Hi, it’s
Louise here again, for another exploration of the wonderful world of medieval
history... In my March post, you may remember how I talked about the
difficulties of writing women in a world which is deeply misogynistic in its
thinking. We’ve also heard from several
writers who have had to wrestle with this problem on a daily basis.
So we’ve
seen the theory, and we've also seen how several authors have approached the problem. Now it's time to set the record straight - what was it like for medieval women in practice?
For my case
studies, I’m going to introduce you to three women of the Middle Ages. One of
these women - Black Agnes of Dunbar (Norris,
2007, 66) – has grown into the stuff of legends through the centuries, but I
think we can safely say that whatever the truth behind her story, the facts
can’t be too far away. My second is
Christian de Pisan (Leyser, 1995, 284), an Italian-born lady who married a
French nobleman at 14 and - after losing her husband at the age of 25 -
supported herself by writing. My third
example is the simply-named Emma Huntynton, whom I’ll be citing as an example
of the broad class of capable widows who, following their husbands’ deaths, continued
running their husbands’ businesses (Leyser, 1995, 178).
‘Black
Agnes’ is the popular name which has been given to Agnes Randolph, daughter of
Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray. In 1338, during the Scots Wars
of Independence, she held Dunbar Castle against an English army for 5 months on
her father’s behalf, before being relieved by a Scots army. Upon seeing a siege
engine known as ‘the sow’ being moved into place, she reputedly uttered the
immortal words, “Beware, Montagow [Montague, the besieging Englishman], for I
shall farrow thy sow.”
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| Portencross Castle, Ayrshire - What Was Life Really Like? |
The feisty
defence put up by ‘Black Agnes’ is not an isolated case, and we can perhaps
understand her better by referring to an important document written by
Christian de Pisan, The Book of Three
Virtues. A veritable Mrs Beaton of
her age, Christian de Pisan’s reference work was a guide to women on how to be
a good woman, which meant of course being a good wife, and a good mother. Following
on from last month’s post, we might expect this to advocate that women should
be meek and virtuous at all times, subservient to their husband’s wishes. But this isn’t the case – for a woman to be a
useful contributor to her household, she’s got to
play an active part in its running.
Christian advises the wives of nobles to be astute politically, and to
be strong and courageous. Such a woman must be a good leader, and a wise
counsellor: that way, she can support her husband properly, and also represent
him in all matters when he’s absent. For this reason, ‘She must know the laws
of arms and all things pertaining to warfare’ (Leyser, 1995, 286). This description by Christian directly inspired the kind of woman I had in mind when recreating the characters for Fire & Sword, a woman perhaps best typified by Helen Campbell, wife to Hugh, 2nd Lord Montgomerie.
Christian
de Pisan did not, however, focus completely on the nobility. She also offers advice to the wives of
artisans and labourers. She urges women
to make sure their husbands rise early and apply themselves vigorously to the
tasks before them. That these women were more than capable of understanding
their husbands’ trades is clearly evidenced by the vast number of widows who
continued their husband’s businesses through widowhood. Emma Huntynton is a
good example: following the loss of her husband in 1362, she inherited both his
house and his apothecary’s shop and continued working in that trade throughout,
we must presume, the remainder of her life.
Though the medieval historian, Henrietta Leyser is quick to point out
that for widows, working was a requirement, something expected of them by their
peer group (who presumably didn’t want to support them financially).
So there we
have it. Three real medieval woman. Whose stories serve to show us what life was
really like back then. A misogynistic world in theory, perhaps, but one where,
in practice, reality was often very different.
References
Leyser, H
1995. Medieval Women: A Social History of
Women in England 450-1500 (Phoenix, London)
Norris, J
2007 Medieval Siege Warfare (Tempus,
Stroud)
3 comments:
It is not simply hard to believe women played as little a role in history as the books lead us to believe, it's impossible. There's just no way half the race would be so silent, so inactive. Their deeds and such are simply not as well-documented. Finding them often means reading between the lines, between the lives of the "great men" in history.
On a side note--the word history doesn't actually come from "HIS" story, as if often cited. It's conveniently so now, but etymologically, it comes to English via the Old French word, estoire, estorie (chronicle, story)and via Latin, historia (narrative of past events) and Greek, historia (a learning or knowing by inquiry.) There is no HIS in any of those languages, unless you consider histor (a wise man) that actually came AFTER establishing historia, reflecting the meaning to one who knows history, rather than the other way around.
Did that make sense? :)
Reading about Black Agnes reminded me of Catarina Riaro Sforza de Medici and her stand-off against Cesare Borgia. More Renaissance than medieval, but the same principle applies. What's still a mystery to me is why so many of these amazing stories are lost, or glossed over, in the conventional versions of history.
Thanks for another great post, Louise!
What I love is the fact that the accounts of these women are so numerous, once you start looking for them, that you realise this must have been the norm. I don't think any medieval household could have functioned properly without a strong woman at the helm! And supposedly, it was the women who made all the arrangements regarding the marriages of the next generation. I don't suppose the menfolk had time for such 'trivia!' Since a lot of these matches were intensely political, their importance cannot be underestimated.
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