Women in the Middle Ages--
Writers, Musicians, and Artists
These sites are in alphabetical order and do not reflect any kind of hierarchy.
They are selected to complement the medieval and medieval women episodes of Dr. John Lienhard's
The Engines of Our Ingenuity from the University of Houston's KUHF Public Radio station, and
to assist in further research. Links to an Engines page are indicated with three blue
bullets, thus:  .
-- Sherron Lux, Medievalist and Librarian
This page last UPDATED July 2004
Page Index:
General:
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Artists
Art History professor Chris Whitcomb offers a massive selection
of links about Art of the Middle Ages, including
architecture.
Find a good collection of art
by medieval women artists, including works by Guda, Claricia, Ende, Abbess Hitda, Hildegard von Bingen, Harrade von Landsberg, Suzanne de
Court, Sabina von Steinbach, and, of course, Anonymous, in large
clickable thumbnails with the pertinent information, created for Women
Artists I at Washington State University.
Baptisteria Sacra:
An Iconographic Index of Baptismal Fonts from the University of Toronto -- "BSI is an international
iconographic index of baptismal fonts from the early Christian period to the 17th century made
available via the World Wide Web for scholarly research in a searchable electronic format which contains both images and text.
"
Professor Jeffery Howe of Boston College
makes his “Digital Archive of Architecture” available on-line. For the Middle Ages, see:
Professor Patricia Lin provides tidbits
on various Medieval Women Artists,
from "Women Artists: Self-Portraits & Representations of Womanhood from the Medieval Period to
the Present."
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179):
- The Catholic Encyclopedia offers a
good biography of St. Hildegard.
- NEW LINK! Sabina Flanagan of the University of Adelaide provides a
biography with brief commentary on Hildegard's writings, with bibliography.
- NEW LINK! See the list of Hildegard Links from Roland Horst
of Johannes Gutenberg University.
- Pierre F. Roberge provides a fine multi-part site on Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179): A Discography.
Part I lists all works attributed to her and their original recordings;
in Part II, find LP releases not re-released on CD; Part III presents the latest CD releases.
Danuta Bois gives a biographical
sketch of
Properzia de' Rossi, c. 1490-1530.
The 13th-century Syon cope, a superb example of
Gothic textiles, was most likely made by English women; for illustrations and information, see:
- "Cope" article from The
Catholic Encyclopedia
- In color from the
ArtServe site, University of Australia
- Clear image from the Women Artists
Courses site at Washington State University
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Musicians
The medieval music ensemble
Altramar has notes on historical performance as well as links to their touring schedule and
recordings. I heard them "live" a couple of years ago; they and their audience had a wonderful time!
CANTUS: A Database for
Latin Ecclesiastical Chant from the University of Western Ontario offers scholars a thorough
collection of indices to the chants, including the appropriate feast days for their use.
At Early Music FAQ,
a group of scholars offer information, including recommended listening. Pages of particular interest
to medievalists include:
The site for the wonderful early music ensemble
Fortune's Wheel includes their concert schedule as well
as links to medieval music sites.
The
Gregorian Chant Home Page: Chant on the WWW, from the Princeton University Music Department,
includes links to medieval music theory and other useful sites for chant researchers.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179):
- The Catholic Encyclopedia offers a
good biography of St. Hildegard.
- NEW LINK! Sabina Flanagan of the University of Adelaide provides a
biography with brief commentary on Hildegard's writings, with bibliography.
- NEW LINK! See the list of Hildegard Links from Roland Horst
of Johannes Gutenberg University.
- Pierre F. Roberge provides a fine multi-part site on Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179): A Discography. Part I lists all works attributed to her and their original recordings; in Part II, find LP releases not re-released on CD; Part III presents the latest CD releases.
The Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh presents a
page of "Learn More about Early Music" Links,
with links to Early Music Sites (including performers), Games, Sound Effects, and Music Terms.
UPDATED LINK! For instrumental and vocal performances
of music by some women composers, check out The Medieval Lady
Collection, part of "Beowulf to Lear: Text, Image, and Hypertext" from Pace University.
Curtis Clark provides MIDI files of pieces of
Medieval Music with the
Internet Renaissance Band.
NEW LINK! Thanks to Musica Antiqua for brief information
and pictures of Medieval & Renaissance
Instruments, including sound files.
Read an article on "Troubadours
and Trouveres" extracted from The
Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, excerpted on the Classical Music Pages.
For a quick, linked overview of Western music, see
"Western Music--A Short History"
by musicologist James L. Zychowicz, part of the Classical Music Pages.
Back up to Index
Writers
For several articles on women in Middle English Literature, see
the Anthology of Middle English Literature: Articles
and Essays from Luminariam's Anniina Jokinen.
UPDATED LINK! To search for links to many medieval
women writers by Author Name, by Country, or by Century, go to the aptly-named
A Celebration of Women Writers edited by Mary Mark Ockerbloom of the University of Pennsylvania. Links here
are to biographies (brief to extensive), primary texts (partial and full text, original language
and translations), and essays.
NEW LINK! Dorothy Disse provides links to biographical
and bibliographical information about historical women of the East and West, including many medieval
women, in “Other Women’s Voices: Translations of Women’s Writing before 1700” ,
an excellent site.
Christine de Pisan (Pizan) (1363-1431):
Dhuoda (9th c.):
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179):
- The Catholic Encyclopedia offers a
good biography of St. Hildegard.
- NEW LINK! Sabina Flanagan of the University of Adelaide provides a
biography with brief commentary on Hildegard's writings, with bibliography.
- NEW LINK! See the list of Hildegard Links from Roland Horst
of Johannes Gutenberg University.
- Pierre F. Roberge provides a fine multi-part site on Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179): A Discography. Part I lists all works attributed to her and their original recordings; in Part II, find LP releases not re-released on CD; Part III presents the latest CD releases.
Julian of Norwich (1342-ca.1416):
- See Anniina Jokinen's Luminarium site on Julian of Norwich for links to a Biography, her Works, a Bibliography, Essays and Articles, and Additional Resources.
Margery Kempe (ca.1373-1438):
- See Anniina Jokinen's Luminarium site on Margery Kempe for links to several Biographies, a Bibliography, excerpts from her Work, and several Essays and Articles.
Marie de France (12th century):
- The extensive website of the
International Marie de France Society includes ALL of Marie's Lais and several of her
Fables in English translation as well as some in Old French and other languages, an informative Introduction, the texts of several Related
Works, links to Secondary Sources as well as to Marie's World and to Her Works, and information about the International Marie de France Society.
- NEW LINK! Here's a brief biography of Marie in French
- NEW LINK! Dorothy Disse provides
information on Marie at Other Women's Voices: brief biography, links to helpful sites
including plot summaries and translations, and a print bibliography of primary and secondary sources
- NEW LINK! Judith Shoaf offers a verse translation into English of nine of
Marie's Lais (in PDF format; you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- NEW LINK!
The Lais of Marie de France Study Guide from Dr. Paul Brians, Washington State University
- NEW LINK! Brief plot summaries
of several of Marie's Lais from Dr. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, Creighton University
- A further Marie tidbit, including an English translation of her fable "Issi Avint Qu'un Cers Beveit" ("A Thirsty Deer Was Standing By"), can be found at Marie de France (fl. 1160-1215) from Early Music by Women Composers.
NEW LINKS! Lady Murasaki Shikibu (976?-1301?):
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Go HOME, or to one of
the other Women in the Middle Ages biblio-index pages:
INDEX
Created April 1998 by Sherron Lux
last UPDATED July 2004
sherronclg@hotmail.com
Thanks to
for graphics.
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