The Family Lives of Medieval Wives by Catherine Hanley explores the family lives of medieval women from the beginning of the twelfth century to the middle of the fifteenth, a time of immense change, war and catastrophe, with England the primary geographic focus. The author explores women of all classes – conveniently formatting the book from upper to lower – exploring the pressures, hardships and triumphs of women in all castes of medieval society. The author’s goal, as noted in the text’s introduction, is to showcase women who were not necessarily extraordinary, but the day-to-day family life of the average woman dependent on her status in society, though as we see the challenges often transcended social status.
The book is divided into four parts: Royal Women, Noblewomen and Gentry, Townswomen, Merchants and Traders and Artisans and Peasants, each with three chapters containing more detail about different aspects of life at that specific societal level. This division allows the author to take the reader on a journey exploring the lives of medieval women from the upper echelons to the most deprived of women. A variety of topics and their impact on daily life are looked at, including the impact of war; running a household, manor or business; and widowhood.
Although often difficult to find in existing records, Hanley does an excellent job of finding evidence of the daily lives of women that were not necessarily noteworthy for anything other than existing in a thankless and often hostile environment. This was particularly noticeable in the later chapters and aided in illuminating lives that are not often discussed. The author also does well to demonstrate how many issues affected women at all levels of society, including the threat of violence, the pressures to produce children and having to live in the shadow of their husbands or other males in their family.
The book is well-written and engaging, often reading more like a novel than a historical text. Helpfully, a chronological table is included at the beginning that outlines the Kings of England, Queen/s consort and selected historical events throughout the discussed period and a map of the locations discussed in England, providing readers an easy place to refer to while reading. The book is accessible to all level of readers, even those with little knowledge of the medieval period, although it may not provide a wealth of new information to highly knowledgeable readers. Overall, the book is an enjoyable read and well worth picking up for anyone interested in the topic whatever their existing knowledge of medieval women.