Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Jaloux battant sa femme (Jealous husband beating his wife)
  • Creator:
  • Description: This image is located in an edition of the Roman de la rose, a thirteenth century poem, which was begun by Guillaume de Lorris as an allegorical account of a dream vision on the subject of love. It was completed by the cleric Jean de Meun after Guillaume’s death with a focus on a range of learned themes conveyed in a much more worldly manner. Guillaume describes the process of falling in love as an overwhelming event in which “new and violent feelings spring up in men, and their hearts are changed.” In this illumination, a jealous husband is in the process of beating his wife. He towers dominantly above his spouse who cowers at his feet. One of his hands is raised in an aggressive gesture, which suggests that he is about to hit her, and he grips her hair with the other hand. The wife’s hands are raised on either side of her face, and she looks up at him preparing to strike her. It is likely that the husband is abusing his wife because he suspects her of having had an extramarital affair. The medieval Christian church claimed that adultery was a mortal sin for both men and women. However, the majority of the secular population did not share this point of view. Adulterous men were rarely reprimanded, and nobles could force their wives to care for their bastards. Women, however, were punished harshly for adulterous behavior because such actions threatened the medieval patriarchal system by casting doubt on the legitimacy of offspring. Legitimate heirs were necessary for the distribution of titles and property, so husbands were very careful to make sure that the children their wives bore were unquestionably legitimate. If a woman was caught in an adulterous relationship, her punishment could range from economic sanctions, such as the loss of her dowry or share of marital property, to public humiliation and corporal punishments. In this image, we see such an instance of violent punishment. Although it was largely frowned upon, spousal abuse was not punishable by law in most cases.
  • Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Husbands Jealousy Violence Wife Abuse Wives
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 14
  • Date: 1325-1375
  • Related Work: Roman de la rose, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung. Ms 1126-1127. See the digitized manuscript on Gallica: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6000533s.r=Ms+1126-1127+%3A+Roman+de+la+Rose.langEN
  • Current Location: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Ms. 1126, fol. 66r
  • Original Location: France
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital Images; Manuscript Illuminations
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Vellum (parchment); Paint;
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 300 mm/218 mm/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: Cassagnes-Brouquet, Sophie. La vie des femmes au Moyen Age. Editions Ouest-France Edilagre SA. Rennes. 2010. Pgs. 29-33.; Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. The Romance of the Rose. In Love, Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages: A Sourcebook edited by Conor McCarthy. Routledge. New York. 2004. Pgs. 191-195.; Seccombe, Wally. "A Millennium of Family Change. Verso. London. 1992. Pgs. 30-35.