Femina: The instant Sunday Times bestseller – A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It

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After all, the skeleton, known as “Bj 581”, was going into the next life surrounded by every kind of death-dealing instrument: spears, axes, arrows and swords, and a couple of strapping war horses. Dat uitgangspunt over de vrouwen in de geschiedenis en later ook even van andere minderheden, is dus prachtig.

In fact they exemplify Ramirez’s argument that the medieval era was a time as rich in human diversity as today. I have been a fan of Janina Ramirez for a few years and she (for me) makes history come alive whether on TV or on the page. In Femina, Ramirez—a cultural historian, author, and broadcaster— intends to re-evaluate the status of women in the Middle Ages whose names have been ‘struck from the historical record due to the one word annotated beside them – FEMINA. Schade - gerade angesichts dessen, das Genderrollen im Mittelalter längst nicht so binär waren wie wir uns es heute vorstellen. Read a bit over 100 pages, though non-consecutive—once I realized I wasn’t liking it I skipped ahead to the chapters that interested me most, which ultimately did not change my mind.I enjoyed the book but did think that, if all the background material, opinions and conjectures had been left out, the material was a little thin. The book is well illustrated with photos of artefacts, artistic reconstructions and useful maps, but for me there appears to be an idiosyncratic choice of historical figures, some well known, others unknown (the Loftus “Princess”), although each essay is engaging and full of interesting stories. Maybe it's about the quality of writing, and the fact there's always half a knowing eye on the present.

BBC historian Janina Ramirez has uncovered countless influential women's names struck out of historical records, with the word 'Femina' annotated beside them. Why does she keep saying “gender” throughout the book, when all the people in the book are simple, old-fashioned women? This is bravura narrative history underpinned by passionate advocacy for the women whom medieval history has too often ignored or overlooked. Dat komt omdat ik hier al een kapstok van kennis had waar ik dan de gelezen gegevens gemakkelijk kon aanhangen en driftig ging googelen.

I admire Janina Ramirez for her enthusiasm and personality when presenting her TV shows which are always eminently watchable, but feel the book just falls short of being worth 5 stars. By telling us of the archeologists, who uncovered the gender of the Birka warrioress or when the writings of Margery Kemp were found, Ramírez gives us an insight into the invaluable work of those people, who first brought the women's stories to life and gives credit were credit is (over)due. The narrative occasionally loses its thread, describing extensive historical context before circling back to the main subject.

It could have used more specifics (the author emphasizes that there’s a lot of dispute and fictionalized history here, without being clear on what is and isn’t known), but this chapter was worth reading for me as I knew little about the topic. Out went the wimples and the prayer books, the mute looks and downcast eyes, and in came something altogether fiercer and more interesting. This isn’t really a “new” history of the Middle Ages, it’s nine essays about specific exceptional women or moments in history.Janina Ramirez Buch schon kannte - mehr über die reale Person hinter den Seriencharakteren zu erfahren war für mich ein kleines Highlight.