Women and Gender in Early Modern Wales

by Michael Roberts (Editor), Simone Clarke (Editor)

Traditionally, the narratives of Welsh history have been masculine in their emphasis. Women and Gender in Early Modern Wales helps to redress the balance as it examines the material, social and cultural experiences of women in Wales and explores how those experiences were defined alongside or against those of men. It is the first book devoted to the lives of women in Wales during the period from the alter middle ages to the eve of the industrial revolution, and the first study to deal with the history of shifting gender identities in Wales in any period. Michael Roberts and Simone Clarke have brought together an exciting team of authors to examine the character and evolution of male and female identities in the early modern period. Issues addressed include female contributions to the poetic tradition, attitudes towards witchcraft and female abduction, the role of women in the emerging Nonconformist movements, the changing political and social responsibilities of men following the Acts of Union, and an exploration of women’s experiences as presented in a range of sources from the records of the law courts to the work of the embroiderer. Women and Gender in Early Modern Wales is a pioneering yet accessible volume which not only has wide-ranging and important implications for early modern Welsh historiography, but also provides the basis for the comparative study of gendered experience in this period, both in the British Isles and beyond.

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2000

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Reviews

[Karen]

There are so few books out there on medieval/early modern women in Wales that I eagerly pick up everything I can find. I don't have the depth of specialised knowledge to actually properly critique many of the essays in this work. However, I did find them all enjoyable to read. My favourites include:
1. Towards a History of Women in Late Medieval Wales by Llinos Beverley Smith.
2. 'Strange kind of stealing': Abduction in Early Modern Wales by Garthine Walker
3. Spinsters Were Doing it for Themselves: Independence and the Single Woman in Early Eighteenth Century Rural Wales by Lesley Davison