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60th out of 320 books
—
87 voters
Medieval Women: A Social History of Women in England 450-1500
In Medieval Women, Henrietta Leyser celebrates the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages. Rather than picturing them as hiding in the shadows and dismissing them as either victims or slaves, her unique approach presents medieval women as clever, argumentative, influential and visible. Above all, she rescues these women from the deeply unflatter...more
337 pages
Published
January 2002
by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
(first published 1988)
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This book is a much-needed addition to the growing body of non-fiction that seeks to fill the enormous gap in our understanding of women in history. Where social history was once ignored in favour of power struggles, geographical conquest, religious upheaval, exploration and wars, the stories of (mostly) men, Leyser is an historian who turns to the role of women to understand social history and the people who lived it, in order to provide layers and depth to the broader landscape with which we a...more
I've given this book a non-committal 2 stars becuase I have only read part of it, but the section I've just read deserves comment. There is a short passage on pages 54-9 of my 1995 edition purporting to summarise the role of Wealhtheow in Beowulf. My wife gave me this section because I was reading Beowulf at the time. I was shocked to find Leyser's summary bore no relation to the text I had in front of me, and the final statement on page 58-9, "Not only does Wealhtheow make her presence felt thr...more
I found it a little heavy going at times, but I think that is because I have got out of the habit of reading history books. It reminded me of my history A level when we were judging the validity of source material( maybe that is why I have become a librarian where we do knowledge management which is very similar.
Henrietta Leyser considers the problems and attitudes fundamental to every woman of the time: medieval views on sex, marriage and motherhood; the world of work and the experience of wido...more
Henrietta Leyser considers the problems and attitudes fundamental to every woman of the time: medieval views on sex, marriage and motherhood; the world of work and the experience of wido...more
I must firstly note that I am not a scholar and I didn't study any of this specific period of history at school. However, I did study art/cultural history with a social slant and an especial interest in women's history and representation.
If, like me, you're not coming into the field directly, then this book is still accessible: Leyser provides a lot of valuable context written in clear and elegant prose. Each chapter looks at a different portion of the Medieval period and different aspects of w...more
If, like me, you're not coming into the field directly, then this book is still accessible: Leyser provides a lot of valuable context written in clear and elegant prose. Each chapter looks at a different portion of the Medieval period and different aspects of w...more
I bought this book because I'm doing some research into the Norman Conquest, and I wanted to find out about it from a woman's perspective. Although only one chapter in the book is devoted to this era, it's a good chapter, describing plenty of sources, royal scandals and women's behaviour during the 11th century. It's a dry, weighty book, but this is true of almost all scholarly research, but neverthelss I found it invaluable. I hope to get around to reading the rest at some point.
Sep 19, 2008
Joyce
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
medievalists, women's studies scholars, British history scholars, social scientists
Well-researched scholarly study of English women during the medieval period focused on the 11th-14th centuries with a good survey of the preceding centuries. Leyser includes archaeology, history, hagiography, law and literature and what 1066AD/CE meant for women. Also included are employment for different classes of women and the impact of sex, marriage and motherhood. Extensive annotated primary sources and bibliography add to this book's value.
The title's misleading: this is a collection of essays on various topics concerning medieval women. They are very interesting essays but hardly constitute a cohesive "history" of medieval women in the traditional sense. I recommend this book for scholars or serious amateurs but not for those who want an introductory popular-history type of source.
In Medieval Women, Henrietta Leyser celebrates the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages. Rather than picturing them as hiding in the shadows and dismissing them as either victims or slaves, her unique approach presents medieval women as clever, argumentative, influential and visible. Above all, she rescues these women from the deeply unflattering portraits drawn by nineteenth century Victorian historians.
Hard going at times as so little is really known. Also Medieval history isn't my favourite period.
May 22, 2013
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