Did the Black Death Create A 'Golden Age' For Women In Medieval London?

It is generally assumed that women in medieval times (and later) had very little independent authority either in the home or outside it. But the study of the records surviving from the city of London in the medieval period (1200-1500) suggests a rather different picture. In this talk Professor Caroline Mary Barron will look at the wills of three London women: Mathilda the ‘smerewyf’ (probably a maker of tallow candles) who died in 1260; Mathilda Penne, a skinner or furrier who died in 1393 and Johanna Hill, who ran a bell-founding workshop outside Aldgate and died in 1441. The wills of these women, and there are many similar wills, challenge the assumption that women were denied a role in the economy of the medieval city. On the contrary they were active in the ‘ hidden economy’ of medieval London despite the conventions of the time that barred them from roles in office-holding and governance.