With the British Library’s Medieval Women: In Their Own Words exhibition making the headlines, medieval women are currently in the spotlight. However, stereotypes about medieval women, especially their lack of independence and agency, abound. This seminar asks,

How can we overturn mistaken assumptions that medieval women were entirely subservient to men or that their situation was far worse than for modern day women?

Such assumptions about medieval women’s lives have their roots in the religious and scientific discourse of the time. Yet, as is the case today, there was some disconnect between the misogyny of the wider culture and society and women’s everyday experience. Some medieval women did have more options than we may realise.

In this session, Pragya Agarwal and Diane Watt will lead a discussion on the challenges of uncovering the lives of medieval women and their relevance to the present day.

Preparatory Reading:

In advance of the session, please read the following short articles:

Pragya Agarwal, “Medieval Women Used Informal Social Networks To Share Health Problems and Medieval Advice Just As We Do Today.” The Conversation, 11 Oct. 2023.
Diane Watt, “In Pursuit of Margaret Paston.” Unseen Histories, 25 Sept. 2023.

Speaker Details:

Pragya Agarwal is currently Visiting Professor of Social Inequities and Injustice at Loughborough University and a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. She is also a Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre of Life Writing, a Fulbright Fellow at City University of New York, and the Vartan Gregorian Centre for Humanities Fellow at the New York Public Library. She is the author of widely acclaimed non-fiction books including Sway (2020), (M)otherhood (2021), and Hysterical (2022).

Diane Watt is Professor of English Literature at the University of Surrey and a Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre of Life Writing. She is the author of several books on medieval women’s writing and, most recently, of God’s Own Gentlewoman: The Life of Margaret Paston (2024).

Further Details and Contacts:

This hybrid event is free and open to all; however, registration is required.
This event will not be recorded.