Women in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia [2 volumes]

by Katharina M. Wilson, Nadia Margolis

Overview

The experiences of women in the Middle Ages have been receiving growing amounts of attention, and we are only now beginning to appreciate the full extent of their contributions. Women significantly shaped medieval political, economic, and cultural life as rulers, religious leaders, wives, patrons, teachers, healers, merchants, warriors, and agricultural laborers. They also produced enduring works in historiography, literature, music, and the visual arts. Comprehensive in scope, meticulous in scholarship, and accessible in style to general readers and specialists alike, this encyclopedia offers full coverage of the myriad roles, experiences, and contributions of women in the medieval world.

Written by leading scholars in a variety of fields, Women in the Middle Ages offers more than 300 alphabetically arranged entries that conclude with extensive bibliographies of both primary and secondary sources. Entries cover people and topics ranging from the third to the fifteenth centuries, and treat well-known figures, more recently discovered or re-evaluated figures, and much more. Medieval women in the principal stages of life, both mortal and spiritual, are also covered in entries on childhood, virginity, marriage, widowhood, penitentials, hagiography, and relics. This illustrated encyclopedia also includes a general bibliography, index, and guide to related topics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313330162
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/30/2004
Pages:	1156
Product dimensions:	7.95(w) x 10.60(h) x 2.90(d)
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

KATHARINA M. WILSON is Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia. Her numerous publications include Medieval Women Writers (1984), Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation (1987), Seventeenth-Century Women Writers (1989), Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers (1991), and European Women Writers (1997).

NADIA MARGOLIS has most recently been Visiting Associate Professor of French at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her previous books include Christine de Pizan 2000 (2000), Joan of Arc in History, Literature, and Film (1990), and Re-interpreting Christine de Pizan (1992). Her work has also appeared in such journals as Medieval Feminist Forum, Romanic Review, and Fifteenth Century Studies.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Abbreviations and Editorial Policy

Alphabetical List of Entries

Guide to Related Topics

Medieval Women: An Encyclopedia

Contributors

Selected Bibliography of General Information Resources on Medieval Women

Index