Division of Social Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences

University of the Philippines Visayas











In partial fulfillment of the
requirements in
History 100






Women in the Dark Ages






Submitted to:
Prof. Rey Carlo T. Gonzales




Submitted by:
Jirah Kaye B. Luison




October 8, 2010



Introduction
Europe during the Medieval Ages was mainly composed of landscapes that are very different
from those of modern Europe with its metropolises and many millions of people. In 200 CE, the
population of the continent was around 35 million. By 500 it had sunk to 27.5 million. In 650, after a
devastating pandemic of bubonic plague, along with other disasters, it plummeted to 18 million (Bitel,
2002).
The Christian Church was the most stable institution in the Middle Ages after the decline of the
Roman authority, providing unity and leadership. Most of the political powers lay in the hands of a few
landowning nobles though there are a handful of strong leaders who established kingdoms found
sporadically in some parts of Europe. The medieval life did not focus on grander or bigger groups like
national government but rather were based on the small worlds of the village, the castle, and the lords
manor. Gradually peace and prosperity returned to Europe. There was a growth of agriculture and trade,
and the towns bustled with activity. There was a revival in learning, also the arts and literature was able
to flourish. A few strong rulers began to create national states in England and France, and some
monarchs even challenged the Churchs authority in political life. By the high middle ages (1050-1270),
medieval civilization was in its height in Western Europe (Perry, Davis, Harris, Von Laue, & Warren,
1989).
But at the very beginning of the medieval ages according to Bitel (2002), when Europe was still
in transition, cities of the Roman north dwindled, along with their urban markets, the economic
exchange between city and countryside, urban industries, and urban professionals. Everywhere in the
continent, economies became subsistence ventures marked by sporadic local trade.
Feudal society was very much a mans world. In theory, women were held to be inferior to men;
in practice, they were subjected to male authority (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude, 1992). The
woman who had made her living by running a laundry or a wineshop no longer had products, costumers
or even a venue in which to do business. Prostitution, defined as sex for cash in a brothel, became
practically unknown in Europe. If a woman wished to trade upon her sex, she had to accept other
commodities besides cash in exchange and carry out her transactions, as the early Irish law put it
literally, in the bush (Bitel, 2002).

As Peasants and Noblewomen
Peasant women themselves left few records of their lives. Artists from the medieval world
pictured them at their seasonal tasks and celebrations, folklorists and anthropologists recorded their
words, songs, and stories. All testify to the sources of peasant womens strength: their veneration of the
land; their acceptance of responsibility for the survival of the family; their willingness to work; the
comfort they took in their beliefs. These dictated the rhythms of rural womens lives and the choices
they made through the centuries. From the time they were small children through maturity to old age,
rural women expected to work. They knew no division of labor, no separate spheres for women and
men. They worked everywhere (Anderson & Zinsser, 1988). In workplaces or private owned shops,
exploitation of female labor certainly was one of the worst forms of oppression by their employers. In
the peasant class women were about equivalent to if not as good as men at work (Le Goff, 1988).
While most unmarried noblewomen went to nunneries, peasant daughters, because they were
needed on the farm, rarely become nuns. Moreover, their parents could not afford the dowry, payable
in land, cash, or goods, required by the convent for admission(Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude,
1992).
Whereas peasant women immerse themselves in their work and manual labor, the daughters of
nobility were said to be generally brought up for marriage and procreation. They were expected to
produce as many children as possible and they were usually married at around 16. Given the primitive
knowledge of obstetrics and hygiene, bearing children was even more dangerous than bearing a lance.
Many noblewomen died in childbirth, often literally exhausted by frequent successive births. Although
occasionally practiced, contraception was condemned both by the church and by husbands eager for
offspring (Kishlansky, Greary, & O'Brien, 2002).
In the upper class women, even though they had more refined pursuits, nevertheless were
economically active to an important degree. They ran womens workers, where by fancy skills such as
the meaning of fine materials, embroidery, and tapestry, they supplied a large proportion of the clothes
needed by the lord and his companions (Le Goff, 1988).
And as the lady of the castle, the lords wife performed important duties. She assigned tasks to
the servants, made medicines, preserved foods, taught girls how to spin, sew, and weave, and despite
her subordinate position, took charge of the castle when her husband is away. If the lord was taken
prisoner in war, she raised the ransom to pay for his release. Sometimes she put on armor and went to
war, for amusement, noblewomen enjoyed chess and other board games, played musical instruments,
or embroidered tapestries to cover castle walls. A lady might also join her husband on the hunt, a
favorite recreation of the medieval nobility (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude, 1992).

Family and Marriage
It is difficult to grasp the place which was held by women and children in the heart of this
primordial unit, the family, and also in assessing how they were able to evolve under conditions where
they live in. Saying that women were inferiors in the family group is beyond question. In this war faring,
and virile society, basic subsistence was always threatened. Consequently, fertility was more of a curse,
because of the interpretation of the Original Sin as having to do with sexual intercourse and procreation,
than a blessing, and women were not held in honor (Le Goff, 1988).
During these times, a young woman is expected to marry, thus creating a partnership with a
young man. But it does not mean that she has to give up her ties to her own family. She can even keep
the name of either his mother or father. It can be seen during the 15
th
century France when Joan of Arc
explained to the churchmen who questioned her at her trial that: I am called sometimes Jeanne dArc
and sometimes Jeanne Romoe, thus acknowledging her ties to both her parents (Anderson & Zinsser,
1988). But still, it is the fathers who arranged the marriage of their daughters. Girls from aristocratic
families were generally married at age 16 or younger to a man often twice their age. The wife of a lord
was at the mercy of her husband; if she angered him, she might expect a beating. A French law code of
the 13
th
century stated: In a number of cases men may be excused for the injuries they inflict on their
wives, nor should the law intervene. Provided he neither kills nor maims her, it is legal for a man to beat
his wife when she wrongs him (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude, 1992). So before, women were
obviously not treated equally by their husbands.
But inspire of their inferiority, Knights draw their strength and courage from their families: their
mothers, wives and children. Their squadrons or battalions, instead of being formed by chance or by an
accidental gathering, are composed of families and clans. Close to them are the people dearest to their
hearts and so they can hear the shrieks of women and cries of the children. They are the most sacred
witnesses of the mens bravery and most generous applauders. If wounded, the soldier brings his
wounded body to mother and wife, and they dont shrink from counting or demanding them and who
administers both food and encouragement to the combatants (Cantor, 1968).
The long absence of men at hunt, at the royal court, or on military expeditions left wives in
charge of the domestic scene for months or years at a time (Kishlansky, Greary, & O'Brien, 2002).

Women in the Church
Although the Church taught that both men and women were precious to God and spiritual
equals, Church tradition also regarded women as agents of the devil-the evil temptresses who. Like the
biblical Eve, lured men into sin-and Church law also permitted wife beating. In Mary, the mother of
Jesus, however, Christians had an alternative image of women to the image suggested by Eve, one that
placed women in a position of power (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude, 1992).
No longer a wife, a mother, a daughter, a woman, like a man, could dedicate herself to study
and prayer. Though not equal in nature or power to a monk, a nun could nonetheless share equal access
to divine favor, to knowledge, and to spiritual authority on Earth. From the 7
th
to 10
th
century, privileged
foundresses and abbesses could assume powers usually reserved to bishops, abbots and the ordained
clergy (Anderson & Zinsser, 1988).
The religious life in particular opened to aristocratic women possibilities of authority and
autonomy that had been previously been unknown in the West. Some women were already becoming
empowered and asserting their rights. An example of which is Saint Hilda of Whitby (614-680), an Anglo-
Saxon princess established and ruled a religious community that included both women and men. It was
in Hildas community that the Synod of Whitby took place, and Hilda played an active role, advising the
king and assembled bishops (Kishlansky, Greary, & O'Brien, 2002).
Aristocratic girls who did not marry often entered a convent. The talents of these unmarried
noblewomen were provided of an outlet by the nunneries. The organizational skills of abbesses are
showcased in their ways of supervising the convents daily affairs; some acquired an education and, like
their male counterparts, copied manuscripts, and thus preserved knowledge and ideas of the past.
Hreswitha (c. 695-c. 1001) of Gandersheim in Saxony, Germany, was a nun who produced poetry, history
and dramas. Inspired by the poet Terrence, she wrote 6 dramas- the first since Roman times- along with
a history of German rulers and one of her own convent. Establishment of cathedral schools and
universities that were obviously male and taught by men-unlike these monasteries where women
frequently taught- reduced the influence of women, however (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude,
1992).
By the 13
th
century, attitudes towards womens role in the church had crystallized around these
male concerns, this medley of traditional fears of the female as a sexual being. Yes, allow the woman a
life devoted to religion but then they must be closely guarded and isolated because of the dangers
attributed to her being a woman. Nuns must be separated from men, even those of high faith. There
were prohibitions against nuns teaching boys, against any but the necessary contacts between the
women and their male confessors, gained wide acceptance. Even more important, women must be kept
strictly cloistered. They were not allowed to leave the convent; they should not have contact with
people outside their walls (Anderson & Zinsser, 1988).

Women in the Society
Within this aristocratic society, women played a wider and more active role than before during
the Roman or barbarian antiquity. In part, womens new role was due to the influence of Christianity,
which recognized the distinct-though always inferior-rights of women, fought against the barbarian
tradition of allowing chieftains numerous wives, and acknowledged womens right to lead a cloistered
religious life. In addition, the construction of Germanic and Roman familial traditions permitted women
to participate in court proceedings, to inherit and dispose of properties, and, if widowed, to serve as
tutors and guardians of their minor children (Kishlansky, Greary, & O'Brien, 2002).
Le Goff (1988) said that it has often been claimed that the crusades meant that the womens
power and rights increased because it left women on their own in the Western Europe. And the
condition of women had improved on two stages, in the Carolingian period and the time of the crusades
and reconquistas.
But Kishlansky, et. al (2002) disagreed with this and held that in the martial society the political
and economic status of women declined considerably. Because they were considered unable to
participate in warfare, women in Western Europe were also frequently excluded from inheritance,
estate management, and public deliberations. Although a growing tradition of courtliness glorified
aristocratic women in literature, women were actually losing ground in the real world. Some
noblewomen did control property and manage estates, but usually such roles were possible only for
widows who had borne sons and who could play a major part in raising them. For all chivalric rhetoric,
women did not enjoy which status in medieval society. Some men nevertheless apparently felt
threatened by women and female sexuality. Secular tradition and Christian teaching portrayed women
as devious, sexually demanding temptresses who were often responsible for the corruption and
downfall of men. Many men also resented the power wielded by wealthy widows and abbesses.

Women and Literature
A form of medieval poetry, which flourished particularly in Provence, in southern France, dealt
with the romantic glorification of women. Sung by troubadours, many of them nobles, the country love
poetry expressed a changing attitude towards women. Although medieval men generally regarded
women as inferior and subordinate, courtly love poetry ascribed to noble ladies superior qualities of
virtue. To the nobleman, the lady became a goddess worthy of all devotion, loyalty, and worship. He
would honor her and serve her as he did his lord; for her love he would undergo any sacrifice.
Troubadours sang love songs that praised ladies for their beauty and charm and expressed with the joys
and pairs of love. Noblewomen actively influenced the rituals and literature of courtly love. They often
invite poets to their courts and even wrote poetry themselves. There are times when a lady troubadour
would express her love for her Knight and disdain for her husband. Ladies demanded that knights treat
them with gentleness and consideration and that knights dress neatly, bathe often, play instruments,
and compose (or at least recite) poetry. To prove worthy of his ladys love, a knight had to demonstrate
patience, charm, bravery, and loyalty. By devoting himself to a lady, it was believed, a knight would
ennoble his character (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude, 1992).
Ridicule of Achievements
Not only did the Church restrict and confine women, but the facts of their past achievements
and authority were ridiculed, the woman remembered for exceptional learning, piety and power was
not Lioba, Saint Hilda, Herrad of Landsberg, or Hildegard of Bingen. Instead the fantasy of a 13
th
century
French Dominican, Steven of Bourbon, was passed on from generation to generation, the tale of
fictitious Pope Joan. In the story, Joan studied, disguised as man. Brilliant and devout, she advanced
quickly within the order, went to Rome, became a cardinal, and then was selected as Pope. But in this
life of achievement, this life without restriction, her womans matrix betrayed her. In Rome, she insisted
for a young man, she fornicated, and she met a fitting end. On the day of her installation as Pope, she
died in childbirth during the inaugural procession through the streets, death in the gutters of Rome like
a common whore. A salacious, cautionary fable displaced the memory of the lives and writings of the
great abbesses and their women scholars (Anderson & Zinsser, 1988).

Notable Women
Joan of Arc (1412-1481), the extraordinary sixteen-year-old daughter of a French peasant family,
defied almost every tradition of the peasant womens world. She disobeyed her parents, importuned
whose above her station for help, and insisted that she must act outside the womens accepted roles.
Joan told everyone that she had been sent by God to join the army of the King of France and to raise the
English siege of the town of Orleans. Everything about her manner, her demands and her actions were
unorthodox. They came to perceive her as a heroine: the holy maiden warrior, zealous and strong, sent
for the salvation of the kingdom. So perceived, Joans passion, energy, persistence, and ingenuity gained
her power and success in roles traditionally reserved to men and to men of higher caste as well
(Anderson & Zinsser, 1988).
Clare of Assisi was an eighteen-year-old daughter of the Count of Sesso-Rosso. According to
Anderson and Zinsser (1988), she defied her family to gain approval from Saint Francis of Assisi for her
group of pious women at the Church of St. Damien. Saint Clare and her followers did almost succeed in
creating their own new role with no allegiance owed to a male order, later in the 13
th
century where
women like Agnes of Bohemia, the betrothed of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, and Margaret,
wife of King Louis IX of France, founded establishments and called themselves poor Clares and not
Franciscan.
Williams great grandson, Henry acquired much of southern France through his marriage to
Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204), perhaps the most powerful queen of the medieval era (Perry,
Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude, 1992). She was the heiress of the greatest principalities of France, wife of
two kings and mother of two more (Kishlansky, Greary, & O'Brien, 2002). In their study of women in
Europe, Anderson and Zinsser (1988) found that Eleanor came to her lands because of a series of deaths
in her family including her parents and her brother, leaving her to the care of King Louis VI of France.
And he grabbed the opportunity to marry her to his seventeen-year-old son. She divorced him in 1152
and married Henry, the heir to the English throne. Together, they ruled half of France and all of England.
At seventy-two, Eleanor was able to raise an army.
Anderson and Zinsser (1988) mentioned two more influential women, Saint Catherine of Siena
and Saint Bridget of Sweden. Catherine Bemincasa (1347-1380) became the patron saint of Italy and was
honored as doctor of the Church. She refused marriage, seen cutting her hair in protest and at eighteen
became a Dominican Tertiary. Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), also a noblewoman, made many of
the same choices as Saint Elizabeth. She had visions of Jesus, John the Baptist, Saint Agnes and the Virgin
Mary. She condemned the vanities of women, the laxity of archbishops, cursing queens and kings for
what she viewed as their sexual depravity.

Conclusion
One cannot say that womens lives were easy during the Dark Ages. The difficulties may be
attributed to the society, influence of Christianity, bias of men in general and even to the women
themselves. They were not given the same opportunity as to those of men and an equal status with men
is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. But the medieval ages played a large part in molding the history
of women especially those who made a difference and asserted their rights as a human being. Centuries
have passed since those times but we still can see traces of discrimination and abuse in todays society.










Works Cited

Anderson, B. S., & Zinsser, J. P. (1988). a History of their Own: Women in Europe from Prehistory to the
Present (Vol. 1). New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Bitel, L. M. (2002). Women in Early Medieval Europe, 400-1000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cantor, N. F. (Ed.). (1968). The Medieval World. Toronto: The Macmillan Company.
Kishlansky, M., Greary, P., & O'Brien, P. (2002). A Brief History of Western Civilization: The Unfinished
Legacy. USA: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc.
Le Goff, J. (1988). Medieval Civilization. (J. Barrow, Trans.) Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Laude, V. (1992). Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society (4th ed.).
Boston, Massachusets: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Perry, M., Davis, D., Harris, J., Von Laue, T., & Warren, D. (1989). A History of the World. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company.