Women in the Middle Ages

The bestselling chroniclers of medieval life Frances and Joseph Gies trace the stories and fates of women in medieval Europe over the course of a millennium.

Medieval history is often written as a series of battles and territorial shifts. But the essential contributions of women during this period have too often been relegated to the dustbin of history. In Women in the Middle Ages, Frances and Joseph Gies reclaim this lost history in a lively historical survey that charts the evolution of women's roles through this period and profiles eight individual women in depth. We learn of Hildegarde of Bingen, a noted composer and abbess who founded two monasteries; Eleanor de Montfort, a thirteenth-century Princess of Wales who was captured by Edward I and held as a political prisoner for three years; and women of somewhat more modest means, such as the spouse of an Italian merchant and a peasant's wife.

Drawing upon their various stories, talented historians Frances and Joseph Gies–whose books were used by George R. R. Martin in his research for Game of Thrones–offer a kaleidoscopic view of the lives of women throughout this tumultuous period.