Category Archives: Women

Alice, Princess of Antioch, 1126-1136

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Ruth

Alice began her married life conventionally enough by bearing a daughter in the first two years. But her course of life was derailed when Bohemund II died in battle with the Danishmends (the same tribe that had taken his father … Continue reading →

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Baldwin’s Feminist Daughters

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Ruth

I’ve described King Baldwin II as a family man, the fact that sets him apart from the other First Crusaders. Coming with the Boulogne brothers as a landless knight, he had inherited Edessa and immediately married Morphia, the heiress of … Continue reading →

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Hostages and ransoms, 1103-1108

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Ruth

Keeping up with the Roupenians: “Baby Blues” [Morphia’s baby is due, but her husband is in Mosul. Her father just got killed, and now Arda has a divorce shocker! How will the family cope?] By 1103, Count Baldwin II of … Continue reading →

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Cosmetic, elective and women’s surgery

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Ruth

Elective surgery was only a concept in the Greek tradition that Northern Europe didn’t learn until the late medieval, when textbook education about surgery spread north from Bologna. I’m still not sure if the Greek world had been using opium … Continue reading →

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Magical obstetrics

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Ruth

There is something ultimately mysterious about the birth of a child, even now. We don’t know what governs sex selection in conception of a child, why some babies are stillborn, why some identical twins are conjoined, or how mutations happen. … Continue reading →

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Medieval gynecology

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Ruth

Early medieval traditional medicine gave due respect to the particular needs of women. Irregular periods and infertility, labor that’s timely and complete, and post-birth appearance of milk were the three basic problems for women. Some of the herbal remedies are still used, … Continue reading →

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Medieval craftsman’s wife

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Ruth

The life of a medieval woman in town is closer to our modern ideas than the other pathways (such as the castle lady or peasant’s wife).  This isn’t coincidental, since modern life developed from the roots of those medieval towns. … Continue reading →

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Christine de Pizan

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Ruth

Around 1400, the most famous woman author was Christine de Pizan (or Pisan, both short for Pizzano, south of Bologna, Italy). Christine spent her life at the French court, originally moving there as an infant when her father was hired … Continue reading →

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Heloise d’Argenteuil, an educated medieval woman

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Ruth

Following on my profile of the life of a male university graduate, I want to profile two highly educated women of the Middle Ages, whose lives turned out quite differently. First, since I mentioned her yesterday, Heloise d’Argenteuil. What we … Continue reading →

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Early medieval ladies

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Ruth

This post is a follow-up to an earlier one about the lives of castle ladies. Prior to 1100, medieval ladies didn’t have castles, they had halls. There was one key difference that completely shaped the lady’s life. That is, instead … Continue reading →

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