"Medieval Studies and Feminist Studies can converge, the first being the second's 'Distant Mirror,' explaining present problems through past paradigm shifts, deriving theory from praxis." [from the introduction to: Equally in God's Image: Women in the Middle Ages]

      We can focus this issue by creating a question and limiting the area to Bede's Historia, i.e., How do Medieval Studies and the Status of Women come together in Bede?

      A modern Hagiographer provides a good example concerning Hilda, or Hild, of Whitby:

Bede wrote, "she obliged those who were under her direction to attend so much to reading of the Holy Scriptures, and to exercise themselves so much in works of justice, that many might be there found fit for ecclesiastical duties, and to serve at the altar.

"In short, we afterwards saw five bishops taken out Of that monastery, and all of them men of singular merit and sanctity, whose names were Bosa, Hedda, Oftfor, John, and Wilfrid."

Hild became renowned for her wise advice. Kings and commoners called on her; she was the most influential woman of her time in Britain. Little wonder, then, that king Oswiu asked her to make arrangements for the most significant council in English history.

The king ruled a divided church. Some of his subjects wanted to follow the Roman rite, others the old Celtic forms in which they had grown up. Champion of the Roman cause was Wilfred. On the Celtic side stood Bishop Finan and many others. King Oswiu decided to call a synod (local council) to decide whether the Roman or Celtic tradition would be followed. He placed all of the arrangements in the hands of the capable abbess, Hild. Hild herself preferred the Celtic forms and argued for them with Bishop Colman at the synod.

But Oswiu decided in favor of Wilfred and the Roman church. Like a loyal team player, Hild accepted the decision and no doubt encouraged others to do the same.

An enthusiast for learning, Hild encouraged the poet Caedmon to sing his religious compositions, which retold the Bible stories in the Anglo-Saxon tongue. He is considered the first vernacular English poet.

      If we accept the above as representative of Bede and Anglo-Saxon England, we might conclude that a deeper sense of gender equality existed then and there, more so than here and now!

      Let's wrestle with this question and the rest of the evidence. How did the Bede present women, gender status, equality etc. Beyond that, how does the picture of Anglo-Saxon life look concerning the status of women?

      A comparison of these terms and questions with the Carolingian Age seems to be unfair. Or is it? The Carolingian Age produced no Hilda, and no Bede to tell her story. Still you might well find evidence beyond Einhard that opens the story of Carolingian status of women in ways that will work for a useful comparison. I invite your feedback on this in class.