The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women - Hetta Howes

Few women had the luxury of writing down their thoughts and feelings during medieval times. But remarkably, there are at least four who did: Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a no-good wife.

Hetta Howes has spent her working life uncovering these women’s stories to give us unique historical and political insight that challenges what we hold to be common knowledge about medieval women in Europe. Women did earn money, they could live independent lives, and they thought, loved, fought and suffered just as we do today.

Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife shows women of the Middle Ages as leaders and innovators, who changed the world around them, even as they faced challenges surprisingly similar to those that women still have to navigate today. Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife is an exquisite portrait of the world in which these women lived, told like never before.

About Hetta Howes

Dr Hetta Howes is a Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at City, University of London, and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. She regularly contributes to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as writing for publications such as The Times Literary Supplement and BBC History Extra. She has a BA and MPhil from Cambridge University and a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London.