Historian Gemma Hollman is back again with another fantastic guest post! I was thrilled to hear that she has another book publishing this year, and even better, it is about women’s history. (An area of history that I am trying to promote!) While many of us are familiar with different medieval queens, the noblewomen at their court would have led different lives to their royal counterparts. Today Gemma is exploring the lives of noblewomen and how we can learn more about them through art!
Using Art to Shine a Light on the Lives of Medieval Noblewomen
In the Middle Ages, courts and governments were run by men. Even on the occasion that a woman found herself in charge of a territory, she was not expected to place women into positions of power. However, this does not mean women were not found at court. Any queen, countess, duchess, princess, needed female attendants, whether she was a ruler or the wife of one. Having these women around her – known today as ladies-in-waiting – was a way to exemplify the power and grandeur of the ruling couple, whilst also simultaneously granting favour to other powerful noble families and thus keeping them close. Women would also find themselves at court for grand events like balls, feasts, jousts, weddings, baptisms and any other excuse for a party. Noblewomen therefore needed to be well-equipped to carry themselves correctly on such occasions.
Just like networking is a learned skill today, vital in certain industries for one to get ahead, so were social occasions in the Middle Ages not just a chance for fun, but a way to make powerful connections. Say the right thing, and your family might gain an important marriage alliance, but say the wrong thing and you could bring shame upon them all.
A Noble Education
Noblewomen received exemplary educations, which included learning several languages and being taught how to read, but social skills were considered just as, if not more, important, and so women were also taught how to dance, sew, sing, play an instrument, ride, hunt, and play chess. Private tutors were brought in and they would also learn from female relatives, but as the medieval period progressed and books became more popular and widespread, a genre of literature emerged to bestow these skills and advice onto the next generation. People like Christine de Pisan and Geoffroy de la Tour Landry picked up the pen to share their wisdom.
Medieval books were colourful affairs, usually highly decorated for those who could afford them, and with this new genre of book came a new genre of art to go alongside it. Compilation books were popular gifts to noble and royal women: compendiums of moral and religious texts which were intended to remind a woman of her duty to her people, whether that be as an independent ruler or as a benevolent wife influencing her husband. Many such books have surviving artworks that were intended to remind women of their expected behaviour. Geoffroy’s advice manual to his daughters came with an illustration of him lecturing three demure-looking women; Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, is depicted humbly praying with her ladies-in-waiting in a manuscript compendium gift; Eleanor of Aragon was depicted with God’s hand guiding her in a book of verse instructions for rulers. The art was expected to hold as much weight as the writing in guiding these women.
Social Currency
How a woman was perceived by her contemporaries was of vital importance when it came to her future prospects. Though many women’s most attractive assets came from her inheritance and the powerful connections of her family, her behaviour was still a key way to attract a worthy husband. Women who captivated the hearts of their fellow courtiers at celebrations with their meek and humble behaviour, their piety, their humour and generosity would find far more choice on the marriage market – and plenty more praise recorded for posterity.
Women in Medieval Art
But the art of the period did not shy away from making commentaries on the unfortunate reality for many women. In later centuries, satires depicting young beautiful women marrying old men for money were popular, whilst plenty of chronicles and saints’ Lives showed young girls being sent off to marry much older men in foreign territories. Noblewomen may have had very privileged lives in many ways, but plenty of young girls struggled with the huge upheaval to their lives that marriage brought.
Artwork could also shine a light on the power of noblewomen. Whilst many written sources like chronicles can be frustratingly silent on the important role that women played in courts and governments across Europe, the art is often more generous to their role. Whether it is Queen Nanthild depicted as regent gently guiding her infant son Clovis II, or Joan of Flanders seen holding her husband’s hand and listening to petitioners as his equal, noble and royal women are often shown as powerful entities in medieval art. For one, they often commissioned the creation of such art, something that they were not only able to enjoy during their lifetimes, but which served as a legacy to their memory after their deaths.
And it is not just powerful leaders whose depictions survive today, but the images of countless female courtiers found in manuscripts, tapestries, mirror cases, carved boxes and more. These objects were owned by rich and noble people who wanted to see their lives depicted in their objects, and so many nameless women have survived to today in the art. Records of any women in the medieval period can be patchy, and so these images can fill so many voids left by the written record. A picture paints a thousand words, as they say.
Who Runs the World?
Medieval noblewomen had a plethora of responsibilities. They had to manage servants and households, care for and educate their children, keep their estates running during the absence of their husband, help advance their family’s fortunes, serve at court, and run their own territories. By looking at the art that surrounded them in their everyday lives, we can begin to understand them a little bit more.
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Who Is Gemma Hollman?
Gemma Hollman is a historian and author of The Queen and the Mistress: The Women of Edward III and Royal Witches: From Joan of Navarre to Elizabeth Woodville. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she works full-time in the heritage industry whilst running her historical blog, Just History Posts.
Her book, Women in the Middle Ages: Illuminating the World of Peasants, Nuns, and Queens, is already out in the UK and will be out in North America on 26 November 2024!
I hope you have enjoyed this amazing guest post!
Cheers,
The Historian
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