Description:
Exploring women's stories of work, protest, and power in the medieval Low Countries
The Middle Ages--a time often cast as a dark period when violence reigned and men dominated society. Women, as the deeply rooted cliché would have it, played scarcely any part. But this book tells a different story, one in which women step forward as the main characters. In the southern Low Countries, townswomen held substantial rights, which they used to conduct business, voice their opinions, and assert their will.
Urban Women presents a different and lesser-known image of the late Middle Ages, from 1250 to 1550. The authors trace the lives of women protesting, marrying, making love, working, and engaging in the daily life of Low Countries towns. In doing so, this book gives voice to wealthy businesswomen, laborers, religious women, criminals, and sex workers, spotlighting the remarkable figures who shaped a "women's town" within a man's world.
English translation of Wijvenwereld, Chanelle Delameillieure, Andrea Bardyn, Jelle Haemers (red.), (Uitgeverij Vrijdag 2021)
Review Quotes:
As sociologist Alison Woodward aptly observed, 'everyone is anonymous in a town, except for a woman. She is always seen, always treated as...a woman'. Historical analysis can therefore illuminate how this complex relationship between women and urban life emerged and evolved over time. It is precisely in this regard that the volume under review makes a valuable contribution. - Lisa Demets, Journal of Medieval History, 52(1), 150-152. https: //doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2026.2613226