Medieval women: everything you wanted to know
Eleanor Janega busts popular myths surrounding women in the Middle Ages, revealing how society was more open-minded than we might initially expect

What chores did medieval women have to get through each day? How could plucking your eyebrows in the Middle Ages land you in hell? And why did people believe that older women’s looks could kill? In our latest “Everything you wanted to know” episode, medievalist Dr Eleanor Janega answers listener questions about the lives and livelihoods of women in the Middle Ages. Speaking to Emily Briffett, she touches on everything from the trials of childbirth to the best places for women to party in the medieval period.
Eleanor Janega is the author of The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society (WW Norton & Co, 2023)
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