FC.71A WOMEN’S CHANGING STATUS IN LATE MEDIEVAL EUROPE

FC.71A WOMEN’S CHANGING STATUS IN LATE MEDIEVAL EUROPE Middle Class Rise of Towns in High Middle Ages (FC.64) Men can run businesses themselves  Less need for women’s labor than on farms Lower status for women as seen by: Early arranged marriages Typically secluded from public life Usually banned from guilds Peasants Nobles War Lower status for women, though higher than peasant & MC men Agr.  Women’s labor is vital  Relatively high status TownsMore law & order (FC.64) Rising piety Cult of Virgin Mary (FC.66) Plague after mid 1300s (FC.71) “Little Ice Age” after 1300 (FC.71) Artificial courts of love presided over by women Higher age of marriage to control pop. growth Higher status for women as seen by: Higher status for women as seen by: Ideal of romantic love between equals Chivalrous behavior toward women Later marriage More assertive in choice of husband Children’s games that mimic adult behavior Trad. gender rolesStrong resistance to change (FC.6) Trad. gender rolesStrong resistance to change (FC.6) Status won’t change until 1800s when MC women have leisure time & money to work for equal rights (FC.114)

Women during the High and Later Middle Ages (c.1100-1500)

The passages below reflect how ambiguous attitudes were toward medieval women. This has been referred to as the “virgin and whore” syndrome. "They murder no one, nor wound, nor harm, Betray men, nor pursue, nor seize, Nor houses set on fire, nor disinherit men, Nor poison, nor steal gold or silver; They do not cheat men of their lands, Nor make false contracts, nor destroy Kingdoms, duchies, empires.... Nor wage war and kill and plunder...”

The passages below reflect how ambiguous attitudes were toward medieval women. This has been referred to as the “virgin and whore” syndrome. "They murder no one, nor wound, nor harm, Betray men, nor pursue, nor seize, Nor houses set on fire, nor disinherit men, Nor poison, nor steal gold or silver; They do not cheat men of their lands, Nor make false contracts, nor destroy Kingdoms, duchies, empires.... Nor wage war and kill and plunder...” …"every reasonable man must prize, cherish, love woman...She is his mother, his sister, his friend; he must not treat her as an enemy.” -- Christine de Pisan (b.1364)

The passages below reflect how ambiguous attitudes were toward medieval women. This has been referred to as the “virgin and whore” syndrome. "They murder no one, nor wound, nor harm, Betray men, nor pursue, nor seize, Nor houses set on fire, nor disinherit men, Nor poison, nor steal gold or silver; They do not cheat men of their lands, Nor make false contracts, nor destroy Kingdoms, duchies, empires.... Nor wage war and kill and plunder...” …"every reasonable man must prize, cherish, love woman...She is his mother, his sister, his friend; he must not treat her as an enemy.” -- Christine de Pisan (b.1364) "Of all the things that God has given for human use, nothing is more beautiful or better than the good woman."—Marbode

The passages below reflect how ambiguous attitudes were toward medieval women. This has been referred to as the “virgin and whore” syndrome. "They murder no one, nor wound, nor harm, Betray men, nor pursue, nor seize, Nor houses set on fire, nor disinherit men, Nor poison, nor steal gold or silver; They do not cheat men of their lands, Nor make false contracts, nor destroy Kingdoms, duchies, empires.... Nor wage war and kill and plunder...” …"every reasonable man must prize, cherish, love woman...She is his mother, his sister, his friend; he must not treat her as an enemy.” -- Christine de Pisan (b.1364) "Of all the things that God has given for human use, nothing is more beautiful or better than the good woman."—Marbode Though she be servant in degree, in some degree she fellow is”-- English handbook

The passages below reflect how ambiguous attitudes were toward medieval women. This has been referred to as the “virgin and whore” syndrome. "They murder no one, nor wound, nor harm, Betray men, nor pursue, nor seize, Nor houses set on fire, nor disinherit men, Nor poison, nor steal gold or silver; They do not cheat men of their lands, Nor make false contracts, nor destroy Kingdoms, duchies, empires.... Nor wage war and kill and plunder...” …"every reasonable man must prize, cherish, love woman...She is his mother, his sister, his friend; he must not treat her as an enemy.” -- Christine de Pisan (b.1364) "Of all the things that God has given for human use, nothing is more beautiful or better than the good woman."—Marbode Though she be servant in degree, in some degree she fellow is”-- English handbook "And do you not know you are Eve?...You are the gate of the Devil, the traitor of the tree, the first deserter of Divine Law; you are she who enticed the one whom the devil dare not approach; you broke so easily the image of God, man; on account of the death you deserved, even the Son of God had to die."--Tertullian

The passages below reflect how ambiguous attitudes were toward medieval women. This has been referred to as the “virgin and whore” syndrome. "They murder no one, nor wound, nor harm, Betray men, nor pursue, nor seize, Nor houses set on fire, nor disinherit men, Nor poison, nor steal gold or silver; They do not cheat men of their lands, Nor make false contracts, nor destroy Kingdoms, duchies, empires.... Nor wage war and kill and plunder...” …"every reasonable man must prize, cherish, love woman...She is his mother, his sister, his friend; he must not treat her as an enemy.” -- Christine de Pisan (b.1364) "Of all the things that God has given for human use, nothing is more beautiful or better than the good woman."—Marbode Though she be servant in degree, in some degree she fellow is”-- English handbook "And do you not know you are Eve?...You are the gate of the Devil, the traitor of the tree, the first deserter of Divine Law; you are she who enticed the one whom the devil dare not approach; you broke so easily the image of God, man; on account of the death you deserved, even the Son of God had to die."--Tertullian "A good woman and bad one require equally the stick"--Florentine proverb

The passages below reflect how ambiguous attitudes were toward medieval women. This has been referred to as the “virgin and whore” syndrome. "They murder no one, nor wound, nor harm, Betray men, nor pursue, nor seize, Nor houses set on fire, nor disinherit men, Nor poison, nor steal gold or silver; They do not cheat men of their lands, Nor make false contracts, nor destroy Kingdoms, duchies, empires.... Nor wage war and kill and plunder...” …"every reasonable man must prize, cherish, love woman...She is his mother, his sister, his friend; he must not treat her as an enemy.” -- Christine de Pisan (b.1364) "Of all the things that God has given for human use, nothing is more beautiful or better than the good woman."—Marbode Though she be servant in degree, in some degree she fellow is”-- English handbook "And do you not know you are Eve?...You are the gate of the Devil, the traitor of the tree, the first deserter of Divine Law; you are she who enticed the one whom the devil dare not approach; you broke so easily the image of God, man; on account of the death you deserved, even the Son of God had to die."--Tertullian "A good woman and bad one require equally the stick"--Florentine proverb "Provided he neither kills nor maims her, it is legal for a man to beat his wife when she wrongs him."--French law code, 1200’s

Aristotle, considered the best authority on scientific knowledge in the Middle Ages, declared that women were "weaker and colder by nature, and we should look upon the female state as being as it were a deformity, though one which occurs in the ordinary course of nature." Left: a 13th century depiction of how people imagined our arteries & veins looked. Their views on female anatomy were even less informed since most anatomical knowledge was based on dissecting corpses of condemned criminals, who were mostly men.

While people typically associate Muslim society with veiled women, other civilizations restricted their women’s freedom in similar ways. Women in classical Greece, when not confined at home (as they usually were), had towearveils as in this Hellenistic statue from the third century BCE.

Similarly, women in medieval and early modern Europe were expected to keep their hair covered in public, only letting it down in the privacy of the home.

In Sung Dynasty China, a surge in agricultural production and population growth prompted a rapid expansion of its cities. As men moved into the cities to practice various crafts instead of farming, they no longer needed the labor of the women that had been so crucial in cultivating rice paddies. From this came the painful and confining practice of foot-binding, which broke the arches of girls’ feet, making them unable to walk normally.

Of course, as this cartoon suggests, women today may subject their feet to a modern version of foot-binding with high heeled shoes.

In the sixteenth century political treatise, The Prince, Machiavelli advises rulers to especially avoid taking their subjects’ property and women, treating the latter as largely a subset of the former.

When looking at the status of women in medieval and early modern Europe, we need to look at the different social classes separately, because each class presented a different story on women’s status. In the balance, however, the status of women in Western Europe seems to have been higher than that of their counterparts in other cultures. A bishop blesses a newly wedded couple to ensure their fertility and ability to bear strong healthy children. This shows how marriage was a public as well as a private affair, since it bound two families and their fates together.

Peasant Women Peasants Agr.  Women’s labor is vital  Relatively high status

Peasant Women Peasants Agr.  Women’s labor is vital  Relatively high status Plague after mid 1300s (FC.71)

Peasant Women Peasants Agr.  Women’s labor is vital  Relatively high status Plague after mid 1300s (FC.71) “Little Ice Age” after 1300 (FC.71)

Peasant Women Peasants Agr.  Women’s labor is vital  Relatively high status Plague after mid 1300s (FC.71) “Little Ice Age” after 1300 (FC.71) Higher age of marriage to control pop. growth

Peasant Women Peasants Agr.  Women’s labor is vital  Relatively high status Plague after mid 1300s (FC.71) “Little Ice Age” after 1300 (FC.71) Higher age of marriage to control pop. growth Higher status for women as seen by: Later marriage More assertive in choice of husband Children’s games that mimic adult behavior

In general, we have seen that peasant women in different cultures, because they shared in the farm work, had a bit higher status in relation to men as opposed to women in the middle and upper classes who largely lost their economic function and the status that went with it. However, peasant women in medieval Europe apparently made a bit more progress than their counterparts in other cultures. One reason, oddly enough, was the Black Death which hit in the mid 1300s.

In the Plague’s aftermath, the survivors’ standard of living rose as a result of inheriting the property of those who died. Peasants had their own plates to eat from & stools at the dinner table. They also had their own beds, or at least shared them with fewer people. Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s The Triumph of Death gives some idea of the traumatic psychological impact the Black Death had on Europeans

Probably to protect their newfound wealth and prevent the overpopulation that had preceded the Plague, peasants delayed the age of marriage to cut the birthrate. Men married when they could support themselves, typically when they inherited the farm at the passing of their parents. Similarly, women married in their twenties instead of middle or late teens. Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s painting of a peasant wedding banquet in the1500s shows the women sitting with the men, another sign of a bit more equality than seen in other cultures.

However, this had one unforeseen result. It was harder to tell a woman in her twenties whom to marry than it had been to tell teenage girls. Betrothal customs from this time show how women wanted a voice in whom they married. Raphael, Betrothal of the Virgin

When two people decided to get married, the man would approach the woman in the presence of other villagers and ask her if she were married. When she said no, he would reply that he thought they should get married. The other villagers would agree, except for one woman who would speak up, asserting that the prospective bride should have some say in this, with the crowd agreeing. The young woman would then give her assent. Ambrosius II Francken or Franck, Betrothal of the Virgin

Children’s games, which often mimic adult behavior, also reflect women’s new level of freedom. One girl, the “bride”, would be surrounded by the other girls. The boys would try to get through the circle to “marry” the girl in the middle, each making promises to entice her to choose them. She would then choose one of the boys to “marry”. Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. There are few things sadder than seeing what games children were forced to play before video games.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. Seen here: “Sit on your friend’s head & make him cry” “Let’s pretend we have marbles” “Throw Tommy on the table” (Known in France as “Dinner’s ready”) “Pretend your friend is a horse and break his back”

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560 “Pull the clothes off the Person in front of you parade” “Stick parade” “Wave your friend’s hat on a stick While he unties your shoe.” “Climb the wall” (Rock climbing, and for that matter rocks hadn’t been invented yet) “Pass gas & run” (also popular with adults back then) “Fight” “Count the dots”

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. Detail: “Shoestring”

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. Detail: “Let’s exorcise Tommy”

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. Detail: “Let’s pretend the porch rail is a big red horse”(Known in Germany as “Let’s act weird” and in Italy as “Chess

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. Detail: playing “Pretend a giant squash is a doll” (After that they often would play “Eat the baby”)

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. Left: “Selling drugs” Below: “Step on Bob”

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Children’s Games, 1560. Left: “Beat the tops” Below: “Poopsicle”

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69), Let’s Pretend We’reTwo Chained Monkeys, 1562

Enthusiastic wedding guests are hurried out of the bedroom by the groom. Marriages were not usually consummated until after the bride had moved to her husband’s house, which might take weeks or months. The high level of public participation in the wedding night shows how marriage was still mainly about producing heirs to carry on the family name and not about romance. It also shows how little privacy there was then.

Two paintings entitled Peasant Dance. Nowhere else are women portrayed as participating so freely in public festivals.

Women as Healers

Medieval medical tradition was strongly based on the theories of a second century physician, Galen. Since human dissections were frowned upon, he had to dissect animals, especially pigs which he thought were closer to humans in terms of anatomy. Of course, he was often wrong in his assumptions about human anatomy based on that of pigs. But Galen had the force of tradition and support of the Church behind him, so his theories were generally accepted.

Medieval medical theory was also heavily based on Aristotle’s theory of four humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) which corresponded to the four terrestrial elements (air, water, earth, and fire). All sickness was seen as an internal imbalance of humors, not the result of outside factors.

Thus all treatments had to do with restoring the balance by purging the excess humor through bleeding, enemas, or vomiting.

However inaccurate this theory was, it was strongly backed by the Church and medical establishment, which consisted solely of men, as these pictures suggest.

There was another completely separate and less publicized medical tradition: midwives. Throughout much of history these women were often the only healers available for women and poor people in general. Also, they usually knew as much, if not more, about herbal cures and anatomy than male doctors trained in the questionable traditions of ancient medicine. Not that midwives didn’t have their own superstitions using such things as hyena's feet, snake sloughs, canine placentas, sticks, and vulture feathers along with opening all the drawers and untying any knots in the house to ease the birthing process.

Midwifery has been the realm of women in most cultures such as the ancient Egyptians, Israelites, Greeks, Japanese, and Persians. Two Hebrew midwives Shifra and Puah, are even mentioned by name in the book of Exodus.

Luckily, many of the herbal cures these women learned through trial and error had applications beyond childbirth. Therefore, midwives often provided the only medical care that many or most people could get. This is even reflected in the contemporary novel, The Hunger Games.

Luckily, many of the herbal cures these women learned through trial and error had applications beyond childbirth. Therefore, midwives often provided the only medical care that many or most people could get. This is even reflected in the contemporary novel, The Hunger Games. A study of Russian folk medicine showed that roughly half of its 400 herbal treatments were legitimate for at least relieving symptoms of an ailment, if not curing it.

FC.71A WOMEN’S CHANGING STATUS IN LATE MEDIEVAL EUROPE