Femina: The instant Sunday Times bestseller – A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It

Product Information

Al bij al zijn de stukken over voor mij onbekende geschiedenis te warrig om er enig houvast aan te krijgen, de vertaling te slecht om mij niet af en toe te ergeren.

The narrative occasionally loses its thread, describing extensive historical context before circling back to the main subject.As I've watched a lot of these, not least those presented by Ramirez herself, many of the stories were familiar and I did find myself skimming in places. Only now, through a careful examination of the artifacts, writings and possessions they left behind, are the influential and multifaceted lives of women emerging. Her thesis uses blood to investigate the medieval inheritance of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, exploring topics like vampires and the Eucharist; virgin-martyrs and horror heroines; blood and the soul. Both were declared kings while still young girls, but married off to older men on top of the usual control by advisors that any young rulers face.

I was also surprised not to hear mention of Brunhild and Fredegund which I think fit in her period and were themselves extraordinary women - if perhaps not learned and rather more bloodthirsty. There is an early attempt to take down the Great Man Theory of history, but - even when the actual identity of her women cannot be identified - there is a sense that she wants to respond with a Great Woman Theory. Ramírez draws her evidence from art and architecture as well as written texts to add context to her narrative, and joyfully gives life to the subjects of her chapters with quirky details.The book is a series of essays about various medieval women, but I found it dissatisfying overall, since other than relating to medieval women, the essays are otherwise disconnected. Janina Ramirez wirbelt mit ihrem Sachbuch "Femina: Eine neue Geschichte des Mittelalters aus Sicht der Frauen", übersetzt von Karin Schuler, genau diese Geschichtsschreibung gehörig durcheinander und erweckt die Frauen des Mittelalters wieder zum Leben, die so lange vergessen bzw. I enjoyed the book but did think that, if all the background material, opinions and conjectures had been left out, the material was a little thin.