Medieval Class System

• Early medieval society divided people into worshipers, warriors and workers. According to historian Shulamith Shahar, in the 12th century, this division became more detailed.The clergy was divided into a hierarchy with the pope on top and parochial priests at the bottom. Warriors were divided into dukes, counts, knights and sergeants. Workers consisted of everything from peasants to beggars and thieves. Under this system, women were considered a distinct class. They were either condemned as agents of sin or held to impossible ideals such as the Virgin Mary.
  
  

Noblewomen

• According to historian Christopher Gravett, a noblewoman's primary duty was providing children and running her husband's domestic affairs. She oversaw household expenses, entertained guests and took charge of the household staff. A noblewoman also took charge of the estate whenever her husband was absent. In wartime, she helped defend the castle. In her spare time, she enjoyed hunting, chess, horseback riding and listening to songs and stories from traveling storytellers and singers called troubadours. Many noblewomen were highly educated, literate and multilingual. Some, such as 15th century poet Christine de Pisan, became professional writers.
  
  

Peasant Women

• Peasants were farmers who worked a nobleman's lands. A peasant woman's life was dominated by hard work. She woke as early three am and made a simple breakfast typically consisting of a thick stew called pottage. At daybreak she then began tending the family's smaller animals such as geese and chickens, tending the family vegetable garden, and collecting wild berries and herbs. She also made her own herbal medicines, wool yarn, cloth and clothing. When she wasn't tending her family's needs, she was working in the lord's castle as maid or kitchen helper.
  
  

Urban Women

• Medieval towns were the center of commerce, craftsmanship and monetary affairs. Urban women were the wives, daughters and widows of urban workers such as merchants and craftsmen. According to Shahar, women were considered citizens of the town if they owned property, married a citizen, or belonged to a union for craftspeople, called a guild. Some urban women often worked alongside their fathers and husbands as skilled craftspeople. Others worked in various trades such as spinning thread, purse making, ribbon making, hat making, weaving, jewelry making and gold-smithing.
  
  

Nuns

• While the medieval Church prohibited women from becoming priests, it allowed them to become nuns. Nuns, also called "brides of Christ," were the female equivalent to monks. As members of religious orders, they typically took vows of poverty and obedience. A nun could devote herself either to a life of secluded contemplation or to charitable work. Nuns were important members of medieval society as artists, scholars, mystics, political activists, teachers and nurses. Many women entered the convent as their only escape from a life of poverty.