Who Was the Worst Villain to Women of the 12th Century?
Medieval Misogyny and the Dark Side of the Middle Ages
Who was the worst misogynist of the 12th Century?
Beneath the poetry of the romantic idyll of medieval Europe their lay a darker reality. Many women - queens, countesses, widows, even nuns - were treated as pawns, prisoners, or prey by the very men who should have honoured them.
In this series, ‘Medieval Misogyny’, we’ve met five men whose names deserve to be remembered not for their glory, but for their cruelty. Each used his power to diminish, exploit, or abuse women. Now it’s time to decide: who was the worst villain of them all?
Matthew of Boulogne – The Count Who Kidnapped a Nun
Abducted Marie of Boulogne, a nun and abbess, from her convent.
Forced her into marriage to claim her inheritance.
Kept her until she bore two daughters, then released her only when annulment was granted.
Marie returned to the cloister, but only after enduring years of captivity and coercion.
Fulk V of Anjou – The King Who Beat His Queen
Married Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, heir to the kingdom.
Tried to strip her of power and rule alone.
When she resisted, he struck her — an act that shocked the nobility.
Melisende fought back and won, ruling Jerusalem with dignity after his death.
Philip II of France – The Humiliator of Ingeborg
Married Ingeborg of Denmark in 1193, then rejected her the next day.
Declared the marriage void and locked her away for decades.
Defied the pope, even marrying another woman while Ingeborg lived.
Ingeborg never gave up her claim, outlasting Philip’s cruelty and regaining her title at last.
Geoffrey de Mandeville – The Terror of Widows and Nuns
During the Anarchy, extorted widows and seized their lands.
Drove nuns from their convents and fortified their homes as castles.
Spread terror across eastern England with his mercenaries.
Even in a brutal age, contemporaries remembered Geoffrey as one of the most wicked men alive.
Henry II of England – The Jailer of Queens
Imprisoned Eleanor of Aquitaine, his wife and political partner, for 16 years.
Restricted his daughter-in-law Marguerite of France to enforce his will.
Used marriage and captivity to crush women’s autonomy.
Eleanor outlived him, regaining power and respect, but her long years in confinement remain a stain on Henry’s reign.
Villainy Compared
Matthew’s cruelty was personal and shocking: abducting and forcing marriage on a nun to exploit her inheritance.
Fulk’s violence struck at the heart of queenship, an attack on the dignity of a reigning monarch.
Philip’s humiliation of Ingeborg was sustained and public, wasting her youth in imprisonment.
Geoffrey’s terror spread wide, targeting not one woman but many - widows, nuns, noblewomen alike.
Henry’s betrayal was intimate yet political, caging one of history’s greatest queens for many, many years.
Each of these men reveals a different face of misogyny in the Middle Ages: abduction, violence, humiliation, extortion, and imprisonment.
Now It’s Your Turn
History has given us their deeds. But who deserves the crown of “Worst Villain to Women of the 12th Century”?
Was it Matthew, the abductor of nuns?
Or Fulk, the wife-beater king?
Or Philip, the humiliator of queens?
Or Geoffrey, the terror of widows and nuns?
Or Henry, the jailer of Eleanor?
Vote below and send the villain into the annals of infamy!