Feminism in medieval times

Today, feminism is often associated with political protests of the 1960s or the women's suffrage movement, but Stanford historian Paula Findlen's research reveals that the impetus to champion women started in the late Middle Ages. A scholar of the Italian Renaissance, Findlen collects biographies of medieval women, written in Italy from the 15th to 18th centuries, several centuries after the women lived. These early modern writers were so passionate about medieval women that they sometimes fabricated stories about them.

As Findlen carefully tracked down the claims in these stories, she found they varied from factual to somewhat factual to entirely false.These invented women were often mentioned in regional histories, with imaginary connections to important institutions. They were described as having law degrees or professorships, claims that turned out to be fictitious. Findlen argues that these embellished tales represent what could be described as the origins of a certain kind of feminism.

"Early modern forgers used stories of women to create precedents in support of things they wanted to see in their own time but needed to justify by invoking the past," Findlen said. "While debating the existence of these medieval women, the writers also contributed to the science of history as we know it." Findlen described her foray into conjectural history as "a project about how early modern medievalists invented the Middle Ages, claiming and defining this past. Making up history is a way of ensuring that you get the past you want."

In her forthcoming publication titled "Inventing Medieval Women: History, Memory and Forgery in Early Modern Italy," Findlen pays particular attention to Alessandro Macchiavelli, an 18th-century lawyer from a Bolognese family. Macchiavelli was passionate about finding evidence to support Bologna's reputation as a "paradise for women." He created stories and footnotes about learned medieval women from the region, including writer Christine de Pizan. According to Findlen, "He aggressively made up [biographies of] medieval women and supplied the evidence that was missing for them." More to come....

The Baroness and the real Caltagirone

In Book #2 of the Vespers Trilogy, Malice Stalks the Leopard, one of the major characters is The Baroness, an old love of Ferdinand de Lerida.  She is presented in the book as the widow of the Count of Caltagirone.  Naturally, she's a fictitious person who was fun to write, but the real family who ruled this region was powerful and always part of the king's counsel.  The city is also one of the oldest in Sicily, dating back to before 1000 B.C.


Today, Caltagirone is known for its ceramics, the beauty of which date back to Arab times in Sicily - 9th and 10th century - because the Arabs brought the greens, blues and yellows to the industry.  They also brought a sophistication to the ceramics with geometric designs and graceful  depictions of animals and plants.  This is typical of Sicilian ceramics today and what this area is famous for.


And of course, the name itself is said to be of Moorish derivation - the name Caltagirone means Castle or Fortress of Vases.

Midwives Part 3

Midwives worked at their chosen profession with little interference from men throughout most of the medieval era. This may have had to do with various taboos surrounding the "secret" parts of female anatomy. However, as the professionalization of medical practitioners began to advance, the women's role as midwife was ultimately pushed aside. Generally, midwives learned their trade from other women and from personal experiences with childbearing. Men were not allowed to view childbearing. Laws aimed at regulating the professions were eventually imposed from the outside by municipal or ecclesiastical authorities to ensure that infants were not delivered by "charlatans". Given the religious tasks of the midwife described by Sam Thomas, particularly baptism, you can bet these so-called charlatans were non-believers or heretics. The church managed to impose itself on everyone's lives. Brussels, Belgium, was the first town to enact regulations on the functions of midwives in 1424. These restrictions contributed to a reduction in the staus and role of the midwife and a more general degradation of attitudes toward women, particularly those with knowledge and power, at the end of the Middle Ages.

Edith Pargeter

I finished the Ellis Peters novel about Cadfael and was eager to know a little more about the author, Ellis Peters is a pen name for Edith Pargeter (1913 to 1995) who wrote many novels and non-fiction volumes up until just a few years before her death. Born in Horsehay, Shropshire, she was fascinated by the history of Wales, especially medieval history. She is especially known for the Cadfael mysteries, the Brothers of Gwynedd quartet, and The Heaven Tree trilogy, all about medieval Wales. She also wrote 13 George Felse mysteries, but I haven't explored those yet. Interestingly, Gwynedd is a town that is mentioned in Monk's Hood, the mystery I just finished, as well as having the quartet named after it. I was lucky enough to find the Heaven Tree trilogy at my local used book sale, which benefits the public library. Many communities have such sales and they are great for collectors, book lovers, and explorers. Just the place to try out a new author for very little investment.

Ellis Peters -Wikipedia image

Aconitum, also known as monkshood, wolf's bane, Queen of all Poisons and several other names, is a genus of over 250 species of perennial flowering plants native to the mountains of the northern hemisphere. It is extremely poisonous. Several cultures use one or another of the species as arrow poisons, including the Minaro, Ainu, Chinese and Aleuts. Cleopatra used aconite to kill her brother Ptolemy XIV, so she could put her son on his throne. It has been used in multiple real and fictional murders. One of the most recognizable is Monk’s Hood by Ellis Peters (1980), which I have just been reading.  It also features prominently in wolfman and vampire stories.

Monks' Hood photo by Bernd Haynold

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Marked symptoms appear within one hour with ingestion of the poison. Death may occur instantaneously with large doses or within two to six hours in lower doses (20 to 40 mL of tincture may prove fatal) The initial signs are gastrointestinal including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, followed by a sensation of burning, tingling, and numbness in the mouth and face, and of burning in the abdomen.  In severe poisonings pronounced motor weakness occurs and cutaneous sensations of tingling and numbness spread to the limbs. Cardiovascular features include hypotension, bradycardia, and arrhythmia. Other features may include sweating, dizziness, difficulty breathing, headache, and confusion. The main causes of death are ventricular arrhythmias and asystole, paralysis of the heart or of the respiratory center. The only post-mortem signs are those of asphyxia.

Poisoning may also occur by picking the leaves without wearing gloves, as the toxin is absorbed easily through the skin. In this event, there will be no gastrointestinal effects. Tingling will start at the point of absorption and extend up the arm to the shoulder, after which the heart will start to be affected.