What Status Did Women Have in Early Medieval England

The status of women in the medieval period was mostly that of subjugation, very few options were open to women, and those that were are often resulted in a harsh treatment, of backbreaking labor. However even with such ill treatment, women were the integral part to societal growth and stability thus a women’s role was often narrowed and marginalized. To areas thought befitting woman, Such as child rearing, manual labor, the convent, or as a wife. This system of casting not only served to maintain the male status quo but also served to further the archetypal roles for women in medieval English society. Women were valued in the middle Ages, but only as an economic commodity. They served two main functions within medieval society:†¦show more content†¦The safety of a wife, therefore, often depended upon her ability to please her husband. Widowhood was the saving grace of most unhappy marriages in the middle Ages. Widowhood gave women their husbands lands and authority. Even though women were the child bearers and primary care givers, only when widowed did women have a role in the inheritance. Women could then inherit and bequeath land but could not sit in Parliament. The rights of widows are even discussed in the Magna Carta. It declares that widows did not need to marry again if they did not want to. It is fair to say that women gained not only wealth but freedom as a result of their husbands deaths. Where the husbands and employers power over women was practical, the clergys was spiritual. These two worlds were in constant conflict. Women flocked to the Church. They turned to religion for consolation and solace. More women attended mass, more confessed, they were the true keepers of the faith. Women provided the Church with a source of cohesion; their fierce and desperate faith would lay the groundwork for the growing dominance of the church in medieval society. The Church, however, was two-faced when dealing with women. Women were the mainstay of each parish, yet the clergy constantly reinforced the concept of women as inferior creatures. Because women were weaker in the Churchs eyes, it was easier for them to succumb to their sinful desires. Women were natural traitors, deceitful andShow MoreRelatedThe Four Branches Of The Mabinogi Analysis1452 Words   |  6 PagesWelsh tales survive complete, in merely two manuscripts The Red Book of Hergest and The White Book of Rhydderch. Linguists argue as to what the correct dating for these eleven tales are, however, it is widely agreed that the dates of said tales, would have occurred no earlier than the late eleventh century and most definitely earlier than the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. 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