20 Eerie Details About Medieval Women That History Books Completely Left Out

Women through the ages have removed hair from various parts of their bodies: they were even at it 5,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt! There they used sharpened seashells or sugary waxes to remove unwanted hair. Medieval women were no different when it came to shaving, although they did have their own specific fashions.

Aristocratic women in France and the Lowlands had their own particular shaving habits which look more than a little peculiar to our eyes. They sought to have a hairline as high above the eyebrows as possible. So they plucked hairs at the front of their heads. England’s Elizabeth I was another who indulged in this habit, although she shaved rather than plucked.

Only women higher up the social scale would have much chance of getting any meaningful academic education. The one possible exception to this would be those who committed their lives to a nunnery. But few clergymen saw any point to teaching nuns to read and write. All too often they were left illiterate and had to learn their prayers and catechisms by rote.

That’s not to say that medieval women got no education at all, even if they were from the peasant class. Even if book-learning was unavailable, the poorest women still had to learn a range of practical skills, often passed on from their mothers. These crafts would include sewing, cooking, and spinning. Then there were the whole range of farming skills a peasant woman needed.

It’s a strange thought, but it seems that pockets had not been invented in medieval times. This created a problem — where did you pop your odds and ends when you were walking around the home or venturing out for a stroll? Women in the Middle Ages had the answer: purses.

Usually made of fabric, the purses used in the Middle Ages were also known as alms purses or aumonieres. In some cases — particularly in 14th-century Paris — these purses were decorated with elaborate embroidery. Women’s purses generally had a double drawstring arrangement, sometimes with tassels at the end of the cords.

On her highly informative Medieval Woman website Rosalie Gilbert writes, “The general standard of medieval cleanliness was considerably higher than Hollywood movies would have us believe.” And she goes on to say that poor peasants were just as concerned as noblewomen with cleanliness, although they would not have had bathtubs.

Tubs were the reserve of the rich, since they were labor-intensive with water having to be heated separately. Instead, the peasant classes had to keep clean using buckets and brushes. Of course those who worked the land would be more likely to need regular scrubbing than the rich. But even for the wealthy a full bath was likely to be reserved for high days and holidays.

The Getty website points out that medieval women believed that meat was good for the circulation. And by extension, meat dishes were believed to improve your chances of becoming pregnant. In general, people believed that a good diet was one that kept what were known as the four humors — blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile — well balanced.

In fact women’s — and men’s — diets during the Middle Ages varied greatly according to their wealth and social status. Aristocratic women could enjoy such delicacies as roast peacock and the flesh of a variety of animals including porpoises, whales, and even seals. Then there were luxuries unimaginable to the poor, such as spun-sugar sculptures of everything from ships to castles.

The Medieval Woman website tells us that in much of medieval Europe the law allowed marriage at 12 for girls and 14 for boys. For the aristocracy betrothal could come as early as seven which was regarded as the age of reason. Such betrothals were driven by the desire to form advantageous family alliances rather than any idea of romance or sentiment.

Although betrothal could come in childhood, it was not actually a legally binding contract until the couple came of age. It was far from uncommon for a noble woman and her husband-to-be to meet for the first time only on the eve of the actual wedding. Peasants, on the other hand, would sometimes live together without marriage, even having children. The kids could be legitimized when a couple got round to marrying.

Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, ravaged much of Europe between the years of 1347 and 1352. The pandemic took the lives of as many as 30 million out of a continental population of almost 80 million, a grim death toll indeed. But, counterintuitively, the aftermath of this hideous disease actually offered an advantage to women. 

Many members of what had been the exclusively male club of merchants and entrepreneurs were dead. As a result, the World History website noted that women were allowed to take over their husbands’ enterprises as owners and managers, giving them unaccustomed economic power. Yet this was not to last, and by the late Middle Ages the previous status quo of male economic dominance was largely restored. 

For most women, political power was an impossibility during the Middle Ages — but not for all. A prime example is Joan of Arc, the young French woman who led a powerful political movement in France in the 15th century. All the more extraordinary was the fact that Joan came from peasant stock. She led an army in battle and defeated the English.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was born in the 12th century, dying in 1204. Her extraordinary political power arose from her royal marriages firstly to Louis VII, King of France and secondly to the English monarch Henry II. Eleanor retained control of her own independent wealth and was an influential patron of the arts. She even took part in the Second Crusade.

Many of the most lucrative trades and crafts during the medieval era were organized into guilds. These were associations that controlled trade, and in order to practice various mercantile pursuits, membership of the requisite guild was essential. For a time, women could be members of such guilds, but later in the Middle Ages they began to lose this privilege.

As per World History, the fact was that even as guild members women were paid less than men for their work. Men felt that their earning power and employment opportunities were being undermined by women who would work for less. In the later part of the Middle Ages this led to many guilds introducing rules which excluded women altogether. 

Upper-class women were often thrust into arranged marriages. The point of marriage for the wealthy during the Middle Ages was often the desire to seek alliances with families that would increase or at least sustain wealth and social prestige. Often marriages were arranged with a betrothal agreed while the future bride and groom were still young children.

Still, it was possible for a woman to get out of a betrothal — although only at a price. For many women the cost of avoiding an arranged marriage was just too high, leaving them with no choice but to go through with a wedding, willingly or not. Some women did escape arranged marriage. Gilbert quotes the case of one Quenild FitzRodger who paid “60 marks and 2 palfreys that she may be able to marry whomever she pleases.”

Aristocratic women did not engage in work as such, but those from the peasant classes most certainly did. Unsurprisingly, the most common employment for women not of the noble classes was agricultural work. That might mean tending to crops or looking after livestock. But women of the peasant class were involved in other pursuits as well.

According to the website of the British Library, some women brewed ale, while others span and wove textiles and there were also those who produced baked goods. In the towns there were women who succeeded as merchants and in some periods there were those who worked in crafts. World History noted how a woman might also end up in charge of a business inherited after the death of her husband. 

The restrictions on women during the Middle Ages were many and oppressive whether they were from the elites of society or its lower depths. But perhaps surprisingly, they did have freedom of movement, at least in western Europe. The Getty website observed that aristocratic women would often be accompanied by a maid when they traveled, but that was hardly a denial of liberty.

When making a lengthy journey, it’s true that women would often be accompanied by a man. But that was for security at a time when lawlessness on the road was all too common and danger from highwaymen and ambushing robbers was very real. In general, women had the freedom to travel without hindrance.

Creating literature and art were undoubtedly regarded as male preserves during the Middle Ages. But there are notable examples of women who made rich contributions to the culture of the day. One example cited by the Getty website was Christine de Pizan, a Frenchwoman born in the Italian city of Venice in 1364. She was an accomplished poet, wrote on the rights of women and authored a biography of the French king Charles V.

When it comes to female artists there was another Frenchwoman, a resident of Paris, Jeanne de Montbaston. The Britannica website tells how she and her husband Richard ran a business copying and illustrating manuscripts. After her husband’s death, de Montbaston continued as an illustrator. Some of her illustrations were surprisingly lewd — giving the lie to the idea that all medieval women were demure innocents. 

The most common form of outerwear for medieval woman was what was called a mantle, a type of cloak or cape. This garment, usually without a hood or sleeves, was made from a variety of textiles including fur or felted wool. Whatever the material used, the mantle was basically a circular piece of fabric that was worn long and loose. It was secured by a cord that was clasped at the neck.

Women’s clothing could be a bit of nightmare thanks to the sumptuary laws that applied in many western-European countries. One English law of 1337 stated that only woolen fabric made in England could be worn and regulated the types of fur that were allowed. Another diktat in 1363 forbade servants from wearing clothes adorned with embroidery, silk, silver or gold.

Pregnancy and childbirth were dangerous times for women during the Middle Ages. Levels of healthcare and medical expertise we take for granted today in the developed world were unheard of in medieval times. Fatalities among women giving birth were tragically high. That was true for women no matter their social status. 

During labor, the only interventions available to women were folk medicines such as herbal remedies, and resorting to prayer. As per Gilbert, there were various superstitions regarding treatment during pregnancy and childbirth. These included the application of ointment made with rose oil, the wearing of a coral necklace, and the clasping of a magnet. How effective such measures were is very much a moot point.

Women have good reason to be grateful for the advances modern technology has made when it comes to sanitary protection. But of course in the Middle Ages women had to turn to whatever was available during their periods. That applied to the rich as well as to the poor, although as usual the wealthy had the means to cope more easily. The peasant class had to turn out to work in the fields come rain, shine or time of the month.

In general, women had to use whatever pieces of fabric they could afford during their period. But in England, according to the Getty website, women had a particular resource they could turn to. Apparently there is a certain type of bog moss which has exceptionally absorbent properties. So moss it was, however unlikely that may sound.

Restrictions on women in the Middle Ages included limits on their access to education. In fact the vast majority of people were illiterate during the Middle Ages, but it would be an easy assumption to make that literacy rates among women would be even worse than those among men. Yet at least during some periods, it seems that more women than men were literate, the Getty website tells us.

Of course the chances of women from the peasant class being able to read were slim to non-existent. But noble-born women could often read and write, at least to some extent. And those of the middling classes who lived in towns were also likely to have at least a rudimentary education, meaning that they were literate. 

Belief in religion — Christianity of course in western Europe — was almost universal during the medieval period. But while religious leaders were invariably men, there was a way for women to dedicate their lives to their faith. They could join a nunnery and live a blameless life dedicated to worship, work, and celibacy. 

The World History website notes that there was also an alternative in France for women who wanted to live a life of devotion without actually committing themselves to a nunnery. The Beguines lived in voluntary poverty, filling their time with charitable work. As well as supporting one another, the Beguines would work to help people in their community. They were able to lead lives of independence and to avoid both marriage and the strictures of the nunnery.

Although women of the nobility clearly had many advantages over women of peasant stock, it can be argued that poor women actually enjoyed more equality than their wealthy sisters. Rich women were likely to be married off for family advantage rather than affection, and were expected to obey their menfolk. Poor women, on the other hand, worked in the fields beside the men and so were in many ways their equals.

Still, the freedoms that peasant women might enjoy were not available to serfs. Under the feudal system that prevailed during the Middle Ages, serfs were to all intents and purposes the property of the local lord of the manor. The master could dictate whom a serf woman would marry and could interfere in just about every aspect of their lives.

During the period of the High Middle Ages, roughly from 1000 to 1300, trade in Europe became more widespread and sophisticated. The World History website explains how n some cases this actually worked to the advantage of women. Especially in France and Spain, women could take part in commerce and by accumulating wealth, improve their position in society.

While women might start out simply as workers in a family business, husbands might die and their wives would inherit a valuable enterprise. Of course peasants of the poorest classes did not benefit from these developments. It was the more prosperous women of the merchant classes in the towns who gained the most.