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Medieval European peasant women: A fragmented historiography
Author(s) -
Wright Sharon Hubbs
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/hic3.12615
Subject(s) - peasant , scholarship , historiography , agency (philosophy) , agrarian society , german , political science , gender studies , wage , sociology , history , social science , agriculture , law , archaeology
This article provides a comprehensive review of scholarship since 1980 concerning medieval peasant women (roughly 1000–1500 CE) in the regions studied by German, French, Italian, and Spanish scholars. It examines research that focuses directly on medieval peasant women but does not discuss the great agrarian and economic histories or studies of peasant families that merely mention but do not focus on women. Many of the major themes and questions within women's history of the past four decades—questions about women's status, agency, and wage inequality— are reflected in scholarship on medieval European peasant women; however, European scholars have been resistant to critical analysis of their data and have worked within regional frameworks without much comparative engagement with scholars working in other locations. Reviewing the state of the field makes it clear that there are many opportunities for future research, especially comparative analysis.