Long considered to be a definitive and truly groundbreaking collection of sources, Women’s Lives in Medieval Europe uniquely presents the everyday lives and experiences of women in the Middle Ages. This indispensable text has now been thoroughly updated and expanded to reflect new research, and includes previously unavailable source material.

Emilie Amt brings together public and private records, letters, laws, historical and personal narratives, and archaeological evidence from across medieval Europe, spanning the fifth to the fifteenth century, examining how women from all ranks of society lived. Working within a multicultural framework, the book focuses not just on the Christian majority, but also presents material about women in minority groups in Europe, such as Jews, Muslims, and those considered to be heretics. This new edition includes expanded sections on marriage and sexuality, and on peasant women and townswomen, as well as a new section on women and the law. There are brief introductions both to the period and to the individual documents, study questions to accompany each reading, a glossary of terms and a fully updated bibliography.