Urban Women

Jelle Haemers is professor of Medieval History at KU Leuven. His research focuses on the social history of the Middle Ages and the urban history of the Low Countries. Jelle Haemers is professor of Medieval History at KU Leuven. His research focuses on the social history of the Middle Ages and the urban history of the Low Countries. Andrea Bardyn (PhD) studies inequalities between men and women in the medieval economy and marital power relations. Andrea Bardyn (PhD) studies inequalities between men and women in the medieval economy and marital power relations. Chanelle Delameillieure is lecturer in Medieval History at KU Leuven-KULAK. Her expertise and research focus are on the social and cultural history of the late medieval Low Countries. Chanelle Delameillieure is lecturer in Medieval History at KU Leuven-KULAK. Her expertise and research focus are on the social and cultural history of the late medieval Low Countries. Nena Vandeweerdt is a postdoctoral researcher who studies gendered socioeconomic interactions in late medieval and early modern towns. She holds a PhD in History from the KU Leuven and the University of Cantabria. Her work focuses on urban labor markets, everyday life, and the use of digital humanities in historical research.

• Acknowledgements Introduction. A different history of the medieval city Chapter 1. From girlhood to widowhood: On the rights of women and children Andrea Bardyn & Jelle HaemersChapter 2. Women and marriage: Choice of partner, matrimonial conflicts, and relations Chanelle DelameillieureChapter 3. Industrious women and their life in business Andrea BardynChapter 4. Pious women: Beguines and their virtuous lives together Kim OverlaetChapter 5. Working women: women’s professional activities in and outside craft guilds Nena Vandeweerdt & Jelle HaemersChapter 6. “Bad women”: Violence, crime, and rebellion Jelle HaemersChapter 7. Eros and women: Sexuality, consent, and prostitution Chanelle Delameillieure & Jelle HaemersConclusions. Of “wise women” and “witless men” Primary sourcesLiteratureAbout the authors

As sociologist Alison Woodward aptly observed, ‘everyone is anonymous in a town, except for a woman. She is always seen, always treated as…a woman’. Historical analysis can therefore illuminate how this complex relationship between women and urban life emerged and evolved over time. It is precisely in this regard that the volume under review makes a valuable contribution. - Lisa Demets, Journal of Medieval History, 52(1), 150–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2026.2613226