The Letters of the Rožmberk Sisters
The Letters of the Rožmberk Sisters

Author: Perchta z Rožmberka

Publisher: DS Brewer

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 9780859916127

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With an Introduction, Interpretive Essay and Bibliography THE LETTERS OF PERCHTA AND ANEZKA offer an illuminating insight into how two aristocratic women in fifteenth-century Bohemia saw themselves and their lives. The central topic of this collection is Perchta's expression, in letters to her father, of her deep unhappiness at his choice of husband for her, in which her expectations of respect and companionship in marriage clearly emerge. This rare discussion on paper of a situation that must have faced many women in the middle ages is valuable for its illustration of how much a woman might do to influence plans made for her, made all the more interesting by the vigorous personalities of the two sisters and the incidental illumination of family and castle life.

Letters of the Rozmberk Sisters
Letters of the Rozmberk Sisters

Author: John M. Klassen

Publisher: D.S. Brewer

Published: 2006-07-20

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9781846151057

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The letters of the Rozmberk sisters, Perchta and Anézka, give a vivid insight into how medieval women viewed themselves. Perchta's letters inform her father that his choice of a husband for her has caused her desperate sadness and sorrow in which death seems a better alternative. Despite her unhappiness and her almost total dependence on others, however, Perchta undertook to take control of her own fate and to improve the circumstances of her life. Her letters were the means whereby she informed her father and brothers of her misery and persuaded them to take action, and in the process they tell us about her expectations of respect and companionship in marriage. The letters of both sisters show them to be women with a vigorous sense of their own dignity and offer insights into the hopes and disappointments, joys and vexations of fifteenth-century women. The letters also introduce theenvironment and the activities of daily castle life, and offer an intimate picture of family life in the fifteenth century.JOHN M. KLASSEN is Professor of History at Trinity Western University, Canada. He was assisted in the translations by EVA DOLEZALOVA, Historical Institue, Prague, and LYNN SZABO, Trinity Western University.

The Paston Women
The Paston Women

Author: Diane Watt

Publisher: DS Brewer

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9781843840244

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The Paston letters viewed in the context of medieval women's writing and medieval letter writing.

Women in Medieval Europe
Women in Medieval Europe

Author: Jennifer Ward

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-11

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1317888588

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Women in Medieval Europe were expected to be submissive, but such a broad picture ignores great areas of female experience. Between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, women are found in the workplace as well as the home, and some women were numbered among the key rulers, saints and mystics of the medieval world. Opportunities and activities changed over time, and by 1500 the world of work was becoming increasingly restricted for women. Women of all social groups were primarily engaged with their families, looking after husband and children, and running the household. Patterns of work varied geographically. In the northern towns, women engaged in a wide range of crafts, with a small number becoming entrepreneurs. Many of the poor made a living as servants and labourers. Prostitution flourished in many medieval towns. Some women turned to the religious life, and here opportunities burgeoned in the thirteenth century. The Middle Ages are not remote from the twenty-first century; the lives of medieval women evoke a response today. The medieval mother faced similar problems to her modern counterpart. The sheer variety of women’s experience in the later Middle Ages is fully brought out in this book.

Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia
Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia

Author: Mary Zirin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-03-26

Total Pages: 2898

ISBN-13: 1317451961

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This is the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and multilingual bibliography on "Women and Gender in East Central Europe and the Balkans (Vol. 1)" and "The Lands of the Former Soviet Union (Vol. 2)" over the past millennium. The coverage encompasses the relevant territories of the Russian, Hapsburg, and Ottoman empires, Germany and Greece, and the Jewish and Roma diasporas. Topics range from legal status and marital customs to economic participation and gender roles, plus unparalleled documentation of women writers and artists, and autobiographical works of all kinds. The volumes include approximately 30,000 bibliographic entries on works published through the end of 2000, as well as web sites and unpublished dissertations. Many of the individual entries are annotated with brief descriptions of major works and the tables of contents for collections and anthologies. The entries are cross-referenced and each volume includes indexes.

Women in Medieval Europe 1200-1500
Women in Medieval Europe 1200-1500

Author: Jennifer Ward

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-14

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1317245121

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Women in Medieval Europe explores the key areas of female experience in the later medieval period, from peasant women to Queens. It considers the women of the later Middle Ages in the context of their social relationships during a time of changing opportunities and activities, so that by 1500 the world of work was becoming increasingly restricted to women. The chapters are arranged thematically to show the varied roles and lives of women in and out of the home, covering topics such as marriage, religion, family and work. For the second edition a new chapter draws together recent work on Jewish and Muslim women, as well as those from other ethnic groups, showing the wide ranging experiences of women from different backgrounds. Particular attention is paid to women at work in the towns, and specifically urban topics such as trade, crafts, healthcare and prostitution. The latest research on women, gender and masculinity has also been incorporated, along with updated further reading recommendations. This fully revised new edition is a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the topic, perfect for all those studying women in Europe in the later Middle Ages.

Between Lipany and White Mountain
Between Lipany and White Mountain

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2014-07-17

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 9004277587

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This book presents a collection of twelve seminal essays by Czech historians on the history of the Czech lands from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, which originally appeared in Czech publications as articles and book chapters and are translated here for the first time in English. The essays address a broad range of topics, including politics, religion, demography, everyday life, crime, and rural and urban society. By bringing to English-speaking readers the rich history and historical writing of the Czech lands through the lens of Czech historians, the book seeks to expand knowledge about the place of these lands in late medieval and early modern Europe, and the rich mosaic and shared history of the peoples and cultures of Europe.

Old Norse Women's Poetry
Old Norse Women's Poetry

Author: Sandra Ballif Straubhaar

Publisher: DS Brewer

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 1843842718

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Text, with English translation in two formats, of all the Old Norse poetry attributed to women - skáldkonur. The rich and compelling corpus of Old Norse poetry is one of the most important and influential areas of medieval European literature. What is less well known, however, is the quantity of the material which can be attributed to women skalds. This book, intended for a broad audience, presents a bilingual edition (Old Norse and English) of this material, from the ninth to the thirteenth century and beyond, with commentary and notes. The poems here reflect the dramatic and often violent nature of the sagas: their subject matter features Viking Age shipboard adventures and shipwrecks; prophecies; curses; declarations of love and of revenge; duels, feuds and battles; encounters with ghosts; marital and family discord; and religious insults, among many other topics. Their authors fall into four main categories: pre-Christian Norwegian and Icelandic skáldkonur of the Viking Age; Icelandic skáldkonur of the Sturlung Age (thirteenth century); additional early skáldkonur from the Islendingasögur and related material, not as historically verifiable as the first group; and mythical figures cited as reciting verse in the legendary sagas (fornaldarsögur). Sandra Ballif Straubhaar is Senior Lecturer in Germanic Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Agnes Blannbekin, Viennese Beguine
Agnes Blannbekin, Viennese Beguine

Author: Agnes Blannbekin

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780859916349

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Female mysticism, usually nourished in contemplative surroundings, in Blannbekin's case drew its inspiration from urban life; Weidhaus identifies her visions as 'street mysticism'. This early example of a spiritual diary incorporating the visions of a female mystic offers a glimpse of religious women's daily life and spiritual practices. Agnes Blannbekin was from an Austrian farming family, but as a Beguinelived an urban life: Ulrike Weithaus refers to her experiences as 'street mysticism'. Blannbekin's spiritual life revolved around the liturgical cycles of the church year, but also embraced the opportunities and vagaries of city life. Her visions comment on memorable events such as a popular bishop's visit to town during which people were trampled to death; the consequences of a rape committed by a priest; thefts of the Eucharist and the work of witches. Christ, for Blannbekin, is not only bridegroom, but also shopkeeper, apothecary, and axe-wielding soldier, and it was her vision of swallowing Christ's foreskin which led to the eventual censorship of her works. Life and Revelations has only recently been rediscovered by Austrian scholar Peter Dinzelbacher, and this translation is based on his critical edition.

Caritas Pirckheimer
Caritas Pirckheimer

Author: Charitas Pirkheimer

Publisher: DS Brewer

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9781843840763

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Considered by Erasmus to be one of the most learned women in Germany, Caritas Pirckheimer was also termed the German Sappho by Celtis, the Poet Laureate of Germany. Caritas had been tutored in Latin, became acquainted with Albrecht Dürer, and read the newly-discovered works of Hrotswitha von Gandersheim. She is best known for her Journal of the Reformation, which she compiled while abbess of the convent of St. Clare's as an historical record of her conflict with the Nürnberg City Council. Consisting of commentaries and letters written by her and to her in 69 chapters, the Journal also represents a defence of her convent and of her Roman Catholic faith during the advent of Lutheranism, when the City Council attempted to pressure her convent into accepting religious reforms and her nuns to renounce their vows and leave the convent. It records a unique moment in western European religious history and in her own life. Most importantly, in the history of early modern literature by women, it stands as a defence of equal rights and the individual's right to choose.