Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife
The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women
by Hetta Howes
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Pub Date 24 Oct 2024 | Archive Date 14 Nov 2024
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) | Bloomsbury Continuum
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Description
'I am told very bad things about you. I hear it said you are a very wicked woman.'
A spectacular, vivid and ground-breaking work of history that takes us into the minds and lives of medieval women.
Few medieval women had the luxury of writing down their thoughts and feelings – but there are at least four who did: Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a no-good wife.
Four women, writing hundreds of years ago, long before feminism existed – yet in their own ways these four, very different writers pushed back against the misogyny of the period.
In Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife Hetta Howes uncovers these women’s stories to paint a spectacular portrait of the world in which they lived, and the ways their lives speak to us in the present.
What was life really like for women in the medieval period? How did they think about sex, death and God? Could they live independent lives? And how can we hear the stories of women from this period? All this and more is answered in this extraordinary book of research and revelation from one of the most exciting up-and-coming voices in popular history writing.
Available Editions
EDITION | Hardcover |
ISBN | 9781399408738 |
PRICE | £25.00 (GBP) |
PAGES | 320 |
Links
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Featured Reviews
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Hetta Howes shines a bright spotlight on four women from the Middle Ages who have been almost forgotten or ignored for far too long. This period in history has always fascinated me and I know how very difficult it is to accurately research.
Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe all lived before the era of mechanical printing but their writing continues to stand the test of time.
The author looks closely at her primary sources but also delves much deeper to reveal a compelling, surprising, and often shocking glimpse of what life and death was like for women in the Middle Ages. She offers a perceptive comparison between past and present and in some ways it is hard to believe just how much has hardly changed across the course of several centuries.
These four extraordinary women were determined to craft a legacy that endures. From them there is still so much we can learn. The past has never been more relevant now that we must face the dangers of an uncertain future.
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A spectacular, vivid and ground-breaking work of history that takes us into the minds and lives of medieval women. Superb writing from this author, a very eye catching cover, this book will go far, 5 stars. Blindingly excellent ... This book should come with a disclaimer as once you start reading you aren’t going to want to walk away.