Readings:
Gies and Gies, Life, Chap. 4 (pp. 75-94)
Labarge, A Small Sound of the Trumpet, Chap. 4 (“Women Who Ruled: Noble Ladies”), pp. 72-97.
Bartholomaeus Anglicus, On the Properties of Things (man and wife)
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/trevisas-bartholomew-man-and-wife/
Some women’s seals:
Matilda (1102-67), daughter of Henry I of England; m. (1) Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1125); and (2) Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou
Isabelle de Rochefort (French, 1272)
Isabelle de Rosny, wife of Pierre de Chambli (French, 1294)
Ingeborg Håkansdotter, Duchess of Sweden (1321)
Young lovers (Manesse Codex, Zurich, c. 1300)
Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, his wife and daughter-in-law (c. 1330s)
Details from paintings by Hans Memling (Netherlandish, fl. c. 1463-94)
Two young girls, from Presentation in the Temple (1463)
Caterina de Francesco Tanagli (Muzeum Narodowe, Gdansk, c. 1469)
Nativity (c. 1470)
Maria Baroncelli Portinari (aged 14), wedding portrait (Bruges?, 1470)
St. Barbara (St. John Altarpiece, Bruges, 1474-9)
Portrait of an Old Woman (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, c. 1475-80)
Barbara van Vlaendenbergh (Brussels, Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, c. 1480)
Virgin with St John and mourning women (São Paolo, c. 1485-90)
Bathsheba (1482, Staatsgaleries, Stuttgart)
Virgin and Child (Florence, Uffizzi, 1485)
Eve (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1490)
“Young Woman with a Pink” (part of Allegory of True Love), attributed to Memling (NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Woman writing, from Ovid’s Epistulae heroidum (late 15th C.); Hypsipyle, wife of Jason, writing, from the same
Discussion questions:
1. From Gies and Gies, “The Lady,” in Life in a Medieval Castle:
a) What were considered five features of beauty in medieval women?
b) Why did wealthy families generally marry off their daughters at a young age, but not poor families?
c) What were three powers that medieval husbands had over their wives?
d) Why was adultery by a wife subject to much worse penalties than adultery by a husband?
e) Why was true love believed to exist only outside marriage?
2. From LaBarge, “Noble Ladies,” in A Small Sound of the Trumpet:
a) What was the most important duty of aristocratic wives?
b) Why did few aristocratic ladies breastfeed their own babies?
c) Why might some aristocratic widows (such as Elizabeth de Burgh and Marie de Saint Pol) choose not to remarry?
d) On p. 91, look at the seal of Clare College, Cambridge (founded by Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare). Explain the significance
of the various elements in the seal’s design.
e) What evidence is there of a close personal friendship between Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare, and Marie de Saint Pol, Countess of Pembroke?
3. From “Man and wife” in Bartholomaeus Anglicus, On the Properties of Things:
a) Name three obligations that a man owes to his wife.
b) Name five things that a man does to woo a wife.
c) Name five things that a man does at the time of a wedding.
d) Name three ways in which a husband lives in equality with his wife, and three ways in which he controls and/or trains his wife.
e) Name ten virtues of a good wife.
Readings:
Gies and Gies, Women in the Middle Ages, Chap. 7 (pp. 120-142): “A Great Lady: Eleanor de Montfort”
Christine de Pisan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, Part II, Chaps. 9-10, pp. 128-133: “Of baronesses,”
and “How ladies and young women who live on their manors ought to manage their households and estates”
Odiham Castle (Hampshire):
aerial view
remains of octagonal tower; an early engraving
reconstruction as when first built in 1214
Kenilworth Castle (Warwickshire):
plan
aerial photo
keep (12th cent., with some late 16C windows inserted)
with lake refilled
Dover Castle (Kent):
aerial view; another aerial view
view from the sea
keep: plan and cutaway reconstruction
spiral staircase
great hall
room reconstructed as royal bedchamber; another reconstructed bedchamber
Christine de Pizan writing
Discussion questions:
According to Christine de Pisan, a lady needs to be knowledgeable about:
1) The law
2) Estate administration, including finances and accounts
3) Farming and animal husbandry
4) Household administration and household tasks
5) Military matters, including the use of weapons and the command of troops
Give examples of how a lady might profit from such knowledge and be harmed if she lacks it.
Paper topic:
You are the lady of a castle. Is your life easier, or more difficult, than that of the lord of a castle? Discuss.