Europe's Middle Ages
Europe's Middle Ages included the Medieval Period, which was characterized by the dominance of Catholicism and Christian traditions. Religious and cultural expectations placed severe restrictions on the actions of women in medieval society. However, women were able to navigate and occasionally use these discouraging circumstances to achieve their goals. Women played a variety of social positions during the Middle Ages. Women in the Middle Ages served as mothers, nuns, spouses, peasants, and artisans. Additionally, women held executive roles like abbess or queen regnant. The idea of a "woman" was evolving in different ways during the Middle Ages, and a number of forces were influencing their social roles. The Church was the essential symbol of unity to the Middle Ages. However, the leadership positions like priesthood were for men. The Church Councils forbade the existence of deaconesses. However, the establishment of Christian monasticism expanded the roles of women in the church. Women had the opportunities to escape the agony of child-rearing, the path of marriage and started to acquire literacy. Abbesses were important figures in the establishment of women rights, frequently governing the convents of both women and men, and taking substantial lands ownership and control.
Spinning and Brewing
Spinning was traditional women's crafts during the old regime. It was performed using the distaff and spindle; however, towards the end of the High Middle Ages, women lead to the invention of the wheel. For most of the medieval period, brewing was for women until the introduction of hops bears. Also, married women had a responsibility of assisting their husbands in business. However, some women did their private business other than that of their men.
Midwifery and Maternal Health
Midwifery was an open practice; gradually becoming a specialization in the Medieval Ages, however, during the medieval period, death rates for women during childbirth was at its peak. Conversely, the life of expectancy of women increased unfolding to the improvements in nutrition and maternal health care.
Restrictions on Women's Work
From the last century of the Middle Ages onwards, restrictions began on women's work, and the leaders of organizations became male-only. The reasons to the scenario may have been the rising status and political role of guilds and the increasing competition from cottage industries, which prompted the guilds to tighten their entrance requirements. Female property rights also began to be curtailed during this period. Abelard and Heloise denote that 'the women were controversial personalities of the Middle Ages, and had various limitations on their behavior.' For instance, if a woman was expectant, and not married, or had intercourse outside of marriage; the Lord was to receive recompense. The peasant women had low self-esteem, and their control was a function of financial benefits to the Lords. Land-ownership and inheritance had various patterns, for instance, In Basque region; the eldest child was to inherit all the lands -irrespective of the gender. In Normandy, the eldest son usually inherited all properties and daughters would inherit property in the absence of the male children. Female land-owners, married or single, could sell or grant their land. In the late middle age period, Women were estate managers in the absence of their husbands. Abelard and Heloise
Female Landownership
As time passed, women started receiving dowries and properties like cash apart from the land. Even though up late middle age women land ownership had been increasing, afterward the rate began to decline. Commercialization was a key factor that led to the decrease in female landownership; however, the middle-aged widows were managers of their dead husband's lands.
Gender Division of Labor
There was a gender division of labor between women and men. For instance, the men molded, threshed and plowed, while women cleared weeds, cleaned, bound sheaves collected woods made Hays. Men were supposed to guard the women and assume liability for them in economic and legal matters. Norman women were not meant to contract business ventures; French women we allowed to petition business issues, but could not entreat in the law court in the absence of their men.
Peasant Women and Urban Women
Three main activities for the peasant women were, keeping livestock, planting foods, and making textiles. Wealthy urban women of Medieval could become money lenders and merchants; middle-class women were engaged in shop-keeping, brewing industries, and textile industries; while the poorer huckstered foods and worked in richer households as domestic servants. In her book, 'The Book of Margery Kempe', Kempe denotes that 'the English housewife at the turn of the fifteenth century was called to weep and to adopt the unconventional way of life'. Kempe address the middle-class women of the 12th century.
Women as Economic Agents
From the civil discussion, the medieval period represents social, religious, and cultural expectation that has many limits on the activities of women. Some of the women activities during the period include the collecting of eggs, Painting of self-portraits, entertaining her lord and preparing cheese. However, Boccaccio perceives Women as 'warriors and help to defend the economy and their social welfare.' In spite of the medieval discriminative culture, which portrays female's inferiority, limits female independence, and discriminates female labor services; women act as sovereign economic agents. Women were critical performers of the housekeeping duties like cleaning and cooking, and other household chores like brewing, grinding, spinning, and butchering.
