What was the predominant image of women and women's place in medieval society? A rather sexist or misogynistic view--by twentieth century standards of course--was prevalent among learned clerics. The writings of the theologian Thomas Aquinas typify this view. But although the religious of Europe's abbeys and universities dominate the written record of the period, Thomistic sexism was not the only view of women's proper role. In his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer portrays women in a much more positive way, characterizing them as somewhat empowered. Actual historical events, such as the scandal and subsequent litigation revolving around Anna Buschler which Steven Ozment details in The Burgermeister's Daughter, suggest something of a compromise between these two literary extremes. While it is true that life was no utopia for medieval women, neither was life universally horrible or society thoroughly misogynistic.
The Church's views on women had deep scriptural roots. In his letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul writes "Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness" (1 Tim. 2:11). This view rests on the story of Eve's creation as a helper--not an equal--to man from the rib of Adam in Genesis. It also condemns Eve, and by association all women, for allowing the serpent to trick her into Original Sin. In Summa Theologica, Aquinas extends Paul's argument for female inferiority even farther:
As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of woman comes from defect in the active force or from some material indisposition. (Source Book, 211)The discussion of some "active force" in the "male seed" may be fairly vague, but the general point is clear--for him, women are of lesser value, perfection and godliness than men. Furthermore, Aquinas felt that while men were inherently rational, emotion drove women's minds, necessitating that "others wiser than themselves" govern them (Source Book, 212). Even Aquinas, though, would not go so far as to say that women should be men's slaves--only if God had fashioned Eve from Adam's feet would this be the case (Source Book, 213).
The views of Aquinas on women are unmistakably negative. Taken by themselves, these views suggest that ordinary people expected medieval women to be submissive and meek. And his opinions were by no means marginal--Aquinas was the dominant Scholastic thinker of the 13th century, and his Summa Theologica--intended as a synthesis of all theological thought--became the definitive statement of Roman Catholic beliefs. The idea that medieval women received little respect has some of its most formal roots in Summa Theologica.
But although Aquinas was a tremendously influential authority in the middle ages and beyond, his circumstances and intended audience reveal that his writings may not be a particularly good example of popular views of medieval women. As a Dominican, Aquinas never married and, though it is speculation, probably had minimal exposure to meaningful interactions with actual women.1 Even more telling is his intended audience--an entirely male and generally celibate literary circle of churchmen. Since Aquinas and his primary audience lived and worked outside of mainstream lay life, their negative views of women's role likely had relatively little impact on the lives women actually led. And it is important to note that the Church was not entirely misogynistic. Even as it preached a doctrine of male dominance, it also financed a rare alternative for women to domestic life--the nunnery, which offered security, a relatively intellectual lifestyle, a chance to rise through talent in a religious hierarchy and spiritual comfort.
While Summa Theologica's doctrine of male dominance is part of the gender politics of the middle ages, it is far from the only perception of women in the period. For instance, the Prologue to the "Prioress's Tale", from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, details a supposedly model Christian woman, and the tale itself revolves around the "Cult of the Virgin Mary." The Cult of the Virgin (Western Heritage, 203) was a popular concept which first appeared in the 12th and 13th centuries, revealing a exaltation of feminine virtue, in stark contrast to the ideas expressed by Church authorities such as Aquinas. Yet, even in the very idea of the Virgin Mary, women remain secondary, as revealed by the Prioress's statement: "And through thy prayers thou makest the way clear/To guide us to thy Son, to thee so dear." (Source Book, 240) Mary is not an end to herself, but a channel for reaching Jesus.
An even better example of an empowered medieval woman is the Wife of Bath. In the lengthy Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale", Chaucer depicts a bawdy and manipulative laywoman who soundly wields sexual power over her husbands: "All remedies of love she knew by name/For she had all the tricks of that old game." (Source Book, 234-235) She has a clear worldly agenda, marrying for money and sex, marrying "always, for the money in his chest/And for his nether purse, I picked the best." (Source Book, 245) Yet, Chaucer does not condemn her, however, but seems to describe her somewhat humorously--which suggests that the Wife of Bath character represents at least a caricature of women like her who existed in Chaucer's day. Furthermore, the lengthiness of her prologue reveals how interesting Chaucer thought this empowered female character would be to his audience.
A particularly interesting passage from the Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale" describes her fifth marriage, to a Scholastic student named Jenkin, who is the only husband immune to her machinations. The young Scholastic spends all his time reading, and pays little attention to his wife. Eventually, the Wife of Bath becomes so agitated she tears a page (Source Book, 253) from one of his books, symbolizing the conflict between women and the male-dominated intellectualism of the medieval period.
"The Wife of Bath's Tale" itself is a story about "what women most desire"--and that is control over their husbands (Source Book, 258). The Wife of Bath herself constantly emphasizes women in the story, from the Queen to local peasant wives--and all stand judgment over an errant knight.2 To save himself, the knight must answer the question, "what do women most desire?" When the knight attempts to answer this question, women serve as his jury: "Many the wise widow, many the wife,/Many the maid who rallied to the scene,/And at the head as justice sat the queen." (Source Book, 258) In this story, women achieve control over the world of men. Even though this clearly wasn't the case in actual medieval society, the idea had enough elements of truth in it that Chaucer felt it would generate humor or interest because of its closeness to life.
Chaucer lived in the second half of the 14th century, publishing Canterbury Tales in 1387--roughly a hundred years after Aquinas. Although the two writers published in similar times, their views on women were vastly different. Chaucer's background explains much of this--as an adventurer he was probably more in touch with worldly matters than Aquinas; as a diplomat he traveled to France and various Italian states. He had seen much of Europe, and while Aquinas was a man of books, Chaucer was a man of the world. Writing in vernacular English--as opposed to the Scholastics' Latin--Chaucer was a symbol of nationalism and humanism, both affirmations of secular realism. And even if Chaucer intended "The Wife of Bath's Tale" as a criticism of worldliness rather than as a good-natured lampoon, it was still a criticism based on reality. Aquinas was a theoretician based in scripture and esoteric debate while Chaucer, whether lauding or criticizing, commented on society as it was. Thus, Chaucer was quite probably more aware of the real condition of women in medieval society than Aquinas.
These contradicting views, however, are literary extremes which suggest the nature of women's role in society without actually being reality. Male authors' descriptions aside, what were medieval women really like? There are classic examples of successful women in the middle ages, such as the famous 12th century patron of arts and romances Eleanor of Aquitane, or the 15th century French heroine of The Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc. Yet, these are exceptional people--the question of how medieval society viewed and treated women in general remains unanswered. One way to approach an answer is to examine a less sweeping example than Eleanor of Aquitane or Joan of Arc, such as the early 16th century legal case of Anna Buschler.
Anna (1496-1552) was the daughter of Hermann Buschler, a prominent citizen who had even been the burgermeister of the German town of Schwabisch Hall, within the Holy Roman Empire. As a youth, Anna had simultaneous affairs with a young local nobleman, Erasmus Schenk of Limpurg, and a cavalryman named Daniel Treutwein. Anna's father became so upset at discovering these affairs that he deprived her of most of her i nheritance. A scandalized woman, Anna fought in the Hall legal system for decades, eventually winning back some of her inheritance.
Anna's story suggests a rather empowered woman, largely thanks to a Germanic legal tradition which accorded women basic rights which kept men from treating them like "chattel" (Western Heritage, 203). Anna did face difficulties, particularly the fact that as an unprofessional single woman, she needed a male to represent her in court (Burgermeister's Daughter, 111). Had she been a professional woman with marketable skills though, Anna would have received "proper legal status", evidence of some amount of gender egalitarianism.
Furthermore, the story of Anna's battle for her inheritance reveals a great deal about popular opinion. Anna, a known fornicator, initially lost her case. Instead of meekly accepting this ruling, she next sued the city of Hall itself. Eventually, public opinion turned against the once-popular Herman Buschler for his treatment of Anna, and he ultimately lost his position as burgermeister (Burgermeister's Daughter 119-121). Anna's story shows that women did have some rights, and that they also had, at least in this case, the ability to defend those rights within legal institutions. Even more important is evidence of public opinion--instead of siding against Anna as a disobedient daughter causing trouble for her family, Hall's citizens actually sided with Anna against her father. In this, both daughter's obedience to father and woman's obedience to man were turned on their heads, revealing that regardless of religious doctrines of male supremacy, life among laypeople was much more complex.
While not a complete victory for Anna, the battle for her inheritance was also not a complete loss. She capably fought her father and even the entire city council of Hall. While her story was not a complete affirmation of female dominance--because that certainly was not the case--an ugly thirty-year court battle doesn't indicate disempowerment either.
Regardless of what the views of scholastics like Thomas Aquinas might suggest, medieval women had agency. While not all had power to the extent of Chaucer's Wife of Bath, some evidently had power to the extent of Anna Buschler. Bookish Scholastics such as Aquinas did not by themselves represent the views of society at large--although society by no means completely ignored them. Aquinas and Chaucer's Wife of Bath represent two extreme views of medieval women, while the real nature of women's condition in the period lay somewhere in the middle. Any 20th century ideas of wholesale female oppression in the middle ages are relativist "myths" which serve to glamorize the modern period rather than describe historical reality.
Endnotes
1 By the 11th century, roughly two centuries before Aquinas, even parish priests had become generally celibate, suggesting the widespread adoption of this practice among clergy by the 13th century (Western Heritage, 190).
2 Interestingly, the knight's crime is rape, a crime against women. His quick punishment for the rape further highlights some security enjoyed by medieval women.
© 1998 Garrett Moritz. All rights reserved.