"Girl power" was alive and kicking in Middle Ages

Dr Sue Niebrzydowski and colleagues conducting a research in the lives of middle-aged medieval women found that they were far from the subordinate creatures they are thought to be.

"We found women running priories, commissioning books, taking early package tours to visit the Holy Land," the BBC quoted her, as saying.

"We assume that women in the past had little economic independence or social power and that they were reliant on fathers or husbands for most of their lives.

"But we should be wary of holding too many misconceptions about women's lives in the past.

"It is true that most of the information we have is drawn from art, literature or historical records which relate to wealthier women, but middle aged women in the middle ages had far more power and independence than we might first imagine."

Dr Niebrzydowski and her team came to their conclusion after legal records, literature and songs to build up a picture of life for women between the 12th and 15th Centuries.

Another thing that worked in women's favour, she adds, is the fact that they lived longer than their men.

"Women were often widowed by the age of 30 and it gave them greater freedom," she said.

"They could be more sexually liberated as there would be no child as evidence of their fornication or adultery.

"And if wealthy, they could enter the marriage market on their own terms - and for their own reasons, whether economic, for love, companionship or pleasure."

Funded by the Royal Historical Society and the British Academy, the research is to be presented at a conference in Bangor on Sept 12. (ANI)

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