Women in the Middle Ages

Illuminating the World of Peasants, Nuns, and Queens

Gemma Hollman

$110

Hardback

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English

Abbeville
01 February 2025

History; Medieval history

A magnificently illustrated oversize book that uses art to illuminate the lives of medieval women, from peasants to queens.

Medieval women ruled over kingdoms, abbeys, and households; produced stunning works of art and craft; and did the hard work that kept ordinary families fed and clothed. In medieval written accounts, however, women's contributions were often diminished or completely ignored. Yet art tells a different story: women appear everywhere, from manuscript miniatures to statues in cathedrals. In this book, historian Gemma Hollman uncovers the captivating story of medieval European women through the art of their time.

Hollman traces the lives of women across society, with chapters dedicated to nuns like Hildegarde of Bingen, abbess, mystic, and polymath; courtiers like Christine de Pizan, author of pioneering works on women's role in society; warriors like Joan of Arc; and the everyday women whose names are lost to history. She illustrates her text with some 150 varied works of medieval art, revealing what they tell us about the real lives of medieval women, and about medieval attitudes toward women-which were exemplified at once by Eve, the symbol of moral fallibility, and by the Virgin Mary, the paragon of virtue.

With its eye-opening new perspective on the lives of medieval women and how they were portrayed, this book will be a treasure for anyone interested in the Middle Ages or women's history.

AUTHOR: Gemma Hollman is a historian and author of The Queen and the Mistress: The Women of Edward III and Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth Century England. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she works full-time in the heritage industry while running her historical blog, Just History Posts.

SELLING POINTS:

The biggest and best-illustrated book about the lives of medieval women .

Illuminates the lives of women at all levels of society, from nameless peasants to world-historical figures like Joan of Arc and Eleanor of Aquitaine .

Draws not only on written sources (which are often fragmentary and biased) but also on medieval art, which is full of surprising clues about women's lives .

Abundantly illustrated with medieval artworks in every medium, from colorful miniatures to imposing statues .

Gemma Hollman is an experienced author of popular history whose previous books include the well-received Royal Witches.

By: Gemma Hollman
Imprint: Abbeville
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 304mm, Width: 228mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 1.426kg
ISBN: 9780789214966
ISBN 10: 0789214962
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 01 February 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

The World of Medieval Women I. Peasants and Professionals II. Religious Women III. Noblewomen and Royals IV. Writers and Artists Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Recommended Reading Index

Gemma Hollman is a historian and author of The Queen and the Mistress: The Women of Edward III and Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth Century England. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she works full-time in the heritage industry while running her historical blog, Just History Posts.

Reviews for Women in the Middle Ages: Illuminating the World of Peasants, Nuns, and Queens

A welcome and refreshing exploration of the lives of medieval women achieved through exceptional prose and the use of stunningly appropriate images. Hollman's presentation of these once forgotten lives is, indeed, an illuminating one.--Library Journal