Roles Of Women In Medieval Europe

The Medieval society was very traditional, in the aspect that men were the most dominant figure as oppose to women. Women had to learn their ‘place’ in the society. They were treated with very little respect and played a very slim role towards the country’s behalf. Her main duty was to support her husband and family and take care of all of her responsibilities. Women had very limited freedom and for the majority of the time, her father or husband would make all of the decisions on their wife/ daughter’s behalf.

Gender Roles in Early Modern Period Writings The early modern period writing concerning gender roles have a real relation to the thinking and debate that is seen going on in today’s world. Throughout time, women have been held responsible, demeaned, and used to further the agendas of their male counter parts. It is interesting to discover that women initially began the women’s rights movement as early as the 1500s. The woman’s suffrage movement was what won the right to vote in the 1900s.

EARLY MODERN EUROPE' NOTION ABOUT WOMEN In order to understand the position of women in Early Modern Europe, firstly we need to understand the society of this period. The society took place in Early Modern Europe was the patriarchy.

First, her gender affected her because there were only so many jobs a female could have in the Middle Ages. Many women just worked along with the men in the fields, taking care of the animals and doing housework. Also, many women had another occupation, like spinning, weaving,

Throughout the Middle Ages, a woman’s role in society was extremely limited. Women were married off for the dowry their husband could provide their family, or for political advantage. (Dean and Thomson 69) Eleanor of Aquitaine was crowned the Queen of France at the age of 15 after marrying into the crown, undeniably young for her position of power. But, it was because of her position as Queen of France and eventually Queen of England that helped her to make an impact on Medieval women and their roles in society. Eleanor was strong willed and never stopped fighting for others to see things her way, which in many cases was not the normal way in the Middle Ages. Her way of thinking was considered out of the ordinary at that time, but now she

“Of all creatures who live and have intelligence, we women are the most miserable,” a woman from ancient Greece claimed. Greek women of this time were viewed as property, housekeepers, and slaves. They endured lives restrained by ludicrous double standards, which played out in their marriages, in how they were perceived by men, and in their role as mothers.

Women of the Medieval Times Women have always had a significant role in history even though they were treated horrible in most cases. During the Medieval Times was really the first time women were allowed to become more than just a house wife. The fight for equality has always been a struggle and even in today’s society is still an ongoing battle. Although women of lower and middle class were treated poorly in the Medieval Times, some powerful women held great responsibility and were looked up too by both men and children; despite being admired, “men were thought to be not only physically stronger but more emotionally stable, more intelligent, and morally less feeble” (Hopkins 5). “The position of women in the Medieval Society was greatly influenced by the views of the Roman Catholic Church” (Heeve).

Roles Played By Women In Classical Civilizations Women weren’t always seen as equal to men, throughout history women have been mistreated and thought to be less than men. In the classical times,the Rome Empire and the Han dynasty had many similarities and a couple differences in the way they treated their women. During the Classic period from 300 BCE-600 CE, women in Rome and the Han Dynasty were treated and seen as less than men, in China were to submit to their husbands while in Rome women were to be married as soon as they hit puberty and had many disadvantages in divorce,in both civilizations the main role of women was to of taking care of children and the home. In ancient Rome women weren’t given much rights and treated like second class citizens.

The Elizabethan Era was a time where men were in charge and women and children were expected to obey. Nowadays, men and women have equal roles in society and one gender is not better or smarter than the other. During the Elizabethan Era, men, women, and children all had specific and defining roles.

Some of these are the roles of the military leaders and that women were not allowed to be involved in any sort of combat in Medieval Europe. Conversely, in Tokugawa Japan women were able to train to become a Samurai and would still be a regular wife. Also, in Medieval Europe women were much lower in society, but in Tokugawa Japan, women were almost equal to men at the time. This is one of the many differences between Tokugawa Japan’s social system and Medieval Europe's social system. Medieval Europe also had a slightly different warrior system.

Most women during the early middle ages were not treated properly. They were treated as housekeepers ready to serve every single one of their husband’s needs. According to society women who were not submissive to their husband where all evil. These ideas influenced many of the stories written during the early middle ages; stories such as, Beowulf, Marie de France’s Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Bath. In all of these stories women were given a negative image because of the standards set for women by society.

From the 16th to 18th century European women experienced some level of change in their roles and attitudes towards them. Ideas women were still considered inferior to men still lingered and progress of equal rights still progressed slowly. Around the time the Enlightenment rolled around women were beginning to get involved in the workforce and taking on a new, much bigger role in society. Some aspects of European women’s lives changed, starting in the Reformation, which saw their roles expand from being a husband’s concubine. Before the Reformation, many humanists and Professor Alberti stressed that a wife’s traditional role should be restricted to the orderliness of the household, food preparation, serving of meals, the education of children, and the supervision of servants.

Introduction Women in the Middle ages were treated as the second class members within their social class. They were taught to be obedient to their husbands and were expected to run the household and raise children. Their role in the society, however, was much more complex, while some medieval women achieved a high level of equality with men. In the Middle Ages women had a secondary role, coming second after men.

The poem Beowulf centers on a male-dominated society with the major themes of violence and power. A majority of the main characters in the poem are men who play a key role in the advancement of its themes. The gender roles of men and women in the poem have been defined with men being allocated the roles of leaders and knights making them heroes while women are seen as peacemakers and trophies for their husbands. However, Grendel’s mother is an exception to other women in the poem. She defies the allocated roles given to women by refusing to conform to societal expectations. Grendel’s mother plays two crucial roles as she conforms to the allocated roles of being a mother and avenging her child while makes her defy some of the allocated roles

Role of Women in Ancient Empires Throughout the modern world, we mention the concept of equality between men and women and try to equalize their positions in society. It is illogical for women to ask and try to prove that they are equal with men because equality is something that are already given to humanity, but contradicting the role of women by men is what created the gap between them. By looking at history, we can say that accomplishing that goal of making their position equal is not easy.