This book illuminates the connections and interaction among women and between women and men during the medieval period. To do this, Kathryn L. Reyerson focuses specifically on the experiences of Agnes de Bossones, widow of a changer of the mercantile elite of Montpellier. Agnes was a real estate mogul and a patron of philanthropic institutions that permitted lower strata women to survive and thrive in a mature urban economy of the period before 1350. Notably, Montpellier was a large urban center in southern France. Linkages stretched horizontally and vertically in this robust urban environment, mitigating the restrictions of patriarchy and the constraints of gender. Using the story of Agnes de Bossones as a vehicle to larger discussions about gender, this book highlights the undeniable impact that networks had on women's mobility and navigation within a restrictive medieval society.

Employs an array of approaches to discuss women in Medieval France, including urban history, gender studies, cultural theory, and postcolonial studies Taps into an unexplored area of Montpellier, a cultural hotbed in medieval times that has been overlooked in terms of gender history Broadens the understanding and reinforces the importance of communities for women's history, particularly within medieval studies

Autorentext

Kathryn L. Reyerson is Professor of History and founding Director of the Center for Medieval Studies at the University of Minnesota, USA. She has written books and articles on business, law, and trade in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean world.

Inhalt

Introduction.- Agnes de Bossones' Origins, Marriage, and Litigation.- Agnes's Family Networks.- Agnes's Networks of Property.- Marriage.- Apprenticeship.- Urban/Rural Connections.- Women of the Marketplace: Horizontal and Vertical Links.- A Community of Prostitutes in Campus Polverel.- Agnes's Networks of Philanthropy.- Conclusions.