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Henrietta Leyser
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Medieval Women: Social History Of Women In England 450-1500: A Social History of Women in England 450-1500 (WOMEN IN HISTORY) by Henrietta Leyser (1-Sep-2005) Paperback Paperback

by Henrietta Leyser (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 92 ratings
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Henrietta Leyser considers the problems and attitudes fundamental to every woman of the medieval views on sex, marriage and motherhood; the world of work and the experience of widowhood for peasant, townswoman and aristocrat. The intellectual and spiritual worlds of medieval women are also explored.MEDIEVAL WOMEN celebrates the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages.
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  1. Book 11 of 14
    Women in History
  2. Publisher
    W&N; New Ed edition (1 Sept. 2005)
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B011T8GUEG
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 92 ratings

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Henrietta Leyser

Henrietta Leyser

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
92 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Shannon Hutchinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2013
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Item arrived a little later than other things purchased the same day, but still happy with the product. Thanks again.
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N. T. Browne
3.0 out of 5 stars Medieval Women
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2014
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Medieval Women: I was disappointed -I thought it would have more about lives of the common folk, and this did not have much new information.
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Margaret Downey
2.0 out of 5 stars Medieval Women
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2014
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I felt like I was reading someone's doctorate that strayed from the title. There were, however, some interesting facts within.
2 people found this helpful
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DDC
5.0 out of 5 stars For college
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2022
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Used for class
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Top reviews from other countries

Vikas
4.0 out of 5 stars Medieval Women A social history of women in England 450-1500
Reviewed in India on November 26, 2019
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Very nice Book for students interested in history.
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Vikas
4.0 out of 5 stars Medieval Women A social history of women in England 450-1500
Reviewed in India on November 26, 2019
Very nice Book for students interested in history.
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Spirit24
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential gender studies book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2017
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Excellent book for use to back up your historical studies on women or for gender classes. Full of relevant information and easy to follow up on anything mentioned and an easy read. Not too large a book either. Arrived well packaged and on time.
3 people found this helpful
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David O
5.0 out of 5 stars A materpiece of historical writing
Reviewed in France on September 30, 2012
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(Pour lire ce livre vous aurez forcément un niveau en anglais amplement suffisant pour lire cette évaluation, que je me permets d'écrire dans ma langue maternelle.)
This is a hugely impressive book. Inevitably the approach is thematic; this is a survey of a culture, after all, and although that culture changed considerably over the millennium covered by the book, it is not a single `story' with a coherent narrative. Many of the changes are highlighted, of course, though I'm not certain that I ended a fascinating read with a clear sense of, say, the essential differences in society, and particularly in the lives of women, between 500 and 1500. But that may be my fault, and I am not a historian.
The dozen chapters are spread among four topics: the Anglo-Saxons: Studies in Evidence; the 11th Century; Family Roles in the High and Later Middle Ages; and Culture & Spirituality. Henrietta Leyser seems to be equally at home in all departments, and her familiarity with both primary and secondary sources is staggering. She also takes great pains to warn the reader against jumping to conclusions based on insufficient evidence, though she does indicate, most usefully, the ways in which interpretations of this or that evidence have shifted in modern times.
It is a pity the black and white illustrations do not match the standard of the writing, which is always elegant and crystal clear; but doubtless that is the choice of the publisher. Other than that, the only mild and vague quibble I have is the lack of an overall sense of historical change which I have already mentioned, though I confess that given the complexity of the material I have no idea how that might have been achieved; perhaps in fact I missed the over-simplification which I admire the author for refusing to provide!
All in all I can't remember reading a more enjoyable or rewarding history book for many years.
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Chris Plant
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read and opened my eyes to some very astute women
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2014
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My thanks to the author for this well-researched work. I am interested in reading about the changes that were forced upon the English population by the invasions from different cultures, especially from the woman's point of view. This has given me some good insight whilst maintaining an high level of academic material
2 people found this helpful
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Claire D
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading for the first 11 Chapters.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2019
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I think this book is let down by the final chapter. Apart from that Henrietta Leyser has written a balanced, entertaining and informative work about all aspects of women's lives during the Middle Ages. However, in that last chapter, which is about Women and Literature, Feminist analysis takes over for the first time. It is as if someone else entirely is suddenly writing. Perhaps this is because Leyser is an historian and Literature is not her subject, perhaps it is because all the secondary sources she has used are Feminist in their approach to Middle English Literature, though presumably that was her choice. It's interesting because so much of what was written about in the previous chapters undermines the arguments in the last. I found it bit disappointing as a result.
6 people found this helpful
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