Transcriber’s note: Cover created by Transcriber and placed in the Public Domain.
WOMEN IN ENGLISH LIFE.
C. Cook, sculp.
ANN,
Lady Fanshawe.
London Richard Bentley & Son 1896
WOMEN
IN ENGLISH LIFE
from Mediæval to Modern Times.
BY
GEORGIANA HILL,
AUTHOR OF “A HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRESS.”
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, New Burlington Street,
Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
MDCCCXCVI.
The object aimed at in the following pages is toshow the place that women have held in our nationallife, from the days when what we call the Saxonrace was dominant in England, down to the presenttime. For this purpose those phases of our socialhistory have been dwelt upon which display mostclearly the changes that have taken place in theposition of women, and the influence of great forceslike the Church and Feudalism. Names have beenused as illustrations, and not with any intention ofadding to biographical literature. Instances thatare the most striking individually do not alwaysserve best as examples. For this reason manyfamiliar historical scenes and figures have beenomitted. The continuity of a general record wouldbe broken by divergence into episodes interestingon account of their exceptional character. Prominencehas been given to domestic life, as thatviconcerns the larger number, and to those aspects ofthe case which have not been summed up in thenumerous accounts of noteworthy women.
In literature and art, which have their ownspecial histories, where the part that women haveplayed is recounted at length, only a few generalpoints have been noted in order to show how womenhave stood in relation to letters and art in successiveperiods. The subjects themselves are treated asstages marking social advance, not discussed in thelight of their intrinsic interest and attractiveness.
A consideration of the position of women inEngland leads, naturally, to the subject of theirposition in Europe generally, for the main influenceswhich have affected women in this country are thesame as those that have operated on the Continent,although the result has taken different forms inaccordance with the idiosyncracies of each nation.It is unnecessary to discuss the condition of womenin the Eastern parts, for while Western Europe hasbeen changing and progressing with ever-increasingrapidity during the last ten centuries, EasternEurope—as far as social life is concerned—remainedfor a long period in an almost stationary