By: Lana and Samantha
Samantha's thoughts
This week’s reading covers the role of women in medieval society and the expectations that came with being a woman.
The views
of women were heavily influenced by Christianity through tradition and, of
course, the Bible which offers many female counterparts. Eve, Mary and Mary
Magdalene are three of the more famous female figures of the Bible and are
covered in the readings.
Eve is the first woman, she is the ‘mother of all living’ (Genesis 3:20) and is made from man. Even such an important figure, the FIRST WOMAN to exist, is still of lesser value than her male counterpart as she is made from him. From Genesis we can also see that Eve (woman) is weak as she was so easily influenced to eat the forbidden fruit. Her ‘betrayal’ led to not only her own demise but that of Adam (man). In short, it is her woman’s fault that man and woman were expelled from Eden.
Mary is probably the most famous female figure in Christianity. She is not only the mother of Jesus but also a virgin. She was the ultimate role model imposed on woman, a pure being who gave birth to the son of God.
Mary Magdalene became one of Jesus’ disciples after reforming from the sinful ways of her past. Jesus forgave her sins and soon she grew to love him. She formed a close relationship to the Lord, becoming one of the most important disciples of Jesus.
From the readings and your understanding of women depicted in Christian writing and traditions, consider these questions:
Eve is the first woman, she is the ‘mother of all living’ (Genesis 3:20) and is made from man. Even such an important figure, the FIRST WOMAN to exist, is still of lesser value than her male counterpart as she is made from him. From Genesis we can also see that Eve (woman) is weak as she was so easily influenced to eat the forbidden fruit. Her ‘betrayal’ led to not only her own demise but that of Adam (man). In short, it is her woman’s fault that man and woman were expelled from Eden.
Mary is probably the most famous female figure in Christianity. She is not only the mother of Jesus but also a virgin. She was the ultimate role model imposed on woman, a pure being who gave birth to the son of God.
Mary Magdalene became one of Jesus’ disciples after reforming from the sinful ways of her past. Jesus forgave her sins and soon she grew to love him. She formed a close relationship to the Lord, becoming one of the most important disciples of Jesus.
From the readings and your understanding of women depicted in Christian writing and traditions, consider these questions:
· Were attitudes of women in medieval
society a reflection of those held in Christian writings and tradition?
· Did medieval society understand
women to be intrinsically weak because of the weakness of the first woman?
· Was Mary Magdalene a realistic
role model for women of the Middle Ages?
At all socio-economic levels it
seems married women were not at all equals to their male counterparts. Those on
the lower end had a job to maintain a household and obey their husbands. Women
of the upper crust would have been used to preserve and create alliances through
their marriages. One constant requirement of all married women across all social
and economic levels was to have children and, in turn, protect the family blood
line.
· It seems women at all
socio-economic levels had very few options for life, did this change during the
Middle Ages?
· Was it better to be a virgin or
to be married during this period?
Please feel free to answer the
questions in your comments and discuss ANYTHING
you thought was interesting from the readings. Also ask LOTS of questions so we’ve got something to talk about next week.
Thanks!
 |
| Medieval lovers hunting |
Lana's thoughts
Since its conception, society has taken to
a literal interpretation of ‘Genesis’, in which God created man in his image; the flora and fauna
were given to man by God, so that he
may have dominion over them, and God created woman for man, to be his helper; to be subordinate to him. Even centuries
before Genesis, society has held to the belief of the inherent evil nature of
women, who are to be the downfall of mankind. Based on the readings for this
week, determine whether society’s outlook on women changed during the Middle
Ages.
1. Discuss the various roles of the
institution of marriage as held by both the Church and secular society. How did
the Church’s policy on exogamy affect marital bonds? Consider the Fourth
Lateran Council of 1215.
2. Discuss gender based relationships and
female roles within the public and private spheres. What role did a woman play
in a marriage between two families? What duties were expected of her? How did
this vary among socio-economic groups?
3. Women were to be married ‘before an age
of perversion’, what does this tell us about society’s view of women? How did
this affect fertility and mortality rates?
4. Physical pleasure derived from sex is a
constant theme. Discuss the objections by the Church. Why was it considered
immoral?
5. Throughout the Middle Ages, women were
given more autonomy than in succeeding centuries, exemplified in the formation
of female religious institutions, with traditional male roles being assigned to
women. What does this say about the evolution of society, if anything? Consider
Scholastica and Clare.
If you have any questions guys, please let
us know. Happy reading!
 |
| Christine de Pisan |
Hi all, hope you had a great holiday & good luck to Sam & Lana for this week! :)
ReplyDeleteI found this week's readings hard to read, simply because my inner feminist was outraged at most of what I read & also saddened by medieval society's view of women.
It is quite clear that society considered the role of the woman in relation to what had been previously stated by the Bible. After Eve’s shenanigans, the medieval women really had no hope in improving their status in society. As we’ve learned previous, the people of this time were heavily dependent upon the church and thus believed intensely that what was preached by the secular and in the Bible and other Christian written works was correct. Thus, as we read, if God himself decreed that woman were morally and physically weaker than men; ‘a helper fit for man’, then of course you can confidently suggest that that was the common thinking of the time.
The life of a virgin was the ideal for a woman, and being wedded was the next best thing. There was also a constant theme of sexual relations and that there had to be no partaking in pleasure whilst conduction them. Sexual intercourse was purely to populate. I found it sad and alarming when reading the statistics in the second reading of the life expectancies of women and their children, and the ways in which they died. One out of three Florentine women ( and I’d hazard a guess that this would be similar for all medieval women) died whilst giving birth to a child or immediately after. Sadly, one out of every two of these children did not get to live to see adulthood.
I understand that contraception was out of the question in this time; it was morally frowned upon, but it would’ve saved a lot of people’s lives.
If we are to look on the bright side though these women who lived through the Middle Ages suffered fewer restrictions and enjoyed greater opportunities than women who lived in later times- you can only imagine how crappy those women had it.
Wow, great work Lana and Samantha. Especially being first group to do this, I am really impressed. Gonna have to pick up my own game it looks like!
ReplyDeleteHave absolutely no idea what the first reading was on about. I am sure the sequence was in fact quite logical but to me it just appeared a nonsensical, randomly chosen set of passages that were thinly related. I was really very confused by this first reading – although admittedly this is not difficult to do! Don’t really have any specific comments to mention. As soon as I would begin following a thread the passage would end and a new, completely different one would begin.
The second reading was much clearer and more enjoyable. The concept of women being treated like bargaining chips as well as the idea that they were essentially at the command of the males in their life (firstly to their brother and father and then their husband) were very amusing. I couldn’t help but imagining my own girlfriend’s reaction if I treated her in a similar way. If only I had been born a few centuries earlier hey?! All jokes aside though, I really did find the representation of women as a tool to bring about peace between two rivals in the middle Ages fascinating. Of course, I had always known that Kings often entered into such transactions in order to protect the ideals of the kingdom (Such as Henry VIII’s brother marrying Katherine of Aragon) but it had never occurred to me that such practices would be so widespread. The vast fortunes that would also accompany such marital transactions were also very interesting – initially to the family of the bride as compensation for the loss of their daughter before eventually the dowry owed by the bride’s family became greater than that given to them. It is almost as if the bride’s family was paying for the burden imposed on the husband by the daughter!
Ultimately, the role of women during the middle ages was to serve men and to procreate as much as they could. Essentially, women were wed as soon as they were fit to carry a baby (often even before this time) to men who were on average almost ten years older than they were. The next 20 years of their life was then spent being pregnant as regularly as they could manage. The absolute obsession with lineage displayed within common families during this era certainly fascinates me. While reproducing like crazy, women were also burdened with expectations of running everyday family life as well as ensuring the peaceful co-existence of her extended family, her husband’s extended family and their own family. Fundamentally, what this all boils down to, is that women had an extremely difficult, dictated and stressful (both physically and mentally) life during both childhood and married life – a fact that was very rarely acknowledged or appreciated by their male counterparts.
I think both Lana and Samantha did a fantastic job writing their thoughts on the readings, they seem very professionally written!
ReplyDeleteAs a male I also found it hard sifting through this weeks readings, after reading a few of the other comments this far I think some may be taking the readings in a slightly incorrect manner. I agree completely that the attitude towards women in medieval times was quite consistent with the message portrayed in the bible, Eve succumbing to the temptation of eating the apple from the forbidden tree certainly does imply a tendency to act in an emotional and impulsive manner and as one person above suggested, certainly does tend to blame the female for both the plight of herself and the male. Where my opinion differs however, is on the notion of females improving their standard of living or status in society. I can see why from a modern point of view, we would look at the issue this way but in medieval times I would be willing to wager quite heavily that this line of thinking would not have been adopted by many females because they were taught from a very young age the type of life they would live, they weren't really given an option as the role models would have been extremely limited. Men on the other hand lived with such manly figures as knights, soldiers, kings - men of great power and importance. Whilst not related to the reading, Ann Berlyn who eventually became King Henrys queen, was an exception to this, as she certainly embarked on the slippery slope that is politics/romance in order to further her position in society.
In terms of the role of women though, there was certainly an expectation that women were to marry as soon as they were old enough to bargain with really, which tended to be around the age (if not before) that one could bear children. In the medieval times women were essentially expected to bear as many children as one could, because the more hands working the fields, the more cultivation took place (which ironically is still seen to be the case in many lesser economically developed countries today) Such was the power of sexuality in the Middle ages that women were often bargaining chips used by those in positions of high power too settle quarrels or disputes between leaders. The manner of which a family would essentially rent or loan out their daughter is quite sensational compared to modern times, where the husbands family would essentially pay compensation to the brides family only to then receive a dowry sound time later which would end up being a far greater amount than first given.
Well done Samantha and Lana.
ReplyDeleteI found the readings fascinating but exhausting. Women certainly had their role in medieval times for mainly procreation. It's no surprise that women has a short life span if they were bearing children from early adolescence.
Mary Magdalene could well have been a strong role model for women in the Middle Ages, for even though she was into "sensuous pleasures" and known as a "sinner" Jesus forgave her and she became his closest disciple. So it doesn't matter how "low" one goes one can still be redeemed.
I did enjoy Abelard's comments on how impossible it is not to enjoy the physical pleasures of sex and food and how could such natural delights be called a sin!!
Janice Keirnan
This topic about women, the church and Christianity raised some interesting issues in my mind. The major issue I had with the institution of the church at the time, (not the religion itself), was how far removed they were in their theology from the practices of Jesus Christ. I get a sense that during this medieval period, anything to do with lust was a sinful act which condemned the perpetrator to hell in the eyes of the church. This seems strange to me considering that Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, was Jesus' most notable female follower. Contrast this with his mother Mary, and you see the two most significant women in Jesus' life were virtually opposites in how they lived their lives. From that, I am led to believe that it is insignificant who or what you have done in Jesus's eyes, as long as you are willing to follow Him. This unfortunately was not how the church saw things and as a result they seemed to be more obsessed with sin than grace.
ReplyDelete-J. Lawry
Similarly to what others have said, I agree that there is a striking similarity between how the bible portrays women and how they were treated by men in medieval times, however I don't think we can really say how much religion effected how people thought about women. For one thing, we know that women haven't really been treated like equals for at least back until the Roman rule, with the men cheating on their wives with other men and whatnot... I think maybe at different points women are treated a bit better at times but there definitely is nothing anywhere near the type of equality we see in our society today, and I think this may be why this connection between the bible and how people treated women in the medieval times is so significant to us. We don't really see the bible as an outdated text, but in this manner, to some degree at least, it kind of is.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I found quite interesting, and a bit suspicious doesn't really have too much to do with the role of women, but Mary Magdalene from the first text. Something about her persuasion of the Governor and wife of the province in Marseilles in their dreams seems ridiculously fishy. The whole idea that the lord must have caused her to appear to the two in their dreams seems stupid when it could have just been the lord. Taking Magdalene's history into the equation and using a little common sense, I think Magdalene was 'persuading' them with something more solid than dreams.
Hi all, hope you had a great break and a lovely Easter. Good luck to the presenters for this week.
ReplyDeleteI found this weeks reading quiet interesting, but they seemed to drag on a bit.
However, it was still very interesting to learn about Medieval society's views of women, and how they very muched derived from ideals and interpretations presented in the bible.
Clearly, as we have seen throughout the unit, Christianity was definitely a major stabiliser and law provider at this time in history, and hence, it wasn't very surprising to see how the bible was taken literally and how purity became a somewhat sought after and praised characteristic within women.
As mentioned in the previous posts, you can clearly see that how, as the bible was a major guidance for the people of this time, women were seen as second best to men. Again, not really surprising when you understand the superiority of Christian ideals and teachings at this time.
What I always find fascinating is the focus Genesis has on Eve's betrayal of God, and how her decision of eating from the tree of life sentenced Adam to be exiled from the graden of Eden. Its amazing how she is seen as the instigator, and how she led Adam to betraying God!
Hey everybody!,
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Sarah and Lana for being the first cabs of the rank! You've done a really good job!
I think it's a little bit of chicken and egg when talking about how women were treated in realtion to the bible. Was it because of what was written in the bible that women were treated as they were or was it because that is how women have been treated and that influenced the bible? Which then in turn influened futher Medieval society! It is all a huge circle.
I also find it interesting that virginity was held in higher regard than marriage, if we think in natural terms preservring the race by procreating seems the most logical thing to do, however that is obviously not compatible with being a virgin!
Wow! Completely forgot about this in the sloth that is easter break.
ReplyDeleteI think like many fellow tute mates, the first part of this reading was cumbersome, and in some places hard to read! Some of the writing itself was faded. Mind you, this was somewhat helpful as it meant my guilt was assuaged when I couldn't decipher sections, perhaps mine is a bad copy? No matter.
The second part was long, I don't know what it is about this subject, but I alway get 3x the amount of reading than for others. To address some of the questions above Mary Magdelene is not at all the average Josephine-Schmosephine of the middle ages. I'm sure a 'face so filled with radiance it could scare be looked upon' would be difficult to find amidst the dirt and squalor of living in the middle ages. Similarly, she lived in a cave for 30yrs with no food or water and was still a bit of a MILF, I'd like to see anyone do that!
Secondly, by the way my male friends/family members blame females for everything, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Adam ate that bloody apple in the first place. A woman is much less likely to be taken in by a serpent, unless that serpent is on late night TV selling the best bra since sliced bread.
I can't reiterate enough that the examples given in the bible are not only a way to perhaps further restrict women, but also are scary stories designed to frighten people into believing that if they don't keep it in the pants, or heaven forbid Have a little fun, that life will all turn very dante-esque. Even Joan of Arc was burned... and she was pretty good, I mean she saw saints, what hope do I have!? But I'm probably getting ahead of myself.
Congrats to Lana on the questions, I had to google-translate most of them they sound so bookish.
Goodluck for the presentation.
PS: Good ole Abelard - he's got it where it counts.
Mary Magdalene was a wealthy woman, she was "wellborn", "descended of royal stock". She owned "Magdalum" (along with her brother and sister)... "a walled town" two miles from Generzareth... after Christ's ascension Magdalene, along with her brother and sister "sold all their possessions and laid the proceeds at feet of the apostles"... She was wealthy and mingled with the wealthy... she didn't need to prostitute herself... what's the real story though?
ReplyDeleteThere was something I read sometime ago about the translation of "Mary".. I can't for the life of me find it. but it was something about it being a "title".. there are so many Mary such and such. Is it "Latin" for Miss or Mrs?
I asked my mother why the heck she called her first daughter Mary and her second Magdalene ... Thank God she didn't call our baby brother Jesus... !!!
(sorry for the late post !!)
Well the Churches view of woman isn't one that really depicts them as a strong people, probably due to the Garden of Eden story where Eve had given into the temptation. Whilst in terms of sexuality being a virgin was perceived as being a more pure of a person and that a woman should remain a virgin unless married. And leading onto marriage one of the most sacred things in Christianity with it being seen as a blessing from God. Although it is interesting that virginity was more important than marriage, and that virgins are a part of God.
ReplyDelete