Medieval Women : Women's Roles In Medieval Literature

Back in the Middle Ages, rulers of many country were men and/or boys. For a women to be in power was usually a last resort. Elizabeth I fell under this situation and became the Queen of England. As people have regarded females, many disliked the idea of a women becoming the leader of England which has forced Elizabeth to use her power and authority to assert her position whereas people who have accepted Queen Elizabeth I has allowed her to act kind, sympathetic, and proud. Majority of the people during the time period were misogyny

At the start of her reign in 1558, Elizabeth faced many problems it was a very tumultuous time for her. These problems included Gender, Religion, Finance and Foreign policy.

Elizabeth’s character was a mystery to most people at the time she inherited the throne. She had learned to keep her own council, control her emotions, and always behaved cautiously, thus being able to disprove all rumors about her. Always dignified and stately, she could be vain, willful, dictatorial, temperamental, and imperious. She had courage, both in her decisions, and in the face of danger. Possessing an innate of humanity, she was not normally cruel, unlike most rulers of her day. Most regarded her to be unusually tolerant in that age of religious conflict. She saw herself as one who was always honest and honorable, who

“ The belief that women were inherently inferior in intelligence, strength, and character was so persuasive that for men like Knox, a woman ruler was almost a contradiction in terms” (“Documents for Chapters 5&6”). In the 16th century, women were looked upon as a gender that should stay in the house and work, not have power and rule over a country. Discussing the govern of Queens during the 16th century, such as Mary Tudor, Lady Jane Grey, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, allowed prejudices to be lessened but never completely be erased. No matter how these four notable ladies came into power, the accomplishments they overcame, achieved and wrote about proved to be great and substantial in making history as it is written today.

Women in Medieval Europe lived the life one may expect them to live from the 5th and 15th centuries. We know today that women are treated equal compared to men (in most cases), and we also know that Women were not always given the freedoms that they have today. This was no different in Medieval Europe during these times. Women were expected to hold jobs in which they took care of children and tended the household, occasionally helping their husbands with crops during the busy part of the planting year (bl.uk). Also as we would expect, men had complete power and say in the relationship (wikipedia.org). Women lived a lot more different back in Medieval times than they do today, but it was their lifestyle, and they did what society asked of them, whether they wanted to or not.

an age when women were considered to be nothing more than servants for their husbands, meant

Life for women back then was unimaginable. Men did not believe that women were capable of

The history of mankind on the part of man towards woman, having in direct object the

Another fact is that if a man’s wife or daughter questioned his authority he could kill them. The men thought that women are fickle, weak hearted and lacking stamina. Men also say (in those days) that a woman is a violent and uncontrolled animal.

Emilie Amt, an assistant professor of history at Washington College demonstrates how women from the Medieval Times lived very complex life. Compared to today, women in the Medieval Times did not have the freedom to do as they desired. Their decision making choices were not accounted. Marriages, for example, were arranged. Twelfth-century girl, Christina of Markyate, opposed of her parents’ choice of future husband. Despite her parents efforts to persuade her, whether in a positive manner by providing her with gifts or in a negative manner with threats or involving one of her friends to convince her the arrange marriage was the correct course of action,

Although it is the wife who is always looking for a husband in her personal life, in the Wife’s tale, it is the man who is forced to find what it is that all women desire. In the end he is obligated to marry, while the Wife is always excited to marry her next husband. The Wife wants the woman in the marriage to make the decisions and to have power, which is also seen in the old woman in her tale. In her tale, the old woman basically tricks the man into marrying her, and then into kissing her. This gives her control and she can then reveal her true self.

In the middle ages, the typical woman would not have had the freedom to do what she wanted; she would have to obey the male members of her family. This included her husband, brothers, uncles and even her own sons (http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/). However, there were many women who did not fall under this category of typical women and would manipulate, control or disobey the men around them giving them more power. In "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer we have Emelye from "The Knight's Tale" (KT) who would be considered the typical women and Alison from "The Miller's Tale" (MT) who would not be. It is due to their personalities, their social classes and their actions or surroundings which causes their

Women withstood a multitude of limitations in the medieval era. Due to the political, social, and religious restrictions women encountered, historians neglected to realize that they demonstrated agency. The female experience is something that has been overlooked until recently. Unfortunately, without the knowledge of how women found ways to exert their power, we are experiencing a deficit of knowledge in this period. Through the close examination of the primary sources: The Gospel of Mary, Dhouda’s Liber Manualis, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the creative means of female force are displayed.

Compared to men, women had limited agency and mobility in many parts of the medieval and early modern period. Moreover, there is evidence that women faced obstacles when they tried to enact their agency. Nevertheless, there are many examples where women were able to affect societal structures and navigate around conflicts. For example, women could manifest their agency through the medieval justice system, by being directly involved in societal movements such as Catharism, or through the use of Gossip. The question is than, to what extent did women have agency in the context of historical documents.

During this period in time, men had dominated with power and control over women. Women were seen as weak and powerless, therefore it was assumed and expected of women to obey the