Medieval Women: A Social History of Women in England, 450-1500

Description: Surveys the legal, literary, and social status of women in medieval England, concentrating on the twelfth century and later.; An opening section on Anglo-Saxon women explores evidence from archeology and law, as well as from history, saints' lives, and other literature.; The second section assesses the impact of the Norman Conquest on women in England, while the third breaks the discussion of English women in the high and later Middle Ages into separate chapters on marriage and motherhood, work, and widowhood.; The fourth section assesses various issues of women's religious status and outlook, as well as their literary interest and depiction.; The book includes fifty pages of source material translated into modern English and briefly discusses Chaucer's Wife of Bath in light of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and Christine de Pizan.

Chaucer Subjects: Background and General Criticism.; Wife of Bath and Her Tale.