754 women, status of
for spiritual growth. He tolerantly joined Arthurian and
Oriental concepts of CHIVALRY, urging toleration between
the Christian and Muslim worlds. Wolfram wrote about
aristocratic and chivalrous ideals and chaste MARRIAGE
and fulfillment of duty. Parzivalwas a religious poem
about Perceval and was quite different from most courtly
romance. He died about 1220.
See alsoGRAIL, LEGEND OF, ANDGRAIL ROMANCES.
Further reading:Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival,
trans. A. T. Hatto (London: Penguin Books, 1980); Wol-
fram von Eschenbach, Willehalmtrans. Mario E. Gibbs
and Sidney M. Johnson (London: Penguin Books, 1984);
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Titurel; and the Songs,ed. Mar-
ion E. Gibbs and Sidney M. Johnson (New York: Garland,
1988); D. H. Green, “Wolfram von Eschenbach,” in Euro-
pean Writers: The Middle Ages and the Renaissance,Vol. 1,
Prudentius to Medieval Drama,ed. William T. H. Jackson
and George Stade (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,
1983), 263–286; James F. Poag, Wolfram von Eschenbach
(New York: Twayne, 1972); Hermann J. Weigand, ed.,
Wolfram’s Parzival: Five Essays with an Introduction
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1969).
women, status of The status of women during the
period 300 to 1500 varied according to class and many
other factors, some permanent and some transitory. The
Christian church in the East and the West had an ambiva-
lent but generally misogynist attitude, but it did accept
women as having different, perhaps imperfect, natures;
souls like those of men; and capacity for REDEMPTION.
Their role in producing other Christians was appreciated,
but their SEXUALITYwas deemed always dangerous to the
celibate clergy, if not to males in general. Their legal sta-
tus varied according to class and constantly evolving laws
and legal systems. Their freedom of action or agency also
varied over time and space. They were generally and in
various degrees under the authority of a male relative or
husband. In terms of succession, they were usually in line
after males. Both ecclesiastical and civil law granted
women certain rights and often did try to protect them
from male exploitation and abuse. Some women did exer-
cise power and authority over property at the dynastic,
estate, and, more commonly, household levels. The status
and rights of Jewish women paralleled those of Christian
women; CELIBACYafter MARRIAGEor as a vocation was not
an ideal option. Marriage and reproduction were
expected. They were learned from the study of TORAH
and segregated in SYNAGOGUES.
MARRIAGE AND RELIGIOUS PURSUITSIn theory marriage was a contract in which women had
certain rights and obligations. Monogamy in marriage
was the rule and divorce impossible, though separations
were available to some. Women’s obligations included
obedience and acquiescence to their husband’s procre-
ative access to their body. Their rights included some idea
of support even after the death of the husband. Although
at the upper level of society women were viewed almost
as commodities valued for their prospective fertility,
dowries, and inheritances or family connections with
other males, the reality of married life could work out to
be more equitable than one might expect. For the unmar-
ried LAITY, celibacy was the only acceptable way of life. In
Christianity NUNShad an honorable religious status as
celibates dedicated to GODbut were never considered to
be eligible for the priesthood or real clerical status. The
access to learning and scholarship of all women was lim-
ited, but numerous religious and lay women did produce
written and artistic material. Women could attain saint-
hood but did so far less often than males. Women had
clear cultural impact as patrons of authors and artists.
All these contradictory capabilities and disabilities,
attitudes, and practices did not remain the same through-
out the Middle Ages. Working-class women spent their
life, as did the men of that class, continuously striving to
eke out a living at rural agricultural tasks or endless toil
in artisan trades such as brewing or cloth making. Such
economic status could lead to more equitable relation-
ships as the partners needed one another for survival.WOMEN IN ISLAM
In ISLAMthe QURANgranted women a legal personality,
confirmed rights in their marriage, and made divorce
possible under certain circumstances. Early Islam forbade
female infanticide and recognized women’s full person-
hood. They had the same religious obligations as Mus-
lims as men. Both sexes were completely equal before
God, but the differences in their nature required different
roles in society. Other disadvantages compared to male
prerogatives were more clear; for example, men were
allowed to marry someone of another religion, who was
not required to convert to Islam. Males were favored in
inheritance. Their testimony in court had more weight.
Men could have up to four wives.
See alsoBEGUINES ANDBEGHARDS; CHIVALRY; CONCU-
PISCENCE; COURTLY LOVE; FAMILY AND KINSHIP; HERESY AND
HERESIES; IRENE; MARY, CULT OF; MYSTICISM, CHRISTIAN;
THEODORAI; TROUBADOURS; WIDOWS AND WIDOWHOOD;
WILLS AND TESTAMENTS.
Further reading:“X: Women in the Medieval World”
in the Bibliography; Gillian Clark, Women in Late Antiq-
uity: Pagan and Christian Life Styles(Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1993); Lynda Garland, Byzantine Empresses: Women
and Power in Byzantium, A.D. 527–1204(London: Rout-
ledge, 1999); Margaret L. King, Women of the Renaissance
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991); Denise
Spellberg, Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy
of A’isha bint Abi Bakr(New York: Columbia University
Press, 1994); Barbara Freyer Stowasser, Women in the
Qur’an, Traditions, and Interpretation(New York: Oxford
University Press, 1994); Merry E. Weisner, Women and
Gender in Early Modern Europe,2d ed. (New York: Cam-
bridge University Press, 2000).