How would you describe the life of women and children in late Medieval society?

Question

How would you describe the life of women and children in late Medieval society?

Answer 1

Brutish and dirty. Short a lot of the time too. Women were property and had no rights.

Answer 2

It would vary a lot depending on their class.

The majority of people in medieval times were peasant farmers who farmed smallholdings that they rented from the lord of the manor.  The farmer's wife would normally be in charge of the poultry and the dairy.  Women would raise the poultry, milk the cows, make their own butter and cheese, and sell the surplus products at market.  They would be responsible for preserving food for the winter (very little fresh food was available in winter time), and would also work in the fiels when they were needed.  Spinning was another important job done by medieval women, spinning wool and flax into thread was a major female occupation, somuch so that the 7th January was known as St Distaff's Day, because it was the day when women resumed their task of spinning after the long Christmas holiday (Christmas lasted for 13 days in medieval times). Brewing the ale was another important job, as ale was drunk by most people instead of water, which was not pure enough to drink.  Every village had two or three ale wives who would sell their ale.

children would be expected to help their parents as soon as they were old enough.  Peasant children could receive an education at monastery schools, about one peasant boy in ten became a clergyman, which required the ability to read Latin.

Women who were the wives of tradesmen and merchants would, in addition to their domestic responsibilities, also very often be involved in the family business, whatever it might be.  Widows would often run businesses after their husband's deaths. Some married women were inbusiness on their own account, they were known as 'femme saules' and were responsible for managing their own money and debts etc.

The children of tradsemens and merchants families would also be expected to help in the family business when they were old enough, they might also attend school.  There were elementary schools that educated both boys and girls, and boys might go on to a grammar school, where they would mostly learn Latin, and perhaps some mathematics and music.

Girls of the upper classes were often sent away to be raised in the households of other noble families, as were the boys.  They would learn reading and writing, singing and dancing, playing musical instruments, playing chess and draughts, riding and hawking.  They would learn the business of managing a household.

The larger the household, the more complex was a woman's task of running it, and an upper-class woman might be responsible for running a large household, and supervising all the servants in their various tasks, as well as performing domestic tasks herself.  The preservation of food against the winter was a major preoccupation of women of all classes, and for the mistress of a large household it was particularly important, as she had many more people to provide for.  In the absence of her husband, a medieval lady would also be expected to look after the estate, and have a good knowledge of estate business.

Since most people lived in the country, and there were few doctors available, women were generally expected to be the family doctors.  They would be expected to have a good knowledge of medicine and first aid, and to make their own home remedies for illnesses.  Household manuals even contain instructions for setting broken bones.

A small proportion of upper-class women in medieval times became nuns.  They could receive a very good education in nunneries, and some medieval nuns became notable scholars, like Hildegarde of Bingen, Catherine of Sienna, and Julian of Norwich for instance.