Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 5454
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  • Title: Women and Music in Medieval Europe [While women in barbarian cultures sometimes had a stature that equaled that of men and education for women included some musical training, women’s formal participation in the musical arts declined as Roman culture spread. Music as rhetoric was considered part of elementary education and the philosophy of music was an important branch of the liberal arts curriculum, but universities were closed to women in the Middle Ages. Although most women did not have access to formal education in music, many women still participated in minstrelsy (a barbarian art) and the performance of plays. Some noteworthy women composed lyrics and music as well, including the trobairitz (women troubadours) and Hroswitha, a playwright who was also a poet and musician. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Mediaevalia 14, ( 1988): Pages 1 - 21. 1991 (for 1988)
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Education Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, Dramatist Music Musicians Trobairitz Troubadours Women Authors
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  • Geographic Area: General
  • Century: General
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  • Illustrations: One Figure. Figure One Modern Illustration depicts two laywomen playing drums. Adapted from “Hortus Deliciarum” by Herrad of Landsberg (circa 1165 C.E.).
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  • Year of Publication: 1988.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: Not Available