Medieval Misogyny: Five Men Who Made Women’s Lives Miserable

When Chivalry Fails

Medieval domestic violence

When we think of the Middle Ages, we often picture knights in shining armour, troubadours singing ballads, and noble ladies adored from afar. The reality was far harsher. Behind the romanticised ideals of chivalry were powerful men who treated women not as partners, but as possessions.

Inheritance, marriage, and even religious vows offered little protection. Queens were imprisoned. Nuns were abducted. Brides were humiliated. Widows were extorted.

This week, I’m starting a blog series which will uncover the darker side of 12th-century power: the men whose actions towards women were so cruel that even their contemporaries condemned them.

Five Villains, Five Stories

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing the stories of five men whose names deserve to be remembered not for their glory, but for their misogyny:

1. Matthew of Boulogne

2. Fulk V of Anjou (father of Geoffrey)

3. Philip II of France

4. Geoffrey de Mandeville

5. Henry II of England

A Final Reckoning

Each woman — Marie of Boulogne, Melisende of Jerusalem, Ingeborg of Denmark, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the many widows and nuns Geoffrey preyed on — had to find her own way to resist or survive.

At the end of the series, I’ll ask you to cast your vote: who was the worst women disrespecting villain in the 12th century?