Women in the Middle Ages: The Lives of Real Women in a Vibrant Age of Transition (Medieval Life)

I love anything written by this couple; always entertaining, always educational, they do their research, combine it with their sound knowledge of the era or people they are writing about and produce something that history buffs, writers, or just those with a healthy curiousity about the past will thoroughly enjoy.Women in the Middle Ages is no exception. A concise book it starts with a working definition of the Middle Ages (around 600AD to the end of the Fourteenth Century) before explaining popular misconceptions and some facts about the role women played in these fraught and fascinating times. They then explain the primary models against which women were measured – Eve and Mary – sinner and saint, mother and whore, basically. Reductive they might be and yet they set the framework against which women lived, worked, loved, worshipped, ruled, and died.The second part explores specific women, using contemporary sources, in more detail. We are introduced to (or reacquainted with) Hildegarde of Bingen, one of the most highly educated and clever women of the Middle Ages, an Abbess; the magnificent Queen Blanche of Castille a canny ruler who, despite enemies seeking to capture her throne managed to rule beside her husband and later, as a regent, handling the power thrust upon her with courage and intelligence; Eleanor of Montefort, sister to Henry III, devoted mother, wife to the courtier and warrior Simon de Montefort (their relationship is beautifully and sympathetically explored by Sharon Kay Penman who, though working in fiction does extensive research and she paints a softer portrait of Eleanor), and someone very aware of and prepared to fight for her rights. We also meet Agnes Patiniere of Douai, a woman who lived in a city and who had a successful trade, negotiating the politics of the guilds. Then there’s Margherita Datini, an Italian woman who became literate later in life, helped run her husband’s business and avoided succumbing to the plague. Finally, there’s Margaret Paston, member of one of the most successful families of the Middle Ages who rose from crofters to wealthy landowners (and later, Earls) and who are survived by abundant correspondence (the book of their letters, The Pastons, is enthralling) that reveals their daily lives, enmities, private and more public relationships and even their ambitions for themselves and each other.While it seems sad that there are so few women to draw on in order to explore their diverse roles over such a long stretch of time, when considering the division that occurred in medieval lives – men = public, women= private, and the fact most females were confined to domestic space, it’s fortunate we have anything. The Gies’ also ensure they compare and contrast the women they discuss in relation to place and class and draw analogies with literature (eg. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales) as well demonstrating how women’s role altered (for better and worse) over time.The contradictions in women’s roles are evident in this book, as is how women worked within and against popular and religious expectations, how they managed, sometimes against impossible odds, to find and create their own spaces and lives – some more successful than others.Overall, this was an interesting and enjoyable read.

"Middle Ages...a vibrant age of transition." Not sure I would agree whole-heartedly with the book blurb. As a woman living in the Middle Ages, it all would boil down to location, time, and location again. Some women had more freedoms than others. A widow had higher status than a married woman; yet, widows many times were chained to the lives of their deceased husbands, and to remarry brought new hardships of their own. I'm not convinced that all women in the Middle Ages were as self-sufficient and take-charge as the examples given us. We are asked to look at a few stories of successful women and extrapolate that all women were successful. However, I did enjoy reading about those women who were able --in spite of living when they did -- to make a name for themselves.

I am a genealogist and I'm researching the medieval period as it applied to my relatives. I have found very few books with women being represented as anything other than the wife who stayed home while families are out at war. But this book, although it seems to relate to higher classed women, gives a feel for the every day work in a women's life. I have found it to be informational, applicable, interesting read, high lighting a few women that happen to be my ancestors. Win Win! I look forward to reading this book, and look forward to it each night. Well written, enjoyable format.This item was free or discounted for my review.

I liked this book. It was a good quick read on an oft over looked segment of middle ages life. The historical peak into women of varied social and economic circumstances was informative and entertaining. I recommend this book to anyone wishing to understand this often overlooked historical segment in an easy to read book. Thank you for a good read.

This collection of short biographies shows that women's lives in the Middle Ages was not as drab and uninteresting as many people think. Women did lead very full lives, depending on their position in society. This is more of a "popular" history work, not a scholarly work (there are some inaccuracies, particularly the list of medieval inventions, which, for example, includes the horsecollar, which was invented in China, not Europe). However, for the reader interested in history in general, this is a worthwhile introduction.

Decent read, but a lot of general information that is dry and boring in the beginning. (Yes, I am a history person.)The biographical chapters were much better, and I think they did a better job of presenting not only info about the specific people, but about others of their group as well.I got it as a Kindle deal for ninety-nine cents - don't think I would pay the 13.99 for the Kindle edition. There are better works.

A very well researched book, easy to read. Amazing how much power women in the Middle Ages had, seen from our perspective now. I do think women in the early 19th Century were disempowered, or allowed themselves to become so, particularly when you read about those earlier times. A lovely book to have and enjoy again.

It's a little bit preachy at times and its editing is horrendous, but overall it's a good read. The authors have combined specific research with their massive knowledge base to produce a work which is both informative and readable. My only real complaint is the editing; in converting to an e-book, the formatting is really shoddy. It is however readable, as long as one does not obsess about it.

I liked most of the Gies' books I have read- at this is no exception. A fascinating and useful introduction to the source material revealing Medieval Women in every guise. Perhaps it will serve to challenge the misconceptions that they were an universally repressed and downtrodden class with no rights. From noblewomen to Merchants, there was far more to the fairer sex in the Middle Ages than being locked on towers.....also it has proved useful for a number of academic pursuits and assignments.