Please list 3 ways women in the Middle Ages could attain financial independence.?

Question

Please list 3 ways women in the Middle Ages could attain financial independence.?

Answer 1

In the mediaeval era the quickest way would prbably have been to marry a lord.

Answer 2

Business; being the only heir to a fortune (generally causing resentment in more distant male heirs).

Two's about the limit. Opportunities were limited.

Answer 3

prostitute

marry a rich man

be born into a rich family.

Answer 4

It depends on what country and what part of the Middle Ages (which covers 1,000 years of history).

Off the top of my head, a woman could attain financial independence is if her husband died, and any property she brought to the marriage would revert back to her, presuming she didn't have any grown sons. Under some circumstances, she might even inherit her husband's property.

Second, a powerful unmarried woman...an abbess, perhaps...would have some measure of control, though in theory she would have taken vows of poverty.

And obviously, a Queen regnant (a ruling Queen, not the consort of the King) would have control of her own fortune.

Edit: Baron, the Middle Ages is defined by historians from the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the fifteen century. Basic math might tell you that's one thousand years. Open a book.

Additionally, the poster asked about "financial INDEPENDENCE." Women married into wealthy families relied entirely on their husbands and families. No independence.

Answer 5

Prostitution. That's all I can think of. Otherwise, she'd have to depend on a male (father, husband, or grown son) to take care of her.