Focusing on England but covering a wide range of European and global traditions and influences, this authoritative volume examines the central role of medieval women in the production and circulation of books and considers their representation in medieval literary texts, as authors, readers and subjects, assessing how these change over time. Engaging with Latin, French, German, Welsh and Gaelic literary culture, it places British writing in wider European contexts while also considering more distant influences such as Arabic. Essays span topics including book production and authorship; reception; linguistic, literary, and cultural contexts and influences; women's education and spheres of knowledge; women as writers, scribes and translators; women as patrons, readers and book owners; and women as subjects. Reflecting recent trends in scholarship, the volume spans the early Middle Ages through to the eve of the Reformation and emphasises the multilingual, multicultural and international contexts of women's literary culture.

Winner, 2024 Choice Awards

‘This book makes a statement, not simply about medieval women, but about medieval life. With chapters on ecclesiastical women, noble and royal women, townswomen, readers and patrons the volume offers a broad understanding of the interests, complexities, and dynamics of medieval life. The arrangement of the essays makes it easy to navigate among topics and interests. The essays are cogent; the bibliographies are good, and the entire volume gives readers a sense of the many ways in which women were involved with a broadly conceived literary culture in the Middle Ages.'

Lynn Staley - Colgate University

‘This groundbreaking volume of essays extends our collective knowledge of medieval British women's literary culture, and indeed our sense of what constitutes a literary culture, in consistently learned and illuminating ways. The product of deep research and long conversation, it represents both a milestone in the field and a provocation to further work across the wide range of centuries, settings, and genres addressed by its contributors.'

Nicholas Watson - Harvard University

‘As one might expect from two such distinguished scholars in the field of medieval women's writing, Corinne Saunders and Diane Watt have solicited a wealth of new research from their contributors on women and literary culture throughout the long medieval period. This excellent volume is not only brimful with information but shapes the role of women in freshly ambitious terms, ranging both widely and in illuminating detail across manuscript culture, female reading communities, medicine, genre, and language. It will become an indispensable scholarly and teaching resource.'

Ardis Butterfield - Yale University

‘This is a particularly important addition to the field of medieval women’s literary culture because it includes not only ubiquitous women like Christine de Pizan, Margery Kempe, Marie de France, and Eleanor of Aquitaine but also an array of less-known women writers and literary patrons … a treasure trove for medieval scholars, especially those focused on medieval women’s literary studies … Highly recommended.’

D. V. Dominguez Source: CHOICE

‘This anthology will be a standard reference work for courses on medieval English women’s literary activity, prompting new evaluations of both the evidence and the field.’

Ruth Evans Source: Speculum