The books on this page are just a selection from those available from the Standish Library. They include both historical and literary studies.
Ruling Women: queenship and gender in Anglo-Saxon literature by 
The Discourse of Enclosure: Representing Women in Old English Literature by 
Gender in Medieval Culture by Gender in Medieval Culture provides a detailed examination of medieval society's views on both gender and sexuality, and shows how they are inextricably linked. Sex roles were clearly defined in the medieval world although there were exceptions to the rules, and this book examines both the commonplace world view and the exceptions to it. The volume looks not only at the social and economic considerations of gender but also the religious and legal implications, arguing that both ecclesiastical and secular laws governed behaviour. The book covers key topics, including femininity and masculinity and how medieval society constructed these terms; sexuality and sex; transgressive sexualities such as homosexuality, adultery and chastity; and the gendered body of Christ, including the idea of Jesus as mother and affective spirituality. Using a clear chapter structure for easy navigation and categorisation, as well as a glossary of terms, the book will be a vital resource for students of medieval history.
Medieval Masculinities by 
The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe by The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe provides a comprehensive overview of the gender rules encountered in Europe in the period between approximately 500 and 1500 C.E. The essays collected in this volume speak to interpretative challenges common to all fields of women'sand gender history - that is, how best to uncover the experiences of ordinary people from archives formed mainly by and about elite males, and how to combine social histories of lived experiences with cultural histories of gendered discourses and identities. The collection focuses on Western Europein the Middle Ages but offers some consideration of medieval Islam and Byzantium, opening these fields for further research.The Handbook is structured into seven sections: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thought; law in theory and practice; domestic life and material culture; labour, land, and economy; bodies and sexualities; gender and holiness; and the interplay of continuity and change throughout the medieval period.This Handbook contains material from some of the foremost scholars in this field, and will not only serve as the major reference text in the area of medieval and gender studies, but will also provide the agenda for future new research.
Women and Gender in Medieval Europe by From women's medicine and the writings of Christine de Pizan to the lives of market and tradeswomen and the idealization of virginity, gender and social status dictated all aspects of women's lives during the middle ages. A cross-disciplinary resource, Women andGender in Medieval Europeexamines the daily reality of medieval women from all walks of life in Europe between 450 CE and 1500 CE, i.e., from the fall of the Roman Empire to the discovery of the Americas. Moving beyond biographies of famous noble women of the middles ages, the scope of this important reference work is vast and provides a comprehensive understanding of medieval women's lives and experiences. Masculinity in the middle ages is also addressed to provide important context for understanding women's roles. Entries that range from 250 words to 4,500 words in length thoroughly explore topics in the following areas: #65533; Art and Architecture #65533; Countries, Realms, and Regions #65533; Daily Life #65533; Documentary Sources #65533; Economics #65533; Education and Learning #65533; Gender and Sexuality #65533; Historiography #65533; Law #65533; Literature #65533; Medicine and Science #65533; Music and Dance #65533; Persons #65533; Philosophy #65533; Politics #65533; Political Figures #65533; Religion and Theology #65533; Religious Figures #65533; Social Organization and Status Written by renowned international scholars, Women and Gender in MedievalEurope is the latest in the Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages. Easily accessible in an A-to-Z format, students, researchers, and scholars will find this outstanding reference work to be an invaluable resource on women in Medieval Europe.
Women in Late Medieval and Reformation Europe, 1200-1550 by The period from c. 500 to 1200 comprises the formative centuries in European history after the fall of the Roman Empire in the west. Societies had to live through political, social, economic and religious challenges. Half the population, though, also had to labour under additional constraints imposed by the prevalent gender theories, which carried a mixture of inherited Judeo-Christian tradition and classical medical and legal custom through the period. Helen M. Jewell provides a lively survey of western European women's activities and experiences during this timespan. The core chapters investigate: - the function of women in the countryside and towns - the role of women in the ruling and landholding classes - women within the context of religion. This practical centre of the book is embedded in an analysis of contemporary, usually male-voiced, gender theories and society's expectations of women. Several individuals who vastly exceeded these expectations, crashing through the 'glass ceilings' of their day, are brought together in a fascinating final chapter. Combining a historiographical survey of trends over the last thirty years with more recent scholarship, this is the ideal introductory guide for anyone with an interest in women's history from the Dark Age through to the early Medieval period.
Writing Medieval Women's Lives by 
Gender, Sexuality, and Material Objects in English Renaissance Verse by 
Shakespeare and Gender by 
Shakespeare's Domestic Economies: gender and property in early modern England by 
Women and Politics in Early Modern England, 1450-1700 by 
Women and Property in Early Modern England by 
Women of Letters: Gender, Writing and the Life of the Mind in Early Modern England by 
