Married Women In Medieval Times

Being married or single affected the life of a woman in medieval times. When married, a woman became attached to her husband, but still had very little existence in society. Married women became the mistress of their house and gained the position of the wife (Moore). As wives, women did all the chores their husbands didn’t have the time for, such as cooking, cleaning, caring for the children, milking the cows, tending to the fire, and making clothes (Moore). Whether a woman was married or single, she was able to own land as well as sell that land. A woman’s husband was not allowed to sell her property without he consent, that is if she owned any land. A woman could only own land if she had no brothers to inherit the land before her or she was part of a wealthier family (Gies

and Gies 29). Women were also able to own goods, make a will or contract, go to court, and sue others or be sued (Gies and Gies 29).

In general, women had no legal existence and no responsibility so her husband was left responsible for any debts and misbehavior (Gies and Gies 30). However, without ithout a husband, whether they were widowed or single, women found many restrictions placed on them and this made it difficult to do certain tasks. Unmarried women would work as a wage laborer, which included jobs such as haymaking, thatching, reaping, or washing (Moore). They also might work as a live-in servant, either at richer peasants home or the manor house itself, taking care of the lord’s children, washing clothing, or any other job assigned by their master (Moore). If an unmarried woman couldn’t find any work within the manor, they would be to travel to a town if possible. However they would find this difficult, given that most women were tied to their manor and the land. Widowed women, wives who have lost their husbands, had to give their lord a heriot and also give the church a mortuary (Moore). A heriot was a large part for the woman’s household that was given to the manor’s lord after one’s husband

died. The lord would take metal objects, the family’s best animal, cloth, and pigs (Moore). The church then received a mortuary, which was yet another tax in which they took the second best animal the family had (Moore). Women were then, and only then, allowed to take possession of their husband's land, if in fact they had enough money to do so (Moore). However, many women and children were left in poverty with less than half their previous possessions because of these taxes (Moore). Whether a woman was married or unmarried greatly affect their life as being married she was given great responsibility for her family and being unmarried meant little options.