MEDIEVAL WOMEN IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS: CRITIQUE AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Castrillo, Janire; Gillate, Iratxe; Vicent, Naiara; Luna, Ursula

Janire Castrillo

University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Leioa, Spain; janire.castrillo@ehu.eus

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8128-9090

Iratxe Gillate

University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Leioa, Spain; iratxe.gillate@ehu.eus

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6449-1804

Naiara Vicent

University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Donostia, Spain; naiara.vicent@ehu.eus

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2678-0098

Ursula Luna

University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Donostia, Spain; ursula.luna@ehu.eus

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1742-6035

TRANSLATED BY Robert Forstag^V

^V
Independent consultant; rforstag@yahoo.com

Note on authorship

Janire Castrillo coordinated this article in its entirety, and is responsible for its theoretical framework. She also helped draft the Methodology, Analysis, Results, and Discussion sections. Iratxe Gillate is responsible for the Methodology section, and also contributed to the Results and Discussion sections. Naiara Vicent provided assistance with the theoretical framework of the present study, and also helped analyze the Results. Ursula Luna contributed to the Discussion section, and also helped prepare the final draft of this paper.

VARIABLE	DEFINITION
1. General topics of the teaching units.	Compendium of the primary topics that are addressed in each unit, including subjects to which at least half a page is devoted, whether in text or illustrations.
2. Number of men and women in text and illustrations.	Recording of male and female historical figures cited by name in the text, and in the exercises for each unit; count of the number of persons of each sex represented in illustrations.
3. Type of function attributed to each sex in the illustrations.	Categorization of the functions of historical figures in the illustrations as a) political; b) cultural; c) work; d) biological; or e) passive role.
4. Presence of gender stereotypes in text or illustrations.	Classification on the basis of a comparison with historiographical postulates.
5. Sexist bias in language	Identification of non-inclusive expressions.

Historiographical lines	Teaching objectives
Women: Limitations and powers	Examining the limitations of women, and also making clear the diversity of women’s roles - not necessarily limited to that of a passive-submissive party-, by displaying a full appreciation of the role of the local noblewomen who governed their manors.
Women’s work environment	Evaluating the work contribution of women in its varied aspects: household responsibilities, the work conducted in guild workshops, and work in trades that were predominantly female, but independent of parental influence.
Querelle des femmes	Fostering a debate about the discourse concerning the supposed natural inferiority of women and the movement that challenged this notion, known as the Querelle des femmes, drawing on contemporary texts in order to encourage critical thinking regarding the equality of men and women.
Women’s life cycles	Teaching of specific information regarding the life of women during the Middle Ages, such as the significance of their head coverings, and their connection with marriage, as well as their connection with women’s life cycles.
Areas of female social roles	Making visible some aspects of women’s social roles, such as the making of offerings and the singing of dirges at funerals, with a view to appreciating the importance of these activities during the Middle Ages.

No.	Topics	TU1	TU2	TU3	TU4
1	Periodization of history	x	x		x
2	Arrival of the Germanic peoples, and rise and fall of the Visigothic kingdom	x	x	x	x
3	Formation and political development of Al-Andalus	x	x
4	Al-Andalus: City and culture	x	x	x	x
5	Rise and expansion of the Christian kingdoms, reconquest, and repopulation	x	x	x	x
6	Feudal society: Hierarchical levels and fiefdoms	x	x	x	x
7	The medieval city: markets, handicrafts, and guilds	x	x	x	x
8	Romanesque and Gothic Art	x	x	x	x
9	The Way of St. James	x	x	x
10	Construction of cathedrals			x
11	Language, diet, and dress			x
12	Situation of women			x

	Men		Women		Unknown		Total
	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
TU1	32	84.2	5	13.2	1	2.6	38	100
TU2	27	69.2	8	20.5	4	10.3	39	100
TU3	71	84.5	12	14.3	1	1.2	84	100
TU4	35	85.4	3	7.3	3	7.3	41	100
Total	165	81.6	28	13.9	9	4.5	202	100

Function	Men	%	Women	%
Political	68	41.2	2	7.1
Work	57	34.5	16	57.1
Cultural	28	17	1	3.6
Biological	0	0	1	3.6
Passive	12	7.3	8	28.6
Total	165	100	28	100

Bakers	Responsible for everything involved in the preparation of bread: purchasing the flour, kneading, baking, and selling the final product.
Ovenkeepers	Managed establishments containing an oven, which sometimes employed several female workers, and where other women would come to bake their bread.
Millers	Managed mills located outside cities and villages where people brought their grain to be ground. The millers also transported the grain from the weigh house to the mill and back.
Carriers	Transported sacks of grains from individual dwellings to the official weigher.
Street peddlers	Retail sellers of products of daily use: produce, fruit, eggs, candles, etc.
Fishmongers	Sold fish provided them by fishermen at local markets or on the streets.
Cloth brokers	Served as intermediaries in the sale of cloth.
Merchants	Dedicated to large-scale sales, and participated in the supply and loading of ships.
Tavernkeepers and innkeepers	Ran taverns and inns where food and drink was sold, and where lodging was offered.
Chandlers	Made candles with wax or hemp, utilizing molds.
Spinners	Spinned linen or wool into balls, using spindles or distaffs for this purpose.
Weavers	Wove linen or wool utilizing looms.
Seamstresses	Sewed all kinds of clothes.
Drapers	Sold cloth.
“Cushion makers”	Manufactured cushions and quilts filled with feathers.
Maids	Dedicated to domestic work, in many instances living in the homes of their “masters” and “mistresses.”
Washerwomen	Washed people’s clothes.
Wet nurses	Suckled orphans, abandoned children, or children whose mothers could not provide sufficient milk.
Hospital keepers	Provided health care in establishments offering assistance to the poor, sick, pilgrims, etc.
Beedles-“seroras”	Lay women responsible for the upkeep of churches and shrines.
Lay sisters	Lay women who lived in small communities, who were dedicated to religion, and who offered spiritual succor to the community.
Burial assistants	Provided all necessary arrangements for funerals and offerings.
Seat conveyors	Transported chairs or stools from houses to the church so that ladies of the house could sit down during mass.
Midwives	Assisted women who were giving birth. Possessed knowledge of obstetrics.
Day laborers (agriculture)	Hired on a day-to-day basis to work the fields, glean, prune vines, gather apples, etc.
Day laborers (construction)	Participated in the construction of walls and roofs, in the paving of streets, etc.
Auditors	Responsible for determining weights and measures.
Hawkers	Announced events on the streets.
Boatwomen	Possessed small boats for transporting persons or products from one riverbank to another.
Headdress attendants	Tied the head coverings of other women.
Artists	Artists who painted or sculpted.

[1] TRANSLATED BY Robert Forstag^V

Brasil

Brasil

Abstract

TU1	Men	Abd-ar-Rahman I, Abd-ar-Rahman III, Alfonso the Wise, Leovigild, Mohammed, Pelagius, Recared, Receswinth.
TU1	Women	-
TU2	Men	Alfonso VIII, Al-Idrisi, Almanzor, Averroes, Fray Luis de León, James I of Aragon, Maimonides, Sancho the Great.
TU2	Women	Isabella “the Catholic” (as one of the “Catholic monarchs”).
TU3	Men	Abd-ar-Rahman I, Abd-ar-Rahman III, Pelagius, Ferdinand, Mohammed.
TU3	Women	Isabella “the Catholic”.
TU4	Men	Alfonso I, Alfonso III, Charlemagne, García Ramírez, García Aznar, Iñigo Arista, Leovigild, Roderick, Roland, Sancho the Great, Sancho IV, Sancho VI, Sancho VII.
TU4	Women	-