Our exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words highlights the stories of women across medieval society, from labourers and artisans to abbesses and queens. Some of the most unique experiences were had by anchoresses, religious women such as Julian of Norwich (d. after 1416), Christine Carpenter (fl. 1329-1332) and Margaret Kirkby (d. c. 1391-4), who chose to enclose themselves permanently in cells attached to churches. There they lived lives of prayer, contemplation and devotion to God.

Several surviving texts provide guidance to anchoresses about how to live their lives. One handbook, known as Ancrene Wisse, was composed in the first decades of the 13th century, supposedly for three sisters who had chosen to enter the contemplative life. One of the earliest and most important surviving manuscripts of this text (Cotton MS Cleopatra C VI) is on display in the exhibition. The Middle English work not only offers anchoresses spiritual advice, but also practical instructions about all aspects of their daily routine, outlining the rules they are expected to observe, from their food and drink to their clothes and possessions, and even the pets they could own.

The earliest surviving manuscript of Ancrene Wisse; England, c. 1225-1230: Cotton MS Cleopatra C VI, f. 193r

Here is a selection of these rules that give a taste of what life as an anchoress might have looked like:

Life in the Anchorhold

• An anchoress’s cell should only have three windows: a church window, that provides a view into the church to see the Eucharist, a house window, to allow for food and other goods to be brought in, and a parlour window for dealing with the outside world. These windows should be as small as possible, and closed when not in use.
• Anchoresses are not allowed to preach and can only offer advice to women. They are also not allowed to criticise men for their vices, the exception being ‘holy old anchoresses’ who may do it in a certain way (the text does not elaborate).
• Anchoresses should not curse or swear.
• Anchoresses must not become teachers or turn the anchorhold into a school.
• They should neither send letters, nor receive letters, nor write without leave.
• Anchoresses are allowed maidservants – Julian of Norwich is known to have had two, called Sarah and Alice – but they have to observe strict rules.

The enclosure of an anchoress by a bishop; London, 15th century: Lansdowne MS 451, f. 76v

Diet, Sleep and Hygiene

• Anchoresses must not use meat or fat in their meals but instead observe a diet of vegetable stew and be accustomed to drink very little.
• Eating with guests outside the anchorhold is not allowed, and men are barred from eating in the anchoress’s presence.
• Anchoresses and their maidservants should not eat or snack outside of mealtimes.
• No one else is allowed to sleep in the anchoress’s home, and anchoresses must only sleep in their beds.
• Washing is encouraged! Anchoresses can wash themselves and their things as often as they like.
• Anchoresses must have their hair cut, shaved or trimmed four times a year.
• Bloodletting is permitted (a common medieval medical treatment), but the guide warns that afterwards, the anchoress should do nothing strenuous for three days and pass the time with her servants, sharing ‘theawfule talen’ (virtuous stories) together.
• When unwell, anchoresses should not take remedies advised by ‘uncundelich lechecreft’ (unnatural healing), in case they make things worse.

Clothing

• Clothing should be plain, warm and well-made.
• A covering should be worn upon the head, either a wimple or a simple cap.
• In winter, an anchoress’s shoes should be soft, large, and warm, while in summer, light shoes can be worn, or there is the option to walk barefoot.
• Anchoresses should not own rings, brooches, patterned belts and gloves or any other kind of adornments.

The only animal an anchoress was allowed to keep was a cat: Add MS 42130, f. 190r

Manual Work and Possessions

• Anchoresses should not conduct business. An anchoress who is fond of bargaining ‘chepeth hire sawle the chap-mon of helle’ (sells her soul to the peddler of Hell).
• They should not make embroidered items like purses, caps, silk bandages or lace as a means of making friends. If they want to sew, they can make church vestments or mend clothes for the poor.
• Anchoresses can receive gifts from ‘good people’, but they should not take anything from those they do not trust. Examples of untrustworthy people include those with ‘fol semblant’ (foolish pretences) or ‘wake wordes’ (idle chatter).
• Anchoresses are not allowed to look after other people’s possessions, including clothes, boxes, charters or tally sticks, indentures, church vestments and chalices.
• No pets allowed! Anchoresses are told ‘ne schule ye habben nan beast bute cat ane’ (you should not keep any animals, except a single cat), so they do not invest too much thought on their welfare. If an anchoress must have an animal, then it should not bother or harm anyone and she should not think too much about it, as an ‘ancre ne ah to habben na thing thet ut-ward drahe hire heorte’ (‘an anchoress should not have anything which draws away her heart’).

Ancrene Wisse was one of the more popular medieval anchoritic handbooks – at least 17 manuscripts of the text survive, with translations in Middle English, Anglo-Norman French and Latin – but whether these rules represented a reality for all anchoresses is difficult to judge. There may have been other advisory texts available to guide them, some less stringent than others. One can also imagine the individual relationships anchoresses had with their communities meant that a life of restriction and near-total seclusion was harder to adhere to. Nonetheless, the rules Ancrene Wisse sets out give us a sense of what these women were knowingly committing to when then entered the contemplative life.

An anchoress inside her anchorhold; London, c. 1400-1410: Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079, f. 96r

To learn more about the lives of anchoresses, visit our major exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, which runs from 25 October 2024 until 2 March 2025, at St Pancras in London. Tickets are available to order now!

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

Calum Cockburn

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Alongside our Medieval Women exhibition, we are delighted to announce a series of public events, featuring prominent speakers and focusing on themes connected with our show. The full listing can be found on our online events page.

On 29 October, Kate Mosse, novelist, playwright and campaigner, and author of Labyrinth and Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries, will pick her highlights from the voices and lives showcased in the exhibition, in Here and Now: Meet the Medieval Women. Kate will be joined by musician Kate Arnold in an exclusive live performance of medieval lyrics accompanied by the hammered dulcimer.

Then, on 8 November, the exhibition curators will join historian Helen Castor in conversation, giving insights into how the show was put together, in Medieval Women: the Curators' Lunchtime Lecture. 

On 11 November, we are delighted to welcome Hetta Howes, talking about her new book, Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife, in conversation with Helen Carr, in The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women.

We have a panel discussion on 18 November, Medieval Get Ready With Me, when Anita Bhagwandas, Jill Burke and Amber Butchart will be exploring the history of cosmetics, fragrances and treatments.

Our final event that month is The Ordinary Lives of Medieval Women, on 28 November, when historical novelist Philippa Gregory will be joined in conversation by presenter and journalist Sangita Myska, telling the stories of the 'ordinary' medieval women who went to war, tilled the fields, wrote, loved, committed crimes, cooked, nursed and rioted. But not necessarily all at once.

Later in the year and into 2025, our speakers include Janina Ramirez and Lauren Groff, as well as theatrical and musical performances.

We hope you can join us either in person or online, and that you are able to visit our major exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, at the British Library until 2 March 2025 (tickets can be booked in advance here).

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

 

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Fanfare, please! We are thrilled to say that the British Library's major new exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, is now open to the public. The first ticket-holders are starting to go through the doors, and we hope thousands more will follow them in the coming months.

It's about time, we think, that medieval women took the spotlight. Margery Kempe (died in 1438) wrote the first autobiography in the English language. Her contemporary, Joan of Arc (burned in 1431), led armies to victory in a male-dominated world. Marta, an enslaved Russian woman, was sold in the marketplace in Venice in 1450. Shajar al-Durr (died in 1257) was the first woman to rule in Mamluk Egypt. Margery Brews wrote the first Valentine letter in 1477. Sibylle of Flanders (died in 1163) refused to return home with her husband from Jerusalem. Margaret of Anjou (died in 1482) owned a pet Barbary lion. Gwerful Mechain (lived in the late 1400s) wrote explicit poetry. Joan Astley asked Henry VI for a pay rise in 1423/4. Margaret, Maid of Norway (died in 1290), aged just seven, was to be betrothed to an English prince. Estellina Conat was the first woman to print a book in Hebrew, in 1474. Margaret Starre took part in the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. Joan of Beverley embroidered an altar band in the 14th century.

Our exhibition features an incredible range of manuscripts, documents and early printed books from the Library's collections, alongside some amazing loans from other institutions. Medieval Women is the culmination of many months' hard work behind the scenes, by colleagues in our Exhibitions, Loans, Conservation, Marketing, Press, Publishing, Events, Learning, Commercial and Visitor Services teams — not to mention the curators (Ellie, Julian, Calum) and our other colleagues. We hope you have the chance to visit our exhibition in person, to attend one of the events, or to buy the book. We like to think that the medieval women whose stories we tell would have been delighted to make your acquaintance.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

 

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Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is on show at the British Library in London from 25 October 2024–2 March 2025.

The manuscript of Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love: Add MS 37790

On display is an extraordinary array of manuscripts, documents, early printed books, paintings, coins, textiles and objects associated with women from across medieval Europe. They feature unique items from the British Library's own collections, alongside major loans from the Louvre, the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and other institutions. We are extremely grateful to our lenders for making this exhibition possible.

Portrait of Margaret of York (d. 1503): on loan to the Medieval Women exhibition from Musée du Louvre

You can explore some of the items in the exhibition in more detail here.

• Julian of Norwich, The Revelations of Divine Love, 15th century: Add MS 37790 (The British Library)
• Disease woman, in the Wellcome Apocalypse, 15th century (©The Wellcome Collection)
• A herbal containing plants used in medical treatments, late 13th or early 14th century: Egerton MS 747 (The British Library)
• Maraviglia's prayer book, 1469: Add MS 26957 (The British Library)
• The Sister Haggadah, 14th century: Or 2884 (The British Library)
• Portrait of Margaret of York, 15th century (©Musée du Louvre)
• 'And I war a maydyn', 16th century: Add MS 31922 (The British Library)
• Trousseau or marriage chest of Elizabetta Gonzaga, c. 1488 (©The Victoria & Albert Museum)
• Legal decisions of Isaiah di Trani the Elder, 1293 (©The Bodleian Libraries)
• Ivory cross of Sibylle of Flanders, before 1163 (©Musée du Louvre)
• Gold coin of Shajar al-Durr, first female sultan of Egypt, 1250 (© The British Museum)
• Portrait of Lady Margaret Beaufort, by an unknown artist, 16th century (©Christ's College, Cambridge)
• Embroidered altar band made by Joan of Beverley, 14th century (©The Victoria & Albert Museum)

A gold coin of Shajar al-Durr, the first female sultan of Egypt: on loan to the Medieval Women exhibition from the British Museum

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

 

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Our major new exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, opens on 25 October 2024. In hot anticipation, here are some ways you can get involved, and a sneak preview of the gallery to whet your appetite.

Tickets can be purchased in advance here or in person at the British Library, with a large range of concessions available.

The exhibition book, Medieval Women: Voices and Visions, edited by Eleanor Jackson & Julian Harrison, with a foreword by Kate Mosse, can be ordered in advance from the British Library Shop. The perfect birthday or Christmas present! Maybe we can even tempt you to buy our Medieval Women Christmas jumper.

We have an exciting programme of events, starting with Kate Mosse, Here and Now: Meet the Medieval Women, on 29 October (in person and online).

Meanwhile, our Learning team has organised school workshops and tours, and you can find more information about them here.

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words runs from 25 October 2024 until 2 March 2025, at St Pancras in London. We'd be delighted to see you there, as we uncover the stories of women from the past, from across Europe, and from all walks of life.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

 

 

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During the Middle Ages, some of the most popular and well-loved stories were about classical women, female saints and heroines of courtly romance.  In a new British Library publication, Maidens or Monsters? Tales of Amazons, Goddesses, Queens & Temptresses in Medieval Manuscripts, Chantry Westwell delves into the stories of these women, exploring their portrayal by medieval authors and illuminators. 

The book is divided into six sections dedicated to female warriors and murderesses, women of virtue and faith, power, and tragedy, as well as enigmatic and allegorical women taken from myth and legend. Their accounts are accompanied by some of the most exquisite examples of medieval art, reproduced from within the pages of manuscripts from the eighth to the 16th centuries, mostly from the British Library’s collections.

The six sections are as follows: 

I: Warriors, Murderesses and Femmes Fatales

The first section of the book features stories of the legendary Amazon Women led by their Queen Penthesilea, the Colchian witch Medea, who takes her revenge on the Greek hero Jason, Minerva, goddess of war and Salome, who danced for Herod, then asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. 

Queen Penthesilea leads the Amazon Women into battle, from Christine de Pizan’s ‘Book of the Queen’ (Paris, c. 1410-c. 1414): Harley MS 4431/1, f. 103v

II: Holy Women

The second section focuses on the lives and stories of holy women, from Mary Magdalene and St Margaret of Antioch, who emerges from a dragon’s belly to St Helena, mother of Constantine the Great and a remarkable group of desert saints known as the Holy Harlots.

St Mary of Egypt is handed a cloak by St Zosima, from in the Theodore Psalter (Constantinople, 1066): Add MS 19352, f. 68r.

III: Powerful Women

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, Olympias of Macedon, and Candace of Ethiopia are among those featured in this section dedicated to women who wielded real power in their lifetimes but were not always treated fairly by historians and chroniclers, who tended to portray them as manipulative temptresses rather than as skilful politicians or rulers.

The Egyptian Nectanebo disguised as a serpent seducing Olympias, in the Roman d’Alexandre en prose (‘Prose Alexander Romance’), from the Talbot Shrewsbury Book (Rouen, c. 1445): Royal MS 15 E VI, f. 6r

IV: Tragic Heroines

This section looks at women whose stories ended in great tragedy: from the romantic heroine Elvide and the classical Lucretia who both die for their honour, to the Persian Shirin who takes her own life on her husband’s grave, and the story of the Biblical Eve, blamed for the downfall of humanity, exiled from paradise, before experiencing terrible family tragedy.

The suicide of Shirin at Khusraw’s tomb, in Nizami, Khamsah (India, 1595): Or 12208, f. 102r

V: Partners and Lovers

The women in the fifth section of the book were all partners of famous men, but nonetheless captured the limelight in their stories.  Among them are Camelot’s Guinevere and the legendary Helen of Troy, as well as the Old Testament Delilah, Dante’s Beatrice from the Divine Comedy and Humayun, the Chinese princess of Persian folklore.

Beatrice showing Dante the orders of angels and saints in Dante, Paradiso (Tuscany, c. 1445): Yates Thompson MS 36, f. 180r

VI:  Mystical, Magical and Allegorical Women

The final section looks at the stories of mystical and magical women, from the fairy Melusine, who transforms into a fish, to the mermaids, who lured sailors from their ships, and the divine Sibyls, known for their prophecies, along with other fantastical female characters.

Two Sirens swim beside a ship with sailors who are under their spell, from the Queen Mary Psalter (London, c. 1315): Royal MS 2 B VII, f. 96v

It becomes clear when reading these tales that women were not always treated fairly or in a positive light by medieval historians and storytellers, most of whom were, of course, men. A counter to this was Christine de Pizan (b. 1364, d. c. 1430), a professional author based at the French royal court during the 14th and early 15th centuries, who argued forcefully in her writings for the intellectual and moral equality of women. Her Book of the City of Ladies was an impassioned defence of women, in which she recounted the stories of these heroines, and imagined herself building a metaphorical city from their achievements. It was Christine who provided the inspiration for this book.

The goddess Venus presiding over her courtiers, who give her their hearts, from Christine de Pizan’s ‘Book of the Queen’ (Paris, c. 1410-c. 1414): Harley MS 4431/1, f. 100r

Maidens or Monsters? Amazons and Goddesses, Queens and Temptresses in Medieval Legend is available to order now from the British Library Shop.

Chantry Westwell

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There’s just one month to go until the opening of our new exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words. We can’t wait for visitors to come and explore the rich and complex lives of women in the Middle Ages!

If you can’t wait either, then you might be excited to learn that the exhibition book, Medieval Women: Voices & Visions, is now available for pre-order from the British Library’s online bookshop. All orders will be dispatched after 25 October, the exhibition's opening date.

Drawing on the exhibition items, the book takes a deeper dive into the lives and times of women in Europe in the period of roughly 1100–1500. It begins with a preface by International bestselling author and British Library board member Kate Mosse, followed by an introduction by the exhibition’s lead curator, Eleanor Jackson. The book contains nine chapters exploring over-arching themes, and forty-three short ‘spotlights’ that shine a light on particular women, events and issues, all written by experts in the field.

The volume is divided into four main sections reflecting women’s contributions right across medieval society: ‘Private Lives’, exploring women’s bodies, health, households and family life; ‘Public Lives’, focusing on women’s power and political involvement; ‘Working Lives’, revealing women’s work and creativity; and ‘Spiritual Lives’, uncovering women’s experiences as visionaries, heretics, and in religious communities. It tells the stories of a wide variety of women: from queens to peasants, nuns to sex-workers, physicians to artists.

Sumptuously illustrated, the book is a feast for the eyes. There are images of most of the items on display in the exhibition, and many more!

You can pre-order your copy of the Medieval Women exhibition book now on the British Library website.

The exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is open at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can pre-book your tickets online now.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.

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Following the cyber-attack on the British Library last year, staff have been working behind the scenes to restore access to the Library’s digitised manuscripts. The Library has now made an initial batch of 1,000 digitised items available online, of which over 600 are ancient, medieval and early modern manuscripts.

A full list of the items, with links to their digitised images and summary catalogue information, can be consulted on the British Library website. Improvements to the discoverability of the manuscripts will be made in due course.

The page for Easter Sunday in the Sherborne Missal: Add MS 74236, p. 216

A highlight is the Sherborne Missal (Add MS 74236), a service book containing all the texts required for celebrating Mass on the different feasts, holidays and saints’ days throughout the year. Made for the Benedictine abbey of St Mary in Sherborne, Dorset, the manuscript has been called one of the masterpieces of 15th-century English illumination, with decoration on nearly all of its 694 pages. You can read more about the manuscript in our previous blogpost and listen to a guided tour and discussion of the page for Easter Sunday as part of the BBC’s Moving Picture Series.  

A phoenix rising from the ashes, from an illuminated Bestiary: Harley MS 4751, f. 65r

The selection also includes all 400 manuscripts digitised as part of The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project, a ground-breaking collaborative project between the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The manuscripts, made in England and France between the years 700 to 1200, comprise a wide range of texts and topics, including biblical, liturgical and theological works, science, music and medicine, Classical and contemporary literature and works on history and law. Among them are a lavishly-illuminated Bestiary (Harley MS 4751), with illustrated accounts of birds, beasts and fantastical creatures, and the Eadui Psalter (Arundel MS 155), a copy of the Book of Psalms, written by a scribe called Eadui Basan at Christ Church, Canterbury in the early 11th century, with a partial gloss in Old English.

The Beatus page of the Eadui Psalter, showing the opening of Psalm 1: Arundel MS 155, f. 12r

There are also a number of manuscripts containing significant works of Middle English literature. They include the ‘Amherst Manuscript’ (Add MS 37790), a Carthusian anthology of theological material containing the only surviving medieval copy of the Short Text of The Revelations of Divine Love by the anchoress Julian of Norwich. This work is an account of the 16 mystical visions Julian experienced in her early 30s, and the earliest surviving example of a book in the English language known to have been written by a woman.

The Short Text of Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love: Add MS 37790, f. 98v

As further digitised manuscripts become available online, we will post updates about them on the Medieval Manuscripts blog. Browse a list of all currently available digitised manuscripts here. 

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