Wide-ranging examination of women's achievements in and influence on many aspects of medieval culture. Medieval women were normally denied access to public educational institutions, and so also denied the gateways to most leadership positions. Modern scholars have therefore tended to study learned medieval women as simply anomalies, and women generally as victims. This volume, however, argues instead for a via media. Drawing upon manuscript and archival sources, scholars here show that more medieval women attained some form of learning than hitherto imagined, and that women with such legal, social or ecclesiastical knowledge also often exercised professional or communal leadership. Bringing together contributors from the disciplines of literature, history and religion, this volume challenges several traditional views: firstly, the still-prevalent idea that women's intellectual accomplishments were limited to the Latin literate. The collection therefore engages heavily with vernacular writings (in Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, French, Dutch, German and Italian), and also with material culture (manuscript illumination, stained glass, fabric and jewelry) for evidence of women's advanced capabilities. But in doing so, the contributors strive to avoid the equally problematic view that women's accomplishments were somehow limited to the vernacular and the material. So several essays examine women at work with the sacred languages of the three Abrahamic traditions (Latin, Arabic and Hebrew). And a third traditional view is also interrogated: that women were somehow more "original" for their lack of learning and and dependence on their mother tongue. Scholars here agree wholeheartedly that women could be daring thinkers in any language; they engage readily with women's learnedness wherever it can be found.

About the Author
KATHRYN KERBY-FULTON is Professor Emerita, University of Notre Dame. KATIEANN-MARIE BUGYIS is Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame. JOHN VAN ENGEN is Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame. KATHRYN KERBY-FULTON is Professor Emerita, University of Notre Dame. JOHN VAN ENGEN is Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame. NICHOLAS WATSON teaches English at Harvard University. His research focuses on medieval English and North European literature, intellectual history, visionary writing and the role of the written vernacular. AMANDA BOHNE is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Reviews
The team of scholars who pulled this collection together have rendered us a great service. . . . Each contributor is a gifted and concise writer. Younger scholars will find much here to expand their own research and thinking; so will graduate students in many fields. The book is especially valuable in its modeling of effective collaboration among interdisciplinary fields. * Magistra *
The readers will find it helpful to have the introductory sections focus on the wider methodological framework and scholarship for each of the approaches taken, while the didactic setup makes this book an ideal tool for teaching purposes. The overall introduction and epilogue are superb in setting the scene, warning of pitfalls, and identifying new avenues of research. Above all, they remind the reader that the women discussed in this volume constitute probably only the tip of an iceberg and for this reason they encourage us to continue digging in archives and libraries to identify more of them. * Church History *
Women Intellectuals and Leaders in the Middle Ages is an impressive volume of essays that ranges across academic disciplines, countries, time periods, and sources in order to contribute to key debates about women's history and role in intellectual life throughout the medieval period. The editors, Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis, and John Van Engen, set out to "tak[e] early women intellectuals and leaders seriously," as the title of Kerby-Fulton's introduction puts it, and in this aim it absolutely succeeds. * Journal of British Studies *
A revelation... Truly this book opened up vistas with new perspectives and possibilities for me. I recommend it highly. * STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEACHING (SMART) *



Book Information
ISBN 9781843846765
Author Professor Kathryn Kerby-Fulton
Format Paperback
Page Count 438
Imprint D.S. Brewer
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 1g