The Penn's Grove record., 1884-03-15
The Norman Housewife

Inc woman OF the feudal ageS was a
very industrious being. She was lit
orally the head of the household, and
everything in the house was under her
charge. From the nature Of things, the
Norman housewife was a lady with a
multiplicity Of duties. She was the
bread maker and the bread giver. The
original of lady is hlafdic, from hEqf,
bread, and Uedrdi0n, to look after. An
Gent hospitality wasalways shown by the
breaking of bread, and the wife being
the guardian of the home was always the
bread giyer. The whole process of
making cloth was entirely in the hands
Of the woman Of the castle. She had
her band of attendants, or c~hdmbrieres,
v5o carded and cOmbed the wool, beat
the fax and washedthe garments. They
SCARED the sheep with their own hands,
ple& the distaff and needle, and occupi-
ed themselves in weaving and spinning
thread. This latter occupation was
entirely confined to unmarried women,
and discontinued on their marriage;
hence the designation of spinster.
All the Illuminated manuscripts
which have come down to us ~illustrat-
ing the domestic life of the Middle Ages,
show us 1.-THE lady spinning" ''the
lady carding WOOL" ''the lady at the
loom" "the lady at the embroidery
frame" Every important household
had its loom and its spinning wheel.
One of the writers of the twelfth CEN
fury describes a lordly English mansion
in which the loom of the ladies was
lined with linen warp, wool, and with
all the implements used in making linen
and WOODEN stuffs. Every morning the
lady of the mansion and her maidens
could be found at work in this room.
Il the troubled time when men were
busy about other matters woman was
not only her own, but man's physician
This is shown by all the records, roman
ces and illumlnations of the age. Me-
dical recipes in all periods of the Mid
die Ages. written by the fingers of
'ObANAis Il ~ HACbCl NCug ollu LII luC |
secular world generally it was the lady
chatelaine of the castle who set the
knights broken bones by skillful man
ipulatiCns, and healed grievous wounds
by cunning plasters spread by their own
white hands. In the novel of "Ancas-
sin and N~icolette, written in the thir-
teenth century, it is related that the
heroine acted the part of a surgeon when
her lover had dislocated his shoulder;
and in the romance of tElie de st. Gilesn
Ellie who has been wounded, is carried
by the fair Rosamode into her cham
Der, when she takes precious herbs from
LIS coffee and applies them to his wounds.
There is an illuminated manuscript in
of 1470, which illustrates the hlstory'6 81
Tobit. One of the scenes shows us a
chamber wherein the old Israelite is ly-
ing blind and i'll upon his couch, while
his wife Anna sits by the fire preparing
medicine for him, with an open book by
her side.
In the other relations of life the feu-
dial woman exercised proportiOnate pow
or. She not only reflected her husbands
authority, but held independent power
of her own, She was an heiress in her
own right, carrying with her at her dow
er castles, domains, vassals and proyln-
ces. She singed deeds, acted as this guar
dian of a mansion md the regent Of a
State, and shared all the obligations
imposed by wal or peace.
The position and avocation of the
Norman housewife had much to do to-
ward creating a tone of sentiment be-
tween the sexes, which in the same
form had never been known before.
The ~harshness and ferocIty which mark
ed the beginning of feudalism gradual
'ly became lost in elegance of manners
and a universal refinement of feeling
new to society. Out of this exalted posi-
ton, this finer relation between man and
woman in the feudal castle, were born
two words which will never lose their
hold on the civilized heart, namely,
courtesy and chivalry. Courtesy meant
simply the manners and sentiments
which prevailed in the feudal house
hold. Says a medlsyal writer, "Cour-
tesy is the same thing %asnobility OF man.
ners." Courtesy, over everything else,
distinguished the daily intercourse OF
the castle in the Middle Ages, and it
was woman who at once inspired and
fostered it.
The Norman lady had he little &C
complishments and a~musements, like
her sister of the nineteenth century. In
the castle, surrounded by her tire wom-
en-, she would work at tapestry, and
while she listened TO the reading of tales
of ~chivalry, would reproduce them with
the needle to drape the bare walls of her
home. Hawking was one of the favor
tie accomplishments of the feudal wom-
an. Mounted on her richly caparisoned
steed, she would go forth in the bright
mornings to the meadows in pursuit of
game, her hawk or merlin on her wrist.
The harp, the dance. chess and the
garden were the other amusements Of
the day.
THERE is a country editor not a
thousand miles from Iona, Mich, who
takes produce or labor in pay for a