FEMINA: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It, by Janina Ramirez

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“From the Reformation onwards, libraries were scoured for controversial texts… The title of this book—Femina—was the label scribbled alongside texts known to be written by a woman, so less worthy of preservation. We can only wonder how many other texts were dismissed or destroyed as the work of ‘femina’.”

TITLE—Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It

AUTHOR—Janina Ramirez

PUBLISHED—2022

PUBLISHER—WH Allen & Co (Penguin Random House UK)

GENRE—historical nonfiction

SETTING—medieval europe

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—herstory, nuns & mystics, merchants & queens, warriors & weavers, medieval european history, historical theory & interpretation, archaeology, “feminist” & queer history, women’s spaces: especially abbeys & textile industries, diplomacy & political strategy, biases in historical scholarship, post-Reformation christian & Victorian patriarchal oppression & suppression of women’s roles in historical record & scholarship, women’s texts: prayer books, commissioned histories, medical & theological texts, & autobiographies

Summary:

“Misappropriation of the medieval period is rife, from comedic parodies to conspiracy theories. By casting the light back on medieval women and turning many lenses—from osteoarchaeology to art historical analysis—on the evidence, I want to illuminate a different version of the Middle Ages… …a version of the medieval period that has not been flattened or sanitised; one more like the complex societies we live in today.”

My thoughts:

What a fascinating, thought-provoking, & enjoyable read! I am so glad this was the March selection for #ArchaeoBookclub because I don’t think I would have picked it up otherwise as so many “herstory” books I’ve read in the past have always imo tried to be too palatable to white cishetero male historians & academic spaces that many important themes & revolutionary interpretations of the archaeological & historical record are either glossed over or straight up ignored.

Ramirez manages to strike a fantastic balance between positing new & modern-facing interpretations without stretching the evidence to fit a clean story. Ramirez respects the specificity & originality of the time periods & cultures she is dealing with while recognizing & highlighting the importance & implications of those figures & events for how we navigate our modern world.

I would recommend this book to readers who have ever had any interest in western history at all because even as someone who has a degree in archaeology & has long been obsessed with medieval european history in particular, I learned a *ton* of new things from this book & the extremely navigable language & well-researched content (the bibliography is half the book!) I felt would make this an excellent selection for any AP euro history or euro history 101 course syllabus. This book is best read on audiobook! Ramirez narrates it herself and I super enjoyed the energy she brought to her reading. I also followed along with an ebook though so I could take notes & highlight my favorite quotes because there were a *lot* I wanted to save.

Final note: I also thought that this call to action at the end of the book was especially 🤌🏻✨ & a great example of how solid this book’s deeper philosophy was overall. ⤵️

“This is just the start of the conversation. These few women I present to you here are part of a silent majority, with many more voices waiting to be heard. As this book ends, so you can take up the journey of discovery. Go into your local library, visit village museums, read gravestones, walk into churches, explore outlines in fields, search the internet for records, share your findings with others, and open your eyes to the vast body of evidence that history has laid down all around us.

“Scrutinise how you have been taught, ask questions about what stories you’re not hearing and push outside of comfort zones in search of less well-trodden paths. We are all responsible for how people in the future will interpret the historic times we are living through. But first, we need to look backward to understand where we are now and create the future we want to see.

“These medieval women changed the times they lived through and left echoes of their lives for us to uncover centuries later. Every one of us is part of the ever-shifting passage of history. It is our responsibility to think about how we want it recorded and remembered.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

CW // misogyny, rape

Season: Early Spring

Music pairing: ‘Hildegard von Bingen: Heavenly Revelations’ (1995 album)

• Tristan & Isolde (2006 film) soundtrack by Anne Dudley

• “If I Had a Heart” by Karin Dreijer Andersson & Fever Ray

• “Trøllabundin” by Eivør

• “Ella” by Myrkur

Further Reading—

• UNWELL WOMEN by Elinor Cleghorn

  • Read my ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ review for UNWELL WOMEN on storygraph here.

• THE REAL VALKYRIE by Nancy Marie Brown

• RIVER KINGS by Cat Jarman

  • Read my ★ ★ ★ ★ review for RIVER KINGS on storygraph here.

• THE LADY AND THE UNICORN by Tracy Chevalier

• Hildegard of Bingen

• Tristan and Isolde (2006 film)

• THE BOOK OF MARGERY KEMPE by Margery Kempe

• AFRICAN EUROPEANS: AN UNTOLD HISTORY by Olivette Otele—TBR

• HILD by Nicola Griffith—TBR

• MATRIX by Lauren Groff—TBR

• JOAN by Katherine J. Chen—TBR

• CECILY by Annie Garthwaite—TBR

• THE FIVE by Hallie Rubenhold—TBR

• A BOOK OF SECRETS by Kate Morrison—TBR

• THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNY LANGTON by Sarah Collins—TBR

• NAMESAKE by NS Nuseibeh

  • Read my review for NAMESAKE here.

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