists, that medieval women were largely oppressed and at the mercy of men, still holds true for some (eg. Those forced into religious orders, marriage etc.), there was both female complicity in this arrangement and an ability to use it to some advantage as well. The evidence is there and Leyser cautions readers in relying on generalizations to glean an understanding of women in this epoch, countering and yet supporting this notion with some fascinating case studies.
Delving into contemporary records and extrapolating information, Leyser draws an interesting and relevant picture of women in the middle ages, acknowledging their diversity, abilities, restrictions (religious, legal, sexual, gendered), freedoms and the way many women worked within these to lead fulfilling lives. She doesn't shy away from exploring the limitations and misery some of these may also have caused, and touches on fears and anxieties of women of all classes as well), but is always cautious to remind readers that positing a notion and extracting a fact are very different things.
While some readers have found the writing dry, I did not. I found the book easy to read; I also felt it achieved what it set out to do which was not to paint a complete portrait of women over this period (Leyser admits this is impossible), but to offer insights and observations about women of different classes, education and from different households and represent aspects of specific lives and interests against a backdrop of political, social and religious upheaval.
Recommend for anyone with an interest in more than general history, and for those wanting to learn about the diversity of female roles and their impact on social history. Her sources, both primary and secondary are very good as well.
Delving into contemporary records and extrapolating information, Leyser draws an interesting and relevant picture of women in the middle ages, acknowledging their diversity, abilities, restrictions (religious, legal, sexual, gendered), freedoms and the way many women worked within these to lead fulfilling lives. She doesn't shy away from exploring the limitations and misery some of these may also have caused, and touches on fears and anxieties of women of all classes as well), but is always cautious to remind readers that positing a notion and extracting a fact are very different things.
While some readers have found the writing dry, I did not. I found the book easy to read; I also felt it achieved what it set out to do which was not to paint a complete portrait of women over this period (Leyser admits this is impossible), but to offer insights and observations about women of different classes, education and from different households and represent aspects of specific lives and interests against a backdrop of political, social and religious upheaval.
Recommend for anyone with an interest in more than general history, and for those wanting to learn about the diversity of female roles and their impact on social history. Her sources, both primary and secondary are very good as well.
December 11, 2012
I must firstly note that I am not a scholar and I didn't study any of this specific period of history at school. However, I did study art/cultural history with a social slant and an especial interest in women's history and representation.
If, like me, you're not coming into the field directly, then this book is still accessible: Leyser provides a lot of valuable context written in clear and elegant prose. Each chapter looks at a different portion of the Medieval period and different aspects of women's lives, e.g. Part 1 concerns Anglo Saxons spanning their Archaeology to Vernacular Literature, while Part 3 is about the High and Later Middle Ages and various family roles, striking a balance between breadth and depth. Leyser presents very clearly the material evidence and primary sources - archaelogical sites, artefacts, manuscripts, books, etc - and the work of other scholars, firmly weaving them together into a dense and convincing narrative. Plus, at the back of the book, Leyser provides the actual text of select primary sources which makes for some very interesting reading and valuable knowledge.
Leyser sticks very closely to her wealth of primary sources, not hesitating to call out misogyny where it is evident, while also being as careful as possible not to make ahistorical projections - a hard task for any historian, but especially one who is presenting history which goes against the grain of the dominant narrative. She is cautious not to assume that women made significant achievements in some areas where there is as yet very little evidence of any such success. However, this is very much balanced by the fact that it is made clear that is no such thing as one type of medieval woman; Leyser does well to represent the multiple roles, ideas, spaces, products and ambitions revolving around the category and bodies gendered as women.
Due to my amateurish level of knoweldge I cannot more authoritatively recommend the book with particular regard to Medieval women or methodology, but I will say that I enjoyed steadily making my way through the book. There is such a variety of knowledge here: law, medicine, spirituality, work, sex. It amused me to find out that during the High and Later Middle Ages men were expected to please women in bed to the point where a man was humiliated in court, cursed by a body of women, due to his impotence. Hee.
If, like me, you're not coming into the field directly, then this book is still accessible: Leyser provides a lot of valuable context written in clear and elegant prose. Each chapter looks at a different portion of the Medieval period and different aspects of women's lives, e.g. Part 1 concerns Anglo Saxons spanning their Archaeology to Vernacular Literature, while Part 3 is about the High and Later Middle Ages and various family roles, striking a balance between breadth and depth. Leyser presents very clearly the material evidence and primary sources - archaelogical sites, artefacts, manuscripts, books, etc - and the work of other scholars, firmly weaving them together into a dense and convincing narrative. Plus, at the back of the book, Leyser provides the actual text of select primary sources which makes for some very interesting reading and valuable knowledge.
Leyser sticks very closely to her wealth of primary sources, not hesitating to call out misogyny where it is evident, while also being as careful as possible not to make ahistorical projections - a hard task for any historian, but especially one who is presenting history which goes against the grain of the dominant narrative. She is cautious not to assume that women made significant achievements in some areas where there is as yet very little evidence of any such success. However, this is very much balanced by the fact that it is made clear that is no such thing as one type of medieval woman; Leyser does well to represent the multiple roles, ideas, spaces, products and ambitions revolving around the category and bodies gendered as women.
Due to my amateurish level of knoweldge I cannot more authoritatively recommend the book with particular regard to Medieval women or methodology, but I will say that I enjoyed steadily making my way through the book. There is such a variety of knowledge here: law, medicine, spirituality, work, sex. It amused me to find out that during the High and Later Middle Ages men were expected to please women in bed to the point where a man was humiliated in court, cursed by a body of women, due to his impotence. Hee.
March 12, 2022
This book looks at the lives of women in the period from the end of the Roman occupation of Britain to the early part of the Tudors. It covers a range of topics from marriage to work to health. It gives an insight into the lives of rich and poor alike and also mentions other historians whose work has touched on the topic. An interesting read all round.
July 1, 2015
It was okay, and full of information, but honestly not that gripping.
January 4, 2012
I've given this book a non-committal 2 stars becuase I have only read part of it, but the section I've just read deserves comment. There is a short passage on pages 54-9 of my 1995 edition purporting to summarise the role of Wealhtheow in Beowulf. My wife gave me this section because I was reading Beowulf at the time. I was shocked to find Leyser's summary bore no relation to the text I had in front of me, and the final statement on page 58-9, "Not only does Wealhtheow make her presence felt through her speeches of welcome and of praise; she also, be her words, brings about Beowulf's action." is simply untrue. Beowulf came to Heorot expressly to destroy Grendel, he is introduced to the Hall as having this intention and he openly announces this over several hundred lines of the poem before Wealhtheow enters. Indeed she does not speak at all - her words are reported.
Now, historians of mediaval women, the family, children, the underclasses etc have slender resources to work with, but it is essential they do not inflate the role of such groups in texts, nor overinterpret their findings. The risk is a breach of trust. How am I to approach the rest of the book? Do I have to check every reference myself? I would appreciate it if someone else would check the passages I refer to and tell me if my comments are reasonable. Leyser wrote the book a long time ago and I was not going to bother responding, but the number of recent references at this website has encouraged me to share my concern.
Now, historians of mediaval women, the family, children, the underclasses etc have slender resources to work with, but it is essential they do not inflate the role of such groups in texts, nor overinterpret their findings. The risk is a breach of trust. How am I to approach the rest of the book? Do I have to check every reference myself? I would appreciate it if someone else would check the passages I refer to and tell me if my comments are reasonable. Leyser wrote the book a long time ago and I was not going to bother responding, but the number of recent references at this website has encouraged me to share my concern.
April 4, 2019
Selected chapters read for research for Honours History thesis.
April 18, 2020
I liked this book quite well, despite its being somewhat dry. It was very soothing and relaxing, and reminded me of Hild by Nicola Griffith, because it had a similar effect on me. I am not terribly interested in the Middle Ages, and truth be told, I braced myself for misogyny and sexism and suffering, but was pleasantly surprised by many instances of medieval ladies – rich and poor – getting sometimes much more than fair treatment in courts or, especially, in the Church. The latter was apparently the result of women being instrumental in introducing and reinforcing Christianity in England; they were considered as spiritual mothers and authority figures by bishops, kings, and princes alike.
My favorite chapter was the first one, about archaeological findings; there’s always something so moving to me in seeing or reading about everyday goods and cherished treasures which are found with the bones – they make me feel so close to those long-dead people. Ladies especially. It also make me want to learn more about sewing, spinning, knitting, and other “womanly” skills.
The extracts from the primary sources at the end of the book were also most illuminating; the story by Marie de France was very interesting in that it had several women characters who treated each other with kindness and respect.
I also got some chuckles at the citations from historians of the past (by which I mean 1980s), who would spew out whole chunks of misogynistic/sexist conclusions and not even blink. Sigh. Once you see how ingrained this vileness is in our society, even in the professional world, there is really no unseeing it.
August 8, 2025
It was good, a bit repetitive at times. Had to keep in mind that the book was written in the 80s so bits of it have been disproven or developed further 👍
August 4, 2017
A bit of a slog, with it being more essay collection than history. The structure suffered somewhat by pinging around subjects and periods of history, rather than following the subject from saxon to tudor times.
The earlier essays were quite interesting with regards to legalities and equality and very interesting to see some of the obscurer source material at the end. The later part on spirituality did start to bore me with content vs interest level. A few useful points foe me to consider with future research.
The earlier essays were quite interesting with regards to legalities and equality and very interesting to see some of the obscurer source material at the end. The later part on spirituality did start to bore me with content vs interest level. A few useful points foe me to consider with future research.
June 4, 2015
ha! I finally finished it! It's a great little read just extremely dense and not well suited to right before I go to sleep reading. Lots of things to ponder...I loved how it turned the idea of women as totally passive objects on it's head. I'd like to read this again when I have more headspace and explore the source material as well..this is exactly the kind of stuff I had wanted to be doing in university.
January 24, 2018
A brilliant and very balanced study of the lives of medieval women. This is neither a feminist tirade nor sentimental nostalgia, but a serious and very readable piece of scholarship. One of the things that come acrosss very clearly is that far from marginalising women, the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages gave them power and influence few have enjoyed since.
March 30, 2023
A very thorough and detailed book. Definitely interesting, maybe not a book for the casual non-fiction reader. Quite dense in academic language and especially dense in terms of layout.
But non the less a very enjoyable read that sheds light on some of the issues of female suffrage and empowerment we still face today, albeit with more of a religious light shone on it in the medieval times.
But non the less a very enjoyable read that sheds light on some of the issues of female suffrage and empowerment we still face today, albeit with more of a religious light shone on it in the medieval times.
March 23, 2018
An essential book for anyone who is portraying medieval women as an Actor or Reenactor. The book tells the history of women from the She-Wolves of Anglo Saxon England to the women of the high medieval England, this book is an interesting and informative read.
April 2, 2023
A classic for a reason. So informative but also interesting and well written. Perhaps a bit too synoptic and it did drag on (I'm not very used to reading non fiction) but a must read for anyone even vaguely interested in this period of history.
April 6, 2020
Very dry and she did not have original thought. She kept quoting all others.
October 31, 2020
MEDIEVAL WOMEN is certainly an overview book rather than a details book. Drawing on the previous decades' scholarship, Henrietta Leyser summarises findings in one place rather than asking the reader to trawl through academic papers themselves (this book was published before the internet was as widespread and accessible as it is today)
As such, this is one of the older research book I've read, and it shows mostly in the type setting. It's that semi-blurry thick block text with any quoted text in a smaller font that is a bit tricky to read at times. Being a bit older, it's been interesting to now read a book that has been listed in several other books' bibliographies.
The downside to that is that I've read books drawing on these conclusions before, so there was nothing shatteringly new. However, I liked the heavy focus on women and religion - particularly monasticism and anchoresses. It neatly tied in to some of the religious mysticism from the time I've been reading (like Julian of Norwich) and the extra context of the wider community helped understand where Julian's visions fitted in.
MEDIEVAL WOMEN starts off considering the Anglo-Saxon women through the lens of the spheres of evidence. It was a really effective grouping, building up the layers. It started with the burial mounds and goods, then progressed through religious and secular history, law, and finally literature. For me, the Anglo-Saxon section was the most interesting as it was the newest information and this approach was different to other books.
The book then looked at 1066 before going onto women of the 12-15th centuries, separated into three sections - family, work, and religion.
I really liked that the end of this book is comprised of primary source extracts. These are a collection of medieval literature, religious tracts, medicine books, and laws. It was so nice to read the (modern translations of) the texts referred to myself, to see the context of quoted passages within the book. There's lots that can be gained from primary sources that can't be conveyed in the recounting and quoting found in history books. I've not seen such a thing before, and I wish more books did that.
As such, this is one of the older research book I've read, and it shows mostly in the type setting. It's that semi-blurry thick block text with any quoted text in a smaller font that is a bit tricky to read at times. Being a bit older, it's been interesting to now read a book that has been listed in several other books' bibliographies.
The downside to that is that I've read books drawing on these conclusions before, so there was nothing shatteringly new. However, I liked the heavy focus on women and religion - particularly monasticism and anchoresses. It neatly tied in to some of the religious mysticism from the time I've been reading (like Julian of Norwich) and the extra context of the wider community helped understand where Julian's visions fitted in.
MEDIEVAL WOMEN starts off considering the Anglo-Saxon women through the lens of the spheres of evidence. It was a really effective grouping, building up the layers. It started with the burial mounds and goods, then progressed through religious and secular history, law, and finally literature. For me, the Anglo-Saxon section was the most interesting as it was the newest information and this approach was different to other books.
The book then looked at 1066 before going onto women of the 12-15th centuries, separated into three sections - family, work, and religion.
I really liked that the end of this book is comprised of primary source extracts. These are a collection of medieval literature, religious tracts, medicine books, and laws. It was so nice to read the (modern translations of) the texts referred to myself, to see the context of quoted passages within the book. There's lots that can be gained from primary sources that can't be conveyed in the recounting and quoting found in history books. I've not seen such a thing before, and I wish more books did that.
August 8, 2024
Obviously very well researched, fully referenced throughout with sample (translated) sources taking up the last 50ish pages. Medieval Women does a good job of delving into it's chosen sources with great depth and thoroughness.
I did however find a few shortcomings in relation to my exoectations: To be honest, I was hoping for a Mortimer-esque text on daily life from different aspects of society and through the different timeframes of the age. Unfortunately, the book concentrates mainly on the religious aspects (Naturally most of the surviving literature is religious based so perhaps it should be expexted), and the majority of the sources are from the late Anglo saxon period and the Norman conquest up to the 13th century. There is very little for the late medieval period.
I also found it quite hard going, and I putnit down for days at a time before picking it up again. The narrative is not very fluid and a great deal of attention was paid to aspects I found of Little interest - although another might have a very different opinion, of course.
I wanted a book that delved into the role of women in rural and urban environments and a glance at their day to day living. I know there are court rolls detailing the prosecution of women for various offences as I've read some, so was a bit surprised that this kind of thing was left out.
If you took out all the religious references and the 50 odd pages of source materials you'd be left with a very thin book. I suppose this might be expected to a degree from a text that draws entirely on primary sources and doesn't look at archaeological evidence, but I guess it is what it is. For me, not the book I wanted to read, but it's clear a lot of work went into it and despite my criticism there were some interesting passages.
I did however find a few shortcomings in relation to my exoectations: To be honest, I was hoping for a Mortimer-esque text on daily life from different aspects of society and through the different timeframes of the age. Unfortunately, the book concentrates mainly on the religious aspects (Naturally most of the surviving literature is religious based so perhaps it should be expexted), and the majority of the sources are from the late Anglo saxon period and the Norman conquest up to the 13th century. There is very little for the late medieval period.
I also found it quite hard going, and I putnit down for days at a time before picking it up again. The narrative is not very fluid and a great deal of attention was paid to aspects I found of Little interest - although another might have a very different opinion, of course.
I wanted a book that delved into the role of women in rural and urban environments and a glance at their day to day living. I know there are court rolls detailing the prosecution of women for various offences as I've read some, so was a bit surprised that this kind of thing was left out.
If you took out all the religious references and the 50 odd pages of source materials you'd be left with a very thin book. I suppose this might be expected to a degree from a text that draws entirely on primary sources and doesn't look at archaeological evidence, but I guess it is what it is. For me, not the book I wanted to read, but it's clear a lot of work went into it and despite my criticism there were some interesting passages.
April 8, 2023
Henrietta Leyser has meticulously researched this academic work focused on women during the period 400-1000 approx. It interested me to read it because I wanted to know if mainstream theories and wisdom about women’s lives then would be challenged or disproven. I learnt women had agency, different roles to today and could play with nuances in religious roles, somewhat to their advantage. I didn’t know about the high status or respect given to anchoresses, abbesses and lay women who previously married, elected to join a religious order. I did know women couldn’t own property or ring their own business if a male was present or in the picture, but femme sole, a designation applied to women who took on their dead spouse’s business, saw women gain recognition as legal persons with the attached legal obligations as well as some additional rights in commerce: I found this interestingly unpacked by Leyser. She addressed other topics and themes as well, women’s literacy around the late 1100s was also covered, I had no idea women were reading and writing in a mix of Middle French, English and Latin and producing works that early, but when Leyser referenced Marie de France, a few random earlier bits of information feel into place. This book is excellently written and although dense at times, it is such a huge contribution to our understanding of early European women’s lives, we’re very lucky Leyser contributed this work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 7, 2021
I was visiting the Tynemouth Priory when I spotted this book in their gift shop, and the back cover blurb sounded promising. Well… I couldn’t be more wrong! What a disappointment.
I have no doubt that the author knows much about the subject, this was very clear while reading the book, but it’s dry. I was indeed expecting something more academic, but this book felt like essays that were put together, and I don’t think Leyser was very careful to create unity with its chapters. The promise in the introduction that this book would please scholars as well as the ‘common’ reader is not fulfilled in my opinion. Although I’m used to academic writing I sometimes hoped the book would finish soon as it couldn’t be more boring.
On the other hand, Leyser added original texts to almost all chapters, and these were really interesting to read. I believe this is fundamental for history books, so the reader gets to know the sources and how the research was done. I’m keen to know more about this subject and discovered new things by reading the book.
My full review on this book with the positive points of the book is on the blog:
https://thoughtsofonesown.home.blog/2...
I have no doubt that the author knows much about the subject, this was very clear while reading the book, but it’s dry. I was indeed expecting something more academic, but this book felt like essays that were put together, and I don’t think Leyser was very careful to create unity with its chapters. The promise in the introduction that this book would please scholars as well as the ‘common’ reader is not fulfilled in my opinion. Although I’m used to academic writing I sometimes hoped the book would finish soon as it couldn’t be more boring.
On the other hand, Leyser added original texts to almost all chapters, and these were really interesting to read. I believe this is fundamental for history books, so the reader gets to know the sources and how the research was done. I’m keen to know more about this subject and discovered new things by reading the book.
My full review on this book with the positive points of the book is on the blog:
https://thoughtsofonesown.home.blog/2...
January 11, 2020
This is fun as well as illuminating. The sheer breadth of the timescale it covers allows some interesting contrasts and undermines any simplistic idea of progress. Women, on the whole had more rights and privileges under the Anglo-Saxons than the Normans. There are intriguing suggestions; was the Bayeux tapestry woven by women who were in mourning for husbands/sons/ a way of life after 1066? I also liked the idea that in the medieval period, most people got their knowledge of the bible indirectly, from secular dramas and these gave women - Sarah, Mrs Noah - a voice denied them in the sacred text. Throw into this mix a runaway nun who faked her own funeral or a pregnant one who was forced to castrate her lover and you can see there are many stories. But Leyser draws on substantial primary and secondary texts ; this is rigorously academic as well.
September 2, 2023
A very interesting discussion of women in medieval England which highlights not just the aristocracy, Abbesses and holy women in their positions of relative privilege, but by the use of court rolls, parish records, and other day-to-day documentation brings to light the lives of ordinary women. They were not just wives and mothers, but worked in many trades, had rights to their own land, and brought law-suits when their rights were impinged upon. They were more literate than I imagined - obviously a necessity when running a business, but also important for the many and complicated activities involved in maintaining a household - and had more say than I expected in marriages and separations. A very worthwhile book.
January 13, 2024
I read 5 books today! The academic weaponry cannot and will not be stopped. Also this is my 3rd time reading this book now and I still maintain that it is the most fun I’ve ever had reading something for my degree. Undoubtedly I will be back for round 4 once I am freed from the shackles of a bachelors 💪🏼
December 27, 2017
Was a bit hard to get into at first, and found myself angry at the way the women were treated back then, but then it was the Medieval period, if you was a quick and easy read then don't read this but overall an ok book
April 8, 2025
'While ___ is an exercise both salutary and necessary, it is not on such tendentious grounds that -' I'm really interested in medieval history, especially women's history, but fuck me this writing style was difficult to get through.
September 9, 2017
Really interesting book and, considering the subject, an effortless read.
January 26, 2019
Interesting and generally readable. Ended abruptly!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews