Thousand years of women's writing challenges assumptions about medieval literature

A new encyclopedia covering a millennium of women’s writing from across the globe challenges assumptions that medieval literature was dominated by men and could transform how we understand the past, according to researchers at the University of Surrey who led and contributed to the landmark publication.

The encyclopedia is designed to be a key resource, providing academics, educators and students with access to a wealth of information on women's writing that spans a millennium.

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Medieval Women’s Writing in the Global Middle Ages (available now), which was published in January, is the first reference work devoted exclusively to women’s writing across continents between 500 and 1500 CE. The encyclopedia extends beyond Europe to include writers from Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

For too long, medieval women’s voices have been dismissed as rare exceptions or erased entirely from literary history. Our encyclopedia shows that women across the globe were poets, storytellers, translators and scribes who shaped the cultural landscape of their time. Their words speak to us today about love, loss, power, faith and resistance in ways that feel strikingly contemporary. Professor Diane Watt, one of three Editors-in-Chief of the encyclopedia and Professor of English Literature at Surrey

Two Surrey researchers served as associate editors and contributed entries exploring figures whose stories continue to resonate today. Dr Amy Morgan’s entry on Marie de France examines one of the first female poets writing in Old French, whose intricate tales of love and magic influenced storytelling for centuries. Dr Leona Archer’s entry on Joan of Arc explores how the visionary’s testimony during her trial for heresy remains one of the most powerful medieval voices, and how her legacy continues to inspire feminist and trans rights movements today.

The encyclopedia includes essays by an international team of scholars, covering over 220 individual women who composed and commissioned religious texts, court poetry, letters, fables and chronicles. It expands traditional definitions of authorship to include women who worked as translators, scribes, patrons and compilers.

This encyclopedia is a wonderful resource, which re-establishes the role of medieval women as writers and correspondents, including the abbesses and nuns of Barking. When few of the world’s women were in the position to write, and so little of the evidence remains, this is an invaluable record of the breadth and range of women’s writing across the globe. Simone Panayi, Heritage Engagement Officer for Barking and Dagenham, Be First Regeneration Ltd

Essays in the encyclopedia include topics such as Arabic Women's Medicine, Women's Letters in the Cairo Geniza, Korean Kisaeng Sijo (traditional short poems) and entries on the Persian poet Rabe'ah Balkhi, the Sufi and poet Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya, and the life of the Ethiopian saint Krəstos Śämra.

Share what you've read?

Featured Academics

Prof Diane Watt

Professor of English Literature and Associate Head of School, Research and Innovation

Dr Amy Morgan

Lecturer in Medieval Literature

Dr Leona Archer

Senior Lecturer in French

Media Contacts

External Communications and PR team
Phone: +44 (0)1483 684380 / 688914 / 684378
Email: mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk
Out of hours: +44 (0)7773 479911