The roles of the women during the medieval period were household based. Just like in the middle ages, the women were expected to be good wives and mothers to the children. Around this period, two great women lived. They were Elizabeth Schonau, who lived between c1128-1164, and Aethelthryth. Both women were virgins who dedicated their lives to serving the Lord. Unlike Aethelthryth, Elizabeth remained unmarried all her life. Elizabeth was a German Rhineland who got into the monastery when she was twelve years. She began to have visions in 1152 a time during which she was prone to depression due to her delicate health. Elizabeth got the visions of the Virgin Mary in German and Latin, and her brother compiled them for her in a book known as The Path of God (Shinners117).
Just like the narrator, Mary was also a virgin who got pregnant through the conception of the Holy Spirit. The revelations about Mary’s bodily assumption occurred in a time span of three years. In her quest to know whether Mary ascended in both the spiritual form and her physical form, she sought the face of Mary and after a year of waiting, it was revealed to her that the Virgin ascended into heaven in both her spiritual and body form wi9th her son, the savior, welcoming her together with the angels. This assumption happened forty days after her death. Mary advised Elizabeth not to make a publication regarding the visions she had received concerning the bodily assumption as people of the world were evil, and all they would do was criticize. She was however not to hide the information but was required to share it with those who delighted in praising the Mother of the Savior (Shinners 117).
Aethelthryth, on the other hand, was the wife of the King Ecgfrith, but she remained a virgin and was thus named the Bride of Christ. She was previously married to another man, and it’s only after his death that she was handed over to the King. For the twelve years she remained married to the King, she continued to be a virgin, and none of the king’s efforts made her agree to consummate her marriage (McClure and Collins 202). The king finally decided to let her move to a Monastery where she became the Mother Virgin of other virgins who dedicated their lives to serving God. She, however, died after she got infected by the plague during her service to the people. She was buried in the ranks in a wooden coffin.
The abbess, however, decided to bury her bones in the church in a new coffin sixteen years later. This saw them go seeking for a promised coffin in the District of Ely. The most mysterious thing is that the body of the sacred Virgin and the Bride of Christ was uncorrupt. It seemed as if the woman was buried on the same day. The maidens present cleaned her body and wrapped it in new robes, and she was placed in the Sarcophagus, which appeared to fit the Bride of Christ body perfectly, where it remains till date in Ely, a kingdom of the East Angles (McClure and Collins 205).
In both accounts, the female body is portrayed as pure. This is in accordance with how the medieval woman was expected to carry herself: with purity. Elizabeth, who was a virgin, gave an encounter with Mary, who was also a virgin. Aethelthryth too was a virgin. In both accounts, it is a big deal that the involved characters are female. This is because women were expected to be pious and religious and this is seen in both accounts. Probably if the accounts were about men, the issue of purity would not have been emphasized as men were pardoned for committing fornication or adultery.
In conclusion, the medieval period saw women’s administrative roles reduced as they were overtaken by men. This meant that most of their roles were household based or church based. This is proved by the fact that both the women in the two accounts spent their time in monasteries serving the Lord. Aethelthryth too spent twelve years married, and as required, she was expected to carry her household chores.
Works Cited
McClure, Judith and Roger Collins. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Ontario: Ontario University Press, 1999. Print.
Shinners, John. Medieval Popular Religion: 1000-1500. Ontario: Broadview Press, 1997. Print.
