By telling us of the archeologists, who uncovered the gender of the Birka warrioress or when the writings of Margery Kemp were found, Ramírez gives us an insight into the invaluable work of those people, who first brought the women's stories to life and gives credit were credit is (over)due. As for why Jadwiga was “king” rather than “queen,” this apparently was a question of semantics: her father, king of Poland and Hungary, had no sons and wanted his daughters to inherit in their own right, and this seems to have been a way of getting around rules against women ruling. I was also surprised not to hear mention of Brunhild and Fredegund which I think fit in her period and were themselves extraordinary women - if perhaps not learned and rather more bloodthirsty.

Through isotope analysis on skeletons found in the East Smithfield Black Death burial ground, Redfern discovered that many of the bones belong to people from outside London including Wales, Devon and Cornwall, and the Western Isles of Scotland, with twenty-nine percent classified as Asian, African, or dual heritage.Within that Ramirez does a very impressive job of both standing on the shoulders of giants from the last century, and also utilising all of the technology that archaeology and other forms of scientific analysis can give her. The book’s thesis is that (some) women in the medieval world had more agency, influence, and power than the traditional historical narrative has led us to believe.

The Middle Ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, saints and kings; a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women. It's well-written and covers an interesting period focusing on women, which often don't get coverage when the Middle Ages are concerned. I'm fascinated by the idea of giving a voice to those who have for so long, been almost written out of history and I was attracted to this book because it promised to do exactly that.

Margery Kempe was a merchant’s wife in early 15th-century Norfolk who was halfway through a comfortable life when she decided to give up her smart clothes and good table and marry Christ instead. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. The middle ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, saints and kings: a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women. I enjoyed the book but did think that, if all the background material, opinions and conjectures had been left out, the material was a little thin.