Amy Livingston, Powerful Allies and Dangerous Adversaries: Noblewomen in Medieval Society. Women in Medieval Western European Culture, Garland Publishing Inc.
New York, 1999 – Article
Certainly in our survey of courtly literature, medieval authors have often portrayed elite women as noble and worthy of their high status. However, do these stories reflect reality so much that real life noble women possessed the power fitting of their status? In “Powerful Allies and Dangerous Adversaries,” Amy Livingstone examines the lives of medieval noblewomen through their relationships, responsibilities, and the degrees of power they held.
The life of a medieval noblewoman was heavily influenced by the relationships she was part of during her lifetime. The first relationship she probably experienced was between herself and her parents and siblings. She would have spent most of her time with them, as Livingstone states, “The immediate noble family was nuclear, consisting of a mother, father, and siblings” (12). Most important to her upbringing was the mother, as “mothers were responsible for educating their… children” (12). Noble daughters were important to their parents because they “could expect to inherit a portion of the family land” and therefore were valuable heiresses that could be used in marriage alliances when they were of age (13). Indeed, “Anglo-Saxon parents did not prefer sons to daughters” as both could benefit the family (13). The next relationship a noblewoman would experience was between herself and her husband. At this point, probably in her late teens, she would “be granted a dowry,” a physical manifestation of her value to her husband (14). Obviously, love was not usually of importance in a marriage match, so most noblewomen had a much stronger, far from monetary, relationship with her children. In these relationships “there could be no doubt of affection and care” (16). Noblewoman mothers were “vital in determining the future of their children” and spent much of their time involved in their upbringing, just as their mothers had been with them (16). These three relationships that noblewomen experienced in their lives all demonstrate balances of power: daughters were both subordinate and valuable to parents and husband, and mothers were powerful influences on their children’s lives.
Noblewomen also maintained important responsibilities throughout their lifetimes. First was their responsibility to their husbands. When noblewomen went from becoming daughters of the house to mistresses of the household, many new tasks were given to them to keep their new homes running smoothly (14). In fact, so many noblewomen were made in charge of the finances of the household that their was a demand for Christine de Pizan’s handbook, which “encourages noble wives to become well versed in money matters… because frugal women run their estates more efficiently and are less vulnerable to unscrupulous… businessmen” (15). That there was a need for this text demonstrates the importance of what noblewomen were expected to do for their husbands. Noblewomen’s responsibilities changed while their husbands were away. While husbands went away to war or Crusade, “their wives assumed control of family land, offices, and responsibilities” (17). On the opposite spectrum, if the war came close to home, “noblewomen were called upon to defend their property” (23). Noblewomen were also responsible for what happened to their children. They personally “participated in arranging advantageous marriages or religious careers for their daughters and sons” (16). They were even involved in legal matters regarding the children such as “control and disposition of the family fiefs” (17). These three situations demonstrate the amount of responsibilities noblewomen were expected to carry out during their lifetimes.
Since noblewomen had so many responsibilities in life, it is no far stretch to suspect that they also held high degrees of power during their lifetimes. Women had incredible power, for one, to influence the people around them. They “controlled knights, held courts to settle legal disputes, and engaged in military defense of their homes; some even were extremely violent and disruptive elements of medieval society” (19). Since noblemen were warriors who fought on crusades, women very often outlived their husbands, and enjoyed even more power as widows. A widow had a much higher legal status since “after the death of her husband, a woman received her dower which consisted of one third of her husband’s holdings” (19). This gave them all the power any nobleman would have, including power to own land. When Philippa of Courville outlived her husband, “she [took] on her husband’s duties… and exercised the same rights and prerogatives that all the previous lords of Courville had enjoyed” (20). Women also had power to influence the Church. Noblewomen were given the opportunity to “leave the papacy [their] extensive holdings,” and often did (26). Many noblewomen “enjoyed cordial… relationships with the clerics of the region which, on occasion, compelled them to act as intercessors between their families and the local ecclesiastical institutions” (25). This led to their becoming “vital allies in the attempts to reform the church” (25). The fact that noblewomen were able to influence their lordships, husbands, and even the church indicates that they did indeed hold power befitting to their status.
By the end of the article, it is apparent that Livingstone used the title to refer not to the trials noblewomen faced in their daily interactions, but to represent the women themselves. Through their relationships, responsibilities, and exercises of power, one can see that noblewomen in the middle ages were a force to be reckoned with. Livingstone points out in her own conclusion that “women found innovative ways… of subtly exercising their influence” regardless of how male-dominated their situations were (29).
Lauren Orsini, University of Mary Washington
