Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
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Record Number:
7307
Author(s)/Creator(s):
Farmer , Sharon.
Contributor(s):
Title:
Down and Out and Female in Thirteenth-Century Paris
Source URL:
American Historical Review
(Full Text via JSTOR) 103, 2 (April 1998): 344-372.
Link Info
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American Historical Review
(Full Text via JSTOR) 103, 2 (April 1998): 344-372.
Link Info
Description:
Article Type:
Journal Article
Subject
(See Also)
:
Charity
Disabled
Gender
Miracles
Paris
Poverty
Social History
Social Networks
Work
Award Note:
Geographic Area:
France
Century:
13
Primary Evidence:
Illustrations:
Table:
Abstract:
In "Down and Out and Female in Thirteenth-Century Paris" Sharon Farmerdraws on miracle stories, and a variety of other sources, to enhance ourunderstanding of the day-to-day survival of medieval poor women. She argues that poor women survived long-term disability with varying combinations of assistance fromfamily members, charitable institutions, employers, neighbors, close companions, and informal alms. Farmer reveals that women received less assistance from craft guilds than did men, but that employers sometimesassisted both their male and female employees during episodes of prolongedillness or disability. She also surmises that single women were more likely to assist each other through hard times than were single men. Indeed, Farmer argues that, among the working poor, married women did notnecessarily fare better than did single women when faced with an inability to work. Farmer's imaginative use of the miracle stories demonstrates that charity often occured in horizontal, rather than vertical, relationships, and that medieval poverty was highly gendered. In the conclusion to her article she attempts to explain why, despite the"microhistorical turn" that took place among social historians in the 1970s, her sources have never before been used to illuminate the social networks of the poor. [Abstract submitted by the author to the Medieval Feminist Index.]
Related Resources:
Author's Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Conference Info:
- , -
Year of Publication:
1998.
Language:
English
ISSN/ISBN:
00028762
0