Beneath the Wimple: Women in Medieval England Quiz

Answer: burned the umbilical cord in the family hearth

A medieval woman had about a 7-10% chance of dying in childbirth. Hemorrhaging, disease, fever, dehydration, and exhaustion all took their toll. IF the baby was born safely and mother was still alive, then several rituals could be followed, including burning the umbilical cord in the hearth, wearing a jasper ring, and avoiding food preparation until they were welcomed back into the church.

Answer: because she's a widow

Married women brewed ale as one of their household chores - hence the term "alewife". The ale itself was somewhat weak, about 2.5% alcohol. However, it could be stronger and was frequently flavored with honey, lavender, thyme, and ginger. Widows were informally absolved of this duty - having no one to brew it for, as it were.

Answer: spinning wool into yarn

As Chaucer's Wife of Bath says of her lot in The Canterbury Tales, God has given women three talents - deceit, weeping, and spinning! Tailors were almost all men, and it took three or four spinners to supply a weaver with enough wool and flax thread to make the raw fabric for the tailor to work with. Terms such as "spinster" - to indicate an old, unmarried woman - and "distaff" - the bride's family in a marriage - are descended from spinning terms.

Answer: a falcon or a hawk

Contrary to popular mythology, medieval women didn't run around loosing arrows at the drop of a wimple. In fact, archery among women was more rare than we think for reasons of rank as much as for reasons of strength. However, many wealthy or noble women delighted in the sport of falconry.

They sometimes employed a servant to carry the bird for them for the principal reason of not wanting bird droppings to bespatter their dress sleeves or undertunic. However, many also wore a hawking glove to protect them from droppings and talons.

Answer: the ramshorn

Almost all women - peasant and noble - grew their hair long. However, only the young and the unmarried let it hang loose. Much fuss was given to the style and construction for various headdresses and hair styles. Most women wore two braids that were then done up or woven in various patterns. Women also wore a variety of hats, snoods, hoods, circlets, and wimples.

Answer: to fight fleas

The battle against fleas wasn't so much a battle as it was an ever-present fact of life. Couples routinely flea-picked each other before bed, and everyone had fleas - from king to beggar. Because clothing was so rarely washed - and because most bathed no more than four or five times a year, fleas were simply an accepted part of living in medieval times.

However, contrary to popular belief, many people did wash hands, feet, and face many times each day if they could.

Answer: intercourse

What with Aristotle suggesting that women were simply "deformed men", the Church seeing married partners are sexually "endebted" to each other, and the 3rd century writer Galen opining that women's wombs needed constant warming by a male's sperm or else the female would suffer a "suffocated womb", 14th century women had little freedom when it came to sexual activity.

However, a woman could also demand constant sexual activity from her husband.

Answer: a candlemaker

The term "chandler" comes from the late 14th century French "chandelier" (candle holder) and was in usage in medieval England by the mid-15th century. Chandlers made candles and soap. More important, though, is the misconception that anyone over 40 in this time period had one foot in the grave. Such is not the case. Women past 40 tended to be held in higher esteem and gravity than elder men - who were seen as being unable to fulfill the concepts of masculinity. Also, a widow was able to carry on her husband's profession even if the guilds would forbid her from entering into the profession unmarried.

Answer: the Black or Bubonic Plague

Most town churches would say masses for the deceased only after sufficient payment had been made - usually in the form of materials, land, or cash. Joan's mother would have been bathed, then wrapped in a white shroud and covered with a funeral pall - which then would be donated to the church to be made into church garments - before being buried in a churchyard.

As Joan's family are well-to-do townspeople, they would not have to donate animals or objects to the lord of the shire. The Black Plague (1347-1351, 1398-99, etc...) decimated Europe and left few families untouched. Joan's family would have been a lucky one - and may even have been resented by the much of the town or even suspected of supernatural protection.

Answer: three rabbits

The rabbits, of course, symbolized fertility and successful breeding - as did the throwing of grain at the bride, the lifting of the veil, and holding of a neighbor's newborn (or an infant) on her wedding day, and many other medieval wedding traditions.

When a good 10% of the population never made it past infancy, being fertile was considered as important in the eyes of society as being pure before one's wedding was solemnized by the church.