What
are the views of women that are implied in the bible and how did this influence
their role in Medieval society?
During the Medieval Period the Bible
was the ultimate 'how to live a good life' guide. But it is important to remember that the
majority of society could not read or write.
The bible stories were preached through Masses and these Masses were
dominated by men (priests, bishops etc).
It was mostly men that interpreted the bible, men who extracted the
message and then men who passed this message on to the general population. Should this influence our own interpretation
of medieval religious primary sources?
Biblical characters were crucial role
models for women in medieval society.
There appears to be four types of women during this period; Virgins,
Mothers, Nuns and Sinners. They can be
clearly seen through stories of women in the bible.
Eve
came under much criticism during this time, for it was she who convinced Adam
to eat the fruit on the forbidden tree. She created original sin and was the
first sinner. Death came through Eve. It is interesting to note that she
is blamed for Adam's actions...
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Painting of Joan of Arc from c1450-1500
Held in the Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris.
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Virgins in Medieval Society
were under the protection of their fathers and brothers,
and considered the safeguards of purity. Medieval Society adored Mother Mary, for she epitomised all purity and sinlessness. Both a virgin and a mother, she gave hope and restored beauty to the world. Devoted to God and her son Jesus, she was the ultimate role model for medieval women as homemakers. Life was restored through Mary.
and considered the safeguards of purity. Medieval Society adored Mother Mary, for she epitomised all purity and sinlessness. Both a virgin and a mother, she gave hope and restored beauty to the world. Devoted to God and her son Jesus, she was the ultimate role model for medieval women as homemakers. Life was restored through Mary.
Mary Magdalene
brought hope to women in the medieval times. She was a prostitute and would
have been regarded as an outcast. She was a sinner who sought
forgiveness from Jesus. He forgave her and she followed Him and spread the word
of God.
Saint Scholastica
devoted her life to God as a Nun. The sister of Saint Benedict of
Nursia, she had a special relationship with God and he listened to her prayers.
She lived a good life according to God's teachings.
Are these the only types
of women in Medieval Society? How does the Image of Joan of Arc challenge this
idea?
--Michelle
Marriage, Status and Alliance
Marriage is one of the ways in which
historians are able to gain knowledge on the role of women and what rights they
have in late medieval Europe. In this weeks readings we see how marriages in
the late medieval Europe were formed to create alliances, bring a truce and create
peace. Because of this the women’s roles went beyond just being a good wife but
to uphold the alliance between the two families. The exchange of marriage
during the 13th and 15th century was very important in
society as it ended “prolonged vendettas” and “ancient hatreds” as well as
process of rivalry at times of open warfare. However, women in these types of marriages moved
in two directions: either upward and became higher on the social scale than her
own or down ward. Usually as the reading explains they would go downwards as fathers
would chose women who had a higher status, this would cause problems for the
women as they felt socially degraded because they were married to some one of
inferior blood and rank.
Do you think that these marriages still
exits today?
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King
Henry I of France sending a bishop, and his marriage to Anne of Kiev. An
example of the type of marriage explained above, as king Henry married Anne of
Kiev who was from a far off principality.
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--Anna
Women as Wives
Although some chose to follow a
religious life, and others refrained for personal or economic reasons, most
women in the Middle Ages married. Although it became a Christian sacrament,
marriage was viewed as being an inferior state to virginity; St Paul wrote that
‘It is better to marry than to burn with passion’ (1 Corinthians 7:9). The
below image is a miniature from a 12th century German manuscript
called Der Jungfrauspiegel. It shows
the benefits for three types of women: virgins, married women, and widows. Do
you think you could tell which group belongs to which line of the image?
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| llustration: Women Harvesting, Der
Jungfrauenspiegel, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, 1310. Wikimedia Commons |
A literary text from this time,
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales,
will be used in the presentation on Monday, and you will find it useful to read
the text itself (two tales in translation, links provided below). For those
unfamiliar with the work, a group of pilgrims is travelling to Canterbury
Cathedral to visit the shrine of St Thomas Beckett. Between the travellers
arises a story-telling contest with the winner awarded a meal. Two of the tales
that reflect views of wives are the Clerk’s tale, which tells the story of
Griselda, a virtuous wife who faces cruel tests by her husband (http://www.umm.maine.edu/faculty/necastro/chaucer/translation/ct/10clt.html).
The other story is the Wife of Bath. Her
prologue is almost twice as long as her story, both of which can be found here:
http://www.umm.maine.edu/faculty/necastro/chaucer/translation/ct/07wbt.html.
Her tale is about a knight who rapes a woman, and is given 366 days to find the
answer to the question of what women really want, or else be condemned to
death. To prepare for Monday’s tutorial, give some thought as to how you think
the answer to the knight’s question compares with the second set reading (pages
305 to 308), especially when women were expected to submit to their husbands.
There should be a chance for a group discussion on this, so please come
prepared to contribute.
--Catherine
12 comments:
Hi folks,
In conjunction with this week's theme you might be interested in this blog post by Gemma Wain, a PhD student at the University of Durham. She's talking about women and wisdom, and has some useful reading recommendations.
Thinking of Mary Magdalene, you might be interested in this image of Mary being carried by angels to her last communion before death. This image was on loan to the State Library of Victoria from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, back in 2008, when I got the chance to see it up close and personal. Sorry about the poor reproduction, but see how Mary is covered in hair!? It's supposed to symbolise her years repenting in the wilderness, caring nothing for her physical looks (a big change after all those years as a prostitute, one presumes; and this is probably the point!) This image is from the 1300s, so obviously Mary's story had lost none of its allure over the centuries.
Well, to address Anna's(?) Question "Do you think that these marriages still exist today?"...arranged marriages still exist in some cultures - particularly when women are segregated from men. I'm not sure if the brides come with a dowry (if anyone does, please speak up) but there's bound to be some exchange ontop of the marriage.
It's all very political really.
I find it interesting though that women oftener married below their station. Didn't the families want their daughters improving their lot? Or was that just too expensive?
What a great summary! Thanks! I find it amazing how because of Eve in the bible, women's position and status in Medieval Europe was set without question. So then in further centuries, if the bible's message of women never changed, how did the status and position of women improve? what changed?
The concept of women being "inferior" to men seems to have been indoctrinated in medieval society through religion and religious interpretation, to the point where many women themselves appeared to have been convinced of their own moral, mental and physical inferiority to men. This seems to have contributed to the classification of women in accordance to their sexual status whose roles consisted of safeguarding their virginity until marriage, caring for their husband, and giving birth.
It really appears that, in many ways, women had no control over their own lives as they were forced to marry as forms of negotiations between families seeking wealth or status, often had the legitimacy of their sexuality judged only by the clergy, and were often urged to endure the perilous act of childbirth in their teenage years. While the iconography surrounding women such as Mary Magdalene and Joan of Arc, as well as the recorded pious wisdom of nuns such as Saint Scholastica, reveals that not all women were condemned to this life of objectification. It seems that the vast majority of uneducated virgins, wives and widows led lives dedicated to children and men.
I think it would be interesting to find out the proportion of women who never married, for I know that for lots of families paying a dowry for more than one daughter could be impossible - maybe it was that which caused so many women to marry below their station? An expensive dowry would afford a woman a marriage to a man of higher status. Negotiations for the dowry between families also proves the political nature of marriage at this time - "love" was unheard of, as too was divorce. What happened to a woman (and her dowry) when her husband died? Did she return to her family?
I think that Bec is right when she says paying for multiple dowrys could be one of the reasons that many women were married below their station. Also, could a reason be that families with an old name and reputation but little wealth would wish to align with families who have just come into their fortunes? That way, wealth and status would be combined.
It was a really great summary! Like Cody said, it is quite unbelievable how woman had this enduring image to live up to and how this set position was accepted.
I loved reading about Joan of Arc, to me she stood out as a strong willed, independent women who wasn't afraid of going after what she wanted. Although she was religious, she took an active and physical religious role which set her apart from other prominent women figures. Marriages do still exist today...but I think the meaning of marriage from the medieval period has been modernized and I imagine very few people perceive modern marriages the way medieval society did. It was frustrating reading the bible passages and eve's creation as it really did set the foundation and definition of women and certainly led to a basis of misogyny and perceiving women as inferior. Still, Women have risen above the simple definition provided in the bible and have impacted society more than people believe.
No wonder women were considered the inferior sex in the medieval church. Just check out those New Testament texts. Look at Corinthians: "Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted to them to speak: but they are commanded to e under obedience." Timothy has this to say: "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but be in silence." Timothy also offers fashion notes, saying women should adorn themselves in modest apparel, "not with broided hair , or gold, or pearls, or costly array." This looks like the sumptuary laws enacted by men for women during the Renaissance. Ehpesians also comen on fairly strong: : "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord . . ."
I really enjoyed the reading for this week, I especially liked the contradictory nature of the bible in regards to equality of all and not so subtle degradation of women as a weaker sex, and the absolute worship of Mary as a role. Women's position in medieval society seems really complex to me, being viewed and treated as inferior and then marrying and upholding the peace between families seems a huge contradiction as an 'inferior' being entrusted with such a task.
I think that there is a lot to said for the fact that most of these sources were written by men. I guess considering the power of men at this time, they were hardly going to allocate much esteem towards the women. It makes is difficult to judge their opinions on the behaviour of women. This is why I really enjoyed reading about Joan of Arc. She was such a strong woman who had a very special relationship with God.
If you are interested in following up readings on medieval or renaissance women now or in the future, you may like to note Feminae, a useful site which can be searched for relevant publications. It's an initiative of the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship.
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