Since Victorian times, historical studies have been concerned with the deeds of rulers and governments, with economical development,
with war and with peace. The latter half of the last century saw a refocusing of much historical
research towards the actual proponents of the studied events, the men and women who made them happen.
In her book, Henrietta Leyser, a Fellow of St Peter’s College, Oxford, focusses specifically on the lives of women in England during the medieval period, from the 6th to the 15th century. From Anglo-Saxon England through the period of conversion to Christianity in the 8th and 9th centuries, to the Norman conquest of 1066, and beyond to the War of the Roses, the book investigates the lives women may have led. It looks at their professional and personal expectations, their
believes and ambitions. It also looks at the way those expectations and believes changed between the 6th and 15th century and analyses the catalysts for these changes, such as a fomalising of Christianity in the 11th century or the Black Death in the 13th. Covering all social strata from peasant woman to princess and from respectable matron to religious recluse, the book makes fascinating reading.
The author draws on an extensive body of research. All sources are referenced and at the end of the book a sample of original sources is included as invitation to further reading. A very useful book for everyone interested in the period and especially for students of medieval history, if involved in gender specific research or not.