Medieval Europe was a place of tremendous upheaval. Power balances were shifting, cultural norms were evolving and social dynamics were transforming — changes that still sound familiar more than five centuries later.
That’s why Senior Lecturer Charity Urbanski, the history department’s Joff Hanauer Endowed Faculty Fellow, sees the medieval period as a lens we can look through to understand the present, especially when it’s focused on the experiences of women.
In her course History 340: Medieval Women, Urbanski dives into what life was like for women in the Middle Ages, including how gender stereotypes developed and how early feminist thought emerged in response.
“We look at things like women in religion, women in work, and marriage and family,” Urbanski says. “It ends up being a really interesting exploration of culture during the medieval period.”
To paint a more complete picture of women’s lives, Urbanski includes as many primary sources by female writers as possible — which sets her class apart from others about the same era.
“Never accept anything at face value just because it’s in writing. Scrutinize it more because of that.”
— Charity Urbanski
Centering women’s voices
Because finding female sources from the Middle Ages can be tough, many educators may inadvertently favor men who were writing at the same time.
“One of the big challenges is that I have to teach the class with a dearth of voices,” says Urbanski. “But we do have some, like Christine de Pizan, and I try to bring them in whenever I can.”
The works of only a few prominent women have survived: for instance, those of de Pizan, a 15th-century French political thinker who wrote about women’s rights. But there were almost certainly more medieval female authors than the ones we know of today.
It’s likely that their writings have disappeared because men largely controlled which works were published, circulated and archived. Of the surviving texts by women, many are still with us because they were correspondences with prominent men, says Urbanski.
When she can’t present women in their own words, Urbanski provides as much cultural and historical context as possible.
“No text is a transparent window into the past,” she says. “So one of the things you need to do as a historian — and, frankly, as a human being — is assess whatever you’re reading.”
That includes looking at the larger context in which a text was written, such as where the author lived, who the intended audience was and whether the writer was trying to prove a particular point.
Given how many people get their news from social media and other barely vetted sources, this skill has become more necessary than ever.
Reading between the lines
Consider Fredegund, a Frankish queen from the sixth century.
While there are no known writings from the queen herself, an account by her contemporary Gregory of Tours has survived. He portrays her as ruthless and conniving compared to male rulers of the time, who engaged in the same political scheming that Gregory criticizes Fredegund for.
But since it’s our only depiction of the queen, “We have to painstakingly piece things together to pull her into view,” says Urbanski. “We know Gregory doesn’t like Fredegund. So if you just look at her actions logically, how do you think she actually did as a ruler?”
Lessons for the 21st century
By studying the past, Urbanski’s students learn how they can be more engaged thinkers and citizens today.
“This class challenges you to think about who has been left out of the historical narrative — and why,” says senior Izzy Matlick, who took Medieval Women in 2018.
“It amazes me how much in the way of law, attitudes and cultural habits we still retain from the medieval age,” says junior Alexander Clark. “You can really see how far we’ve come and where we need to go next.”
Over the past few years, the class has grown in both the number of students interested and the scope of majors represented. In fact, many of Urbanski’s students come from engineering, computer science and other STEM fields.
Urbanski is happy about the range of students who enroll. Given the timely lessons offered by the class, they’re developing skills that will be useful in any field. “If nothing else, never accept anything at face value just because it’s in writing,” she says. “Scrutinize it more because of that.”
“This class really challenges you to think about who has been left out of the historical narrative — and why.”