The Middle Ages in a Skirt

We read about them in chivalric romances and satirical novellas by Boccaccio, saw them in films, and examined them in paintings. But there has never been, and there is still not, a unified opinion. This is understandable—what could be common between noble beautiful princesses, for whom knights perform feats, and dirty peasant women, who die quietly somewhere in the background of a series or novel? What is the proper medieval woman like? A vessel of sin or a Beautiful Lady? A valuable commodity on the marriage market or a powerless slave of her husband? A daring harlot or an exalted nun? Or maybe all of this taken together? Or none of it, so it is better to forget everything we knew or thought we knew on this topic, start studying everything from scratch, and seek the truth somewhere else, where no one has looked yet. Women of the medieval era: stereotypes and facts.