page_title: Medieval singlewomen
hierarchical_section_title: Medieval singlewomen
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Mariage de Marie de Brabant et du roi Philippe III de France. Manuscrit des Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, British Library, London. Deutsch: Heirat Marias von Brabant mit dem französischen König Philipp III. von Frankreich, Miniatur aus der Handschrift Chroniques de France ou de St. Denis, British Library, London. English: Maria of Brabant's marriage with the French king Philip III of France, miniature in the manuscript Chroniques de France ou de St. Denis, British Library, London. English: Detail of a scene in the bowl of the letter 'P' with a woman with a set-square and dividers; using a compass to measure distances on a diagram. In her left hand she holds a square, an implement for testing or drawing right angles. She is watched by a group of students. In the Middle Ages, it is unusual to see women represented as teachers, in particular when the students appear to be monks. She is most likely the personification of Geometry, based on Martianus Capella's famous book De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, [5th c.] a standard source for allegorical imagery of the seven liberal arts. Illustration at the beginning of Euclid's Elementa, in the translation attributed to Adelard of Bath. Français&#160;: Détail d'une enluminure du XIVe siècle, contrepoinçon d'une lettre capitale P, au début des Éléments d'Euclide, dans une traduction attribuée à Adélar de Bath. Une femme porte une équerre d'une main et utilise un compas de l'autre pour mesurer des distances sur un diagramme. Un groupe de moines, apparemment ses étudiants, la regardent. Au moyen-age, la représentation d'une femme dans un rôle d'enseignant est inhabituelle. La femme représentée ici serait donc plutôt une personnification de la géométrie. English: 15th century illustration from Giovanni Boccaccio's De Mulieribus Claris. In the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
context_page_description: A medieval singlewoman is a woman born between the 5th and 15th century who did not marry. This category of singlewomen does not include widows or divorcees, which are terms used to describe women who were married at one point in their lives. During the Middle Ages, lifelong spinsters came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, though elite women were less likely to be single than peasants or townswomen.
context_section_description: A medieval singlewoman (also unmarried, unwed, spinster, husbandless, maiden) is a woman born between the 5th and 15th century (c. 400 AD – 1500) who did not marry. This category of singlewomen does not include widows or divorcees, which are terms used to describe women who were married at one point in their lives. During the Middle Ages, lifelong spinsters came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, though elite women were less likely to be single than peasants or townswomen.
caption: Artistic representation of women in the Middle Ages.
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