These are the stories of women famous infamous & unknown who shaped the course of medieval history The lives & actions of medieval women were restricted by the men who ruled the homes countries & world they lived in It was men who fought wars made laws & dictated religious doctrine It was men who were taught to read trained to rule & expected to fight Today it is easy to think that all women from this era were downtrodden retiring & obedient housewives whose sole purpose was to give birth to children (preferably boys) & serve their husbands Heroines of the Medieval World looks at the lives of the women who broke the mould those who defied social norms & made their own future consequently changing lives society & even the course of history Some of the women are famous such as Eleanor of Aquitaine who was not only a duchess in her own right but also Queen Consort of France through her first marriage & Queen Consort of England through her second in addition to being a crusader & a rebel Then there are the more obscure but no less remarkable figures such as Nicholaa de la Haye who defended Lincoln Castle in the name of King John & Maud de Braose who spoke out against the same king's excesses & whose death (or murder) was the inspiration for a clause in Magna Carta Women had to walk a fine line in the Middle Ages but many learned to survive
- even flourish
- in this male-dominated world Some led armies while others made their influence felt in more subtle ways but all made a contribution to their era & should be remembered for daring to defy & lead in a world that demanded they obey & follow