Nicholas Watson

The writings of Julian of Norwich : A vision showed to a devout woman, and, A revelation of love

Women in the Middle Ages may not be as accessible as the editors wished to undergraduates and general readers. Though the entries I sampled are well written, and, in most cases, translations of titles and terminology have been provided, the general level of vocabulary and the background in cultural literacy needed to fully understand the information Women in the Middle Ages offers will be problematic for some. Even so, and in spite of the alphabetical arrangement dictated by the encyclopedia format, browsing Women in the Middle Ages leads to a cumulative picture of medieval women and their world(s) that is very different from our own but whose history is also ours and whose times shaped our present. Women in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia should be in any academic library.