What Was the Role of Women in Feudal Society?

The voices of women in feudal Europe were muffled by the pages of history books. Were they really just pawns in the games of marriage, pushed around like chess pieces by their fathers and husbands? That seems not to be the case. Even nuns who took religious vows expressed profound opinions, like Catherine of Sienna who was the first woman to be named a Doctor of the Church. Others found outlet for their talents in some of the guilds or on the battlefields beside their men.

Misconceptions

History books paint women in the European feudal period as being hapless victims of arranged marriages. It's a good idea to remember that most of the writing was done by men who only wished women were their pawns. In reality, there were some very vivid, powerful, prosperous females who were to be reckoned with. There were businesswomen, guild members and writers among their ranks. While the Church and the formal legal system tried to deny them rightful place, reality often turned a blind eye.

Effects

Discovering the truth about the status of many women during the feudal age gives a better overall understanding of the time period. While it is true that most of the women who appear in formal accounts of the time were indeed regarded as the property of their fathers or husbands, these accounts were often written by those with a vested interest in keeping females in a subordinate position. Reading women's own tales about their general condition is very enlightening and delightful at times.

Benefits

Other than the obvious human rights issues we would cite today, women were working and contributing to the societies in which they found themselves. All phases of the Middle Ages were fraught with periodic outbreaks of warfare that saw the mobilization of large parts of the male population as combatants. Their wives were left to run the farms, mills, breweries and defenses on the home front. Indeed, more than one noble or royal wife found herself in charge of waging war against intruders.

Features

As in any other time period, the legal status of women varied according to where she lived. The Church tried to impose overarching legal restraints, but those sometimes didn't work any better than they do today. In England, for example, women were often full guild members, especially in the brewing and silk manufacturing industries. It's true that they often got their guild memberships through their husbands, but if they were widowed, the women could maintain their place within the group.

Types

Along with the busy and capable guild members, women in religious orders like Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila became well-known and widely read authors, carrying on correspondence with the learned men of the day. This was not the usual state of women in religious orders, but it was possible. Noblewomen, while not having full rights of inheritance like their male relatives, could and did become heirs. From what few records remain, these women were more than competent to run their estates.