The study of medieval women has flourished over the last forty years or so, challenging the idea of a universality of experience among women. This new collection of major works from Routledge addresses the different ways in which medieval women have been studied by looking at religious and secular women, women according to their stage in the life cycle, and according to their social status. Important theoretical issues are also tackled, such as the applicability of terms such as misogyny, anti-feminism, and feminism, the cultural construction of the body, and the periodization of women s...