Medieval Women in the Celtic-Speaking West

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This module concerns the status, roles and representation of women in medieval Irish and Welsh society. The student will be introduced to primary material which can inform us about the socio-legal position of women in these societies as contrasted with that of men, including legal tracts, literary texts, historical texts and didactic writings, the originals of which were written in Irish, Welsh and Latin (but read in English translation). The importance of marriage and other kinds of union in the lives of women will be examined, and the impact these unions had on women's social status will be assessed. Various literary texts will be read, with a view to considering how femininities and masculinities are constructed in them, and the characters of prominent literary women will be examined and analysed. The question of women's agency in society, especially in the area of learning, as well as the factors that wrought change on women's social position, will also be addressed.