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Books Features

New Medieval Books: Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife

Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women

By Hetta Howes

University of California Press
ISBN: 978-0-520-39658-6

This book offers an insightful exploration of the lives of women in medieval Western Europe, delving into the stories of remarkable figures like Marie de France, Julian of Norwich, Christine de Pizan, and Margery Kempe. It examines themes ranging from marriage and travel to religion and work, shedding light on the diverse experiences and contributions of these extraordinary women.

Excerpt:

In this book, we’ll journey back to the Middle Ages via the lives of Marie de France, Julian of Norwich, Christine de Pizan and Margery Kempe, four very different women who defied the expectations of their time and wrote back against the misogyny they experienced. We’ll compare their own writing with a variety of different sources to help imagine what their lives were like.

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Medical treatises, encyclopedias, religious treatises, sermons, guidebooks and conduct literature, court records, wills, letters, biographies, historical chronicles, poetry, legend and folklore – all offer a window into their world. From everyday sexism to the pressure society exerts on women to settle down and have children, they reveal how many of the struggles women encounter today are surprisingly analogous to the challenges that medieval women faced – and overcame.

Who is this book for?

The current exhibition on Medieval Women at the British Library highlights the growing interest in this fascinating topic, making the release of this book particularly timely. Serving as both an introduction to women in the Middle Ages and a gateway to understanding remarkable figures such as Marie de France, Julian of Norwich, Christine de Pizan, and Margery Kempe, this book offers readers an engaging and accessible starting point.

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“This is not a simple group biography, but rather an examination, in a series of thematic chapters, of topics such as experiences of childbirth, being a wife, travelling and earning a living, religious life and the power of female friendship.” ~ review by Catherine Hanley in History Today.

“Howes’s book is highly readable and informative, placing the works of this quartet within a broad range of cultural documents – treatises, guidebooks, wills, court records and folklore.” ~ review by Eleanor Myerson in The Spectator

The Author

Hetta Howes is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at City, University of London, where her research focuses on women’s writing in medieval literature. You can follow her on X/Twitter

You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.

You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

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