Women of England

by Bartlett Burleigh James

In addition to these characters of Chaucer, it may be added that the country Ale-Wife is thus described by a contemporary writer: "She put on her fairest smocke; her petticoat of a good broad red; her gowne of grey, faced with buckram; her square-thrumed hat; and before her she hung a clean white apron."

The subject of public entertainment in the Middle Ages brings to light curious practices. In the towns, the burghers were not willing to entertain strangers gratuitously, notwithstanding the Scriptural injunction to do so, reinforced by the reminder that thereby some have entertained angels unawares. The custom of offering entertainment to travellers was, however, still practised in the country districts, but the Anglo-Saxon notion of three days as a reasonable limit for the tarrying of wayfarers seems still to have obtained. Aside from the public inns, rich burghers opened their homes, with their superior comforts, to royal personages and to rich barons, for an honorarium. They frequently practised extortion upon their accidental guests, and had arts to allure such to their homes. While having the appearance of great exclusiveness, they nevertheless employed persons to be on the watch for travellers. These would approach such strangers, engage them in conversation, and, on pretence of being from the same part of the country, offer guidance and advice to the stranger, who was usually glad to be directed to an "exclusive" place for entertainment. In some of these places, as well as in the public inns, the guest would be beguiled into contracting gambling or other debts beyond his ability to pay in money, whereupon his belongings were seized, although their value might be greatly in excess of his obligation. The manners and morals of the women in these private places of entertainment were not always commendable.

The tavern was the place of resort for a large part of the middle class and practically all the lower class of mediæval society. Even the women spent much of their time gossiping and drinking in such places, where they found great latitude for carrying out low intrigues. The tavern was, in short, the great rendezvous for those who sought amusement of any sort. It was the ordinary haunt of gamblers. In one of the fabliaux, a young profligate is represented as turning into a tavern before which the tavern boy is calling out the price of the beverages on tap there. After inquiring the price of the wines, and receiving the information from the host, the latter goes on to enumerate the attractions of his house: "Within are all sorts of comforts; painted chambers, and soft beds, raised high with white straw, and made soft with feathers; here within is hostel for love affairs, and when bedtime comes you will have pillows of violets to hold your head more softly; and, finally, you will have electuaries and rose-water, to wash your mouth and face." He orders a gallon of wine, and immediately afterward a belle demoiselle makes her appearance, for such in those times were reckoned among the attractions of the tavern. It is soon arranged that she shall share his apartment with him, and then a general carousal ensues in which he loses all his money and has to leave even his clothes in payment of his bill. These alewives were looked upon as past masters in deceit, and were heartily despised by those who did not fall into their clutches. In a carved miserere in Ludlow Church, representing Doomsday, one of these characters is depicted as about to be cast into the jaws of hell, carrying with her nothing but the finery of her enticement and her short ale measure. The amusements of the times, excepting those of a grosser order, or such as have already been mentioned in the previous chapter, centred around the nobility and persons of position; so that their consideration can be deferred for the time being and be taken up in connection with the sports and pastimes of the ladies of rank, as treated in the chapter following.

Chapter VI

The Women of the Manors

The limited means of travel and communication caused the lives of the women of the early English manors to be secluded and, in a sense, protected the wives and daughters of the titled nobility. The manor house was a world to itself, a centre of law, of society, of industry, and, ofttimes, of culture.

On account of the bad state of the roads and the lack of the modern convenience of quick transmittal of information, the turmoils and upheavals of the cities left the manors unaffected by more than a ripple of their excitement. The manor had its own social and administrative system, which provided for the performance of duties by the various elements of the manorial establishment. In times of wide social disorder, the manor, by reason of its isolation, was often subject to attack; then the courage and fortitude of its female occupants were called forth to the uttermost. Women whose names might otherwise have passed into obscurity have been enrolled among England's heroines by reason of just such circumstances; one such, whose fame carries us back to the Wars of the Roses, was Lady Joan Pelham, wife of Sir John Pelham, Constable of Pevensey Castle. While Sir John was in Yorkshire with the Lancastrian Duke Henry, fighting against Richard II., Pevensey Castle was fiercely attacked by Yorkist forces. The continuance of the siege brought on a scarcity of provisions; in this strait, Lady Joan addressed a letter to her husband, which, besides displaying the courage of a noble English lady, has the additional interest of being the earliest letter extant written by an English woman of quality. It reads as follows:

"My Dere Lorde: