Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 8862
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): L’Hermite-Leclercq , Paulette.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: The Feudal Order [The eleventh and twelfth centuries were a time of unity and stability in Europe, but it is hard to determine whether living conditions for women improved during this era. Women from this period rarely speak in their own voices, and their history is mostly mediated by men. Although some claim that women outnumbered men during this time so that women were more highly valued, the author refutes this claim. Noble birth and upbringing may have brought certain advantages to some girls, but gender and class hierarchies limited their options in life. Geographical location, social rank, and economic class profoundly influenced the lives and occupations of women in all three feudal estates: aristocratic women, religious women, and peasant women (rural and urban). Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: A History of Women in the West. Volume 2: Silences of the Middle Ages.  Edited by Christiane Klapisch-Zuber.  Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992.  Pages 202 - 249.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Demography Feudalism Social Class Women in Religion Women's Status
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: General
  • Century: 11-12
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract:
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  • Author's Affiliation: University of Paris I-Sorbonne
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0674403711