Spanish Peaks Library District

Born in 9th-century Frankland, Joan demonstrates her brilliance early but must hide her learning from her missionary father, who considers the education of women sacrilegious and dangerous. Tutored first by her older brother and then a Greek scholar, Joan eventually secures a place at the schola in Dorstadt. To protect herself after a Viking raid, Joan dons her dead brother's clothing and assumes a man's identity. Suddenly the intelligence that once...

"A vibrant and illuminating exploration of medieval thinking on women's beauty, sexuality, and behavior. What makes for the ideal woman? How should she look, love, and be? In this vibrant, high-spirited history, medievalist Eleanor Janega turns to the Middle Ages, the era that bridged the ancient world and modern society, to unfurl its suppositions about women and reveal what's shifted over time-and what hasn't. Enshrined medieval thinkers, almost...

Fascinating facts engage readers with women's lives during an important historical period.

"Poet, essayist, musician, and visionary, Hildegard of Bingen is the most well-known female mystic of the Middle Ages, renowed in Europe for advising popes and bishops." This work tours the abbey Hildegard founded in the Rhine river valley, highlights key events in her life, along with audio accompaniments from selections of Hildegard's musical compositions.