Women in the Middle Ages Essay -- essays research papers fc

The medieval fair sex was allowed a larger measure of freedom and status than the usual image we have of the mall Ages. Women were allowed to cause property and acquire from their family. Some women were employed and some were in charge of businesses. Among the upper class, women were as educated as their male counterseparate. In Europe, women were allowed to inherit property from both their fathers and their husbands. In most cases, whatever the woman brought into a marriage in the form of a dowery was hers, even if her husband disjoint her. If a woman was childless or her children were to young to inherit, she would control her husbands property after his death. This was common because of the trend of women in their teens marrying men 10-20 long time older.Some women gained control of their husbands property because they left for the crusades and the wife ran the business in the husbands absence. Some men were gone for age and some never returned.Women had control of certain areas of commerce of their own volition. Silk spinning was almost exclusively womens work Women manufactured purses and ladies hats, too. And in some parts of Europe, such as Paris, they were allowed to run brothels and taverns.In the Hollister Sourcebook, there is a picture from a French manuscript depicting a woman as an artificer painting a woman. The caption states women of the Middle Ages participated in the business world in a way that only men would be allowed to in posterior times, which included trade, banking, the direction of business enterprises, textile manufacturing, brewing, tax collecting, money lending, illuminating and copying books,... and a variety of other activities.Women could even belong to guilds and some taught their knowledge, not only in artisan occupations, but also reading, writing and arithmetic. A woman could be as educated as her male counterpart. Women also were midwives and frequently served as a sort of doctor giving medical advice and dispens ed medications.The town of Sardinia provides an interesting look into the life of the medieval woman. In Sardinia, a woman could own property and retain a separate title to her own property she brought into a marriage. It was the custom of ... ...ld membership in guilds. They could conduct business and own property. Not only that but their status in the church changes in the Middle Ages to one of more acceptance and they become the subject for artistic expressions in pictures, poetry, songs and books. It was a unique period in history for women. BIBLIOGRAPHYErler, Mary, and Maryanne Kowaleski. Women and Power in the Middle Ages. The University of Georgia Press. 1988.Hollister, C. Warren. gothic Europe A Short History. The McGraw-Hill Companies. 1998.Hollister, C. Warren, Joe W. Leedom, Marc A. Meyer, David S. Spear. Medieval Europe A Short Sourcebook. The McGraw-Hill Companies. 1997.LeGoff, Jacques. Medieval Civilization. Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1988.Shafar, Shulamith. The Fourth Est ate. Methuen & Co., Ltd. 1983.