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Women in Medieval Literature

An medieval style illustration of a woman in a blue dress wearing a headwrap with her arm extended.

Literature from the Middle Ages often portrays women as both idealized figures and complex characters, reflecting societal ideals and anxieties of the time. From poetic laments to chivalric romances, these stories reveal cultural attitudes towards women, highlighting their virtues, vulnerabilities, and sometimes, their agency within narrative constraints. Such works continue to influence modern perceptions of […]

What cities do I want to visit?

The cities that I want to visit has to do with everywhere the disciples went to and Christ, then where the Vikings explored. I want to start with Israel/ Jerusalem. And I want to see Nova Scotia and Iceland, Greenland, then Scandinavia. I want to travel the Balkans. I want to travel more. I have […]

Last article from Melissa Elmes- King Arthur and Fortune

Last article from Medieval studies- Melissa Elmes Early in the Historia regum Britannie, Leir berates Fortune as he muses on the contrast between his current wretchedness and his past glories: Indeed, the memory of the time when, attended by so many hundred thousand fighting-men, I used to batter down the walls of cities and to lay […]

My first day in Afghanistan

As we flew in, I thought I was blessed. It was amazing. I saw these beautiful mountains and camels running across the desert. And camel herders in white and colorful headwraps. I was in a different world. Alone. I knew no one. My first step off the plane as a contractor Medic. Never did I […]

Authors of Medieval romances

I used to read many Medieval romances. I guess this is where my interests started. I think I have read everything that Kathleen E Woodiwiss, Joann Lindsay and Amanda Quick  has written. They are stranger meets girl, saves her, falls in love, lives happily ever after. I also like the stories that have historical settings […]

The Crusades

I really wanted to write about the Crusades because I am so interested in them because of the Knights of the Templar, Lancelot, the Three Musketeers, to Indiana Jones. I like stories. It now fascinates me because of this class of Medieval Women that I just took and I also learned that there are two […]

The Black Plague- a historic event/ disease from the Medieval period

The Black Plaque aka the Black Death was a bubonic pandemic that still rates as the most deadly that occurred in Europe from 1346-1353. It’s estimated to have killed 50, 000,000 people. It was caused by a bacteria ( Yersinia pestis) that was in fleas that traveled by rats. The rats likely transfer the disease […]

Chivalrous Genre- my new favorite

Chivalric Romances are the medieval romances popular from the 12th- 15th century. They feature heroic knights, suffering, adventure, virtues of honor bravery and loyalty. There’s courtly love and usually some fantasy and magic. They are the Arthurian tales that we all love. There is a quest, fighting some kind of monsters, defending the weak, a […]

The Martyred Women in Medieval Times: Joan de Arc

  Joan de Arc, I didn’t really know her. All I knew was that she was martyred for running an army and for being a Christian. There is much to know. Joan was born in 1412 in the village of Domremy. At about 16 years of age, Joan began hearing the voices of 3 saints: […]

My Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt 1. Three Medieval Queens Born May 3, 1446, died at 57 years in 1477 She was the daughter of King Edward IV and King Richard III. She did not conceive children of her own but was stepmother to her husband’s children (Marie and Maximillian) and had a perfect relationship with them. She married […]