I need Loads Of Information About women in the Middle Ages. Moreso On the mistreatment?

One has to consider the fact that in those times it may have been acceptable to stone or like punishment inflicted on women. Times have changed. Just what mistreatment are you alluding to in reference to Middle Age times?|||of course you do|||Well, look it up then. Nobody will ever just hand you anything in life.|||1500's- Baths equaled a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don鈥檛 throw the baby out with the bath water".


|||Women's lives would vary greatly depending on their station in life. Girls of the upper classes were often sent away to be raised in other noble households (as were boys). They would learn to read and write, to ride and hawk, accomplishments like singing and dancing, and the complex business of running a household. Among the upper classes, marriages were often arranged, and girls and boys might be married off quite young, sometime sin their early teens. Most parents would take their children's feelings into consideration when choosing a marriage partner, and the church was opposed to forced marriage,s but pressure could be put on a child who refused their parents choice, as happened with the daughter of Margaret Paston, for example. In the Paston letters Margaret writes about beating her daughter because she was refusing to marry the man Margaret wanted her to.





Among the middle classes, the daughters of merchants etc would usually be taught at home. They would probably learn to read and write, and there were elementary schools in town which taught both boys and girls, sometimes women teachers were employed in some schools. among the common people, the age of marriage was often later, in the early to mid twenties, as young people often worked to establish themselves before marriage.





Girls might work as servants, or they could be apprenticed to various trades. The textile trade employed large numbers of women, spinning was an occupation nearly always done by women (hence the word 'spinster' still in common usage in the 20th century to describe an unmarried woman). Women who were married to merchants or craftsmen or tradesmen were very often involved in the family business, whatever it might be, and some married women were in trade on their own account. A woman who was in business independent of her husband was known as a femme saule. Widows often took over the running of the family business after their husband died. Brewing was a trade often engaged in by women, every village had two or three alehouses which would normally be run by a woman, often a widow. Women could engage in all sorts of other trades, though fewer girls were apprenticed to trades than boys were.





Whatever her station in life, a married woman would be responsible for the running of her household. She would be expected to see to it that there was enough food and clothing for everyone in the house. She would spend a good deal of time spinning wool or flax into thread, and perhaps weaving it into cloth (though many women spun thread and sold it on to professional weavers). She would be responsible for the preparation and preserving of food (very important to preserve enough food for winter, when fresh food was in short supply). She would be in charge of the poultry and the dairy, and make her own butter and cheese. She would brew ale, make her own medicines for home use, and make other household items like soap and candles.





A woman who had a large household to preside over would also be responsible for the welfare of her servants. If her husband had an estate, she would be responsible for running it while he was away. She would be expected to doctor any one who fell sick, tend wounds and even set broken bones. And she would be expected to dispense alms to the poor in addition to her other duties.





Women of all stations were expected to be obedient to their husbands, and a husband was considered to have authority over his wife. And it was considered permissable for him to beat her, as he could also beat his children and servants. But a man was expected to exercise authority wisely and not abuse his position.





The 'timeline' link sent to you above contains highly inaccurage and misleading information. People in the 1500s who had baths certainly used them more than once a year. And even if they did not have a bath, people still washed themselves. And they were very particular about having clean linen (the garment worn next to the skin would be made of linen). Linen was washed frequently. Nor did most people live in the squalid conditions described in the link. The article is mostly fantasy, I doubt the person who wrote it has ever actually bothered to do any real research into the period.