Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It

by Janina Ramírez

Bishop Edward Stillingfleet, declared her ‘everything that is wrong with the Roman church’ and her writings the ‘fantastic revelations of a distempered brain’.

Educational opportunities were virtually non-existent until Cheltenham Ladies College opened its doors in 1853.

There was an idea of the perfect lady, as expressed by medical doctor William Acton, who specialised in masturbation. Women were supposed to be, ‘The best mothers, wives, and managers of households, know little or nothing of sexual indulgences. Love of home, children, and domestic duties are the only passions they feel.’