Portraits of Medieval Women

Although numerous general studies of medieval women and a number of biographies of medieval queens have appeared in recent years, there have been comparatively few studies that combine biographical and prosopographical methodologies in order to develop portraits of specific women as case studies of the different life experiences of medieval women. Although numerous general studies of medieval women and a number of biographies of medieval queens have appeared in recent years, there have been comparatively few studies that combine biographical and prosopographical methodologies in order to develop portraits of specific women as case studies of the different life experiences of medieval women. The individual chapters can be read as separate histories of their specific subjects as well as case studies which together provide a coherent picture of the medieval English noblewoman. Honour, devotion, and duty; murder, abduction, and mayhem: all describe the experiences and activities of the medieval English noblewomen whose lives are explored in this volume of case studies. The range of sources available, from public documents to private papers, makes it possible for these women's individual lives to be revealed. Whether they were the wives, widows, and daughters of minor barons or attached to the greatest magnate lineages, noblewomen in the 13th and 14th centuries all shared the common experience of striving for recognition, security, and satisfaction in the "man's world" of medieval England.