Eleanor Janega, a medievalist at the London School of Economics, debunks common misconceptions about Medieval Europe in her bright and entertaining blog Going Medieval. These misconceptions include that people didn’t bathe (did) and that these were the Dark Ages*. her new book past and future sexsubtitled “Going to the Middle Ages on the Role of Women in Society,” which is exactly what she does. If the meaning of is intended, it probably does, despite her protests.
Her main argument in her blog and book is that it’s easy and convenient to imagine the Middle Ages as backwards in every way. But this is not only wrong, it is also dangerous. Just because women’s lives are definitely better than they were then doesn’t mean our current position in society is optimal or somehow destined.
Progress has not gone in a straight line from the bad times to the present good times. Claiming things were horrific leads us to believe they must be at their climax now. Janega develops this argument in the introduction and spends most of the text citing evidence to support it.
blame the greeks
The first chapter explains how medieval Europeans got their ideas about women, sex, beauty, etc. all from the Greeks. The Greeks viewed men as default humans. Women were seen as spiritually depraved men (Plato) and physically inside-out men (Galenus). Then came Christianity and its doctrine of original sin, but it did nothing to induce men to view women more favorably.
“Augustine’s message was that if a man disobeyed God, it was probably because a woman had persuaded him to do so. Over the years I have taught other men in colleges and convents.
(Nuns are allowed to read, study, and think, and there are records of women like Hildegard of Bingen. [1098–1179] Christine de Pizan [1364–c.1430], suggests that they do not see their own nature in the same way as men do. But educated women are rare, and surviving writings by or about women even rarer. )
Then there is a chapter on the standards of female beauty, mandating golden tresses, milky skin and rosy cheeks. Taken directly from a certain Dalles Phrygius, it’s basically unchanged until now. Then, just like now, women were supposed to have this look naturally. God forbid they spend time, money, or effort on it.
Medieval men, however, liked female daruma dolls. This is contrary to today’s preference for chiseled abs, although both exhibit the same trait: wealth. Medieval women playing sports with daruma were clearly well fed.
