Women's Education through the Ages

It seems appropriate to begin this topic with the education of women.  Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124-1204) is one of the first historical women who comes to the fore as an educated woman whose influence affected many events in the 12^th century by dent of marrying two kings and raising three kings.  By all accounts she was well educated by her father, learning mathematics, Latin, history, literature, constellations, music as well as the “womanly arts”.  Although there appears to be some question as to her forming a court of love she is linked with the growing idea of chivalry which in turn developed into manners at court.  There are a few other women of the Middle Ages who were well educated but not until the Renaissance did women of a certain class start to be “learned” and celebrated for it; Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, Bess of Hardwick to name a few. Plodding along the centuries to the next “wave” of learning takes us to the late 18^th century when the term “blue stocking” was coined for those fearless women who let their intellect be shown.  Notable women include Mary Wollstonecraft, George Eliot and George Sand among many others.

Women of the lower and even middle classes did not become educated (by educated I mean able to read and write) as a general rule until well into the 19^th century.  Those who were educated beyond the basic level of reading and writing were even fewer so there is little wonder that there is almost a total absence of female achievement until the mid 1800’s.  Two early areas of achievement however were in writing and social activism as women found their voice in society.

Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” (1792) argued that women were not inferior to men but lacked education and suggested that both sexes should be treated as rational beings while society should be based on reason.  Jane Austen’s novels, published anonymously, took a sometimes humorous view of society yet there are serious discussions on the plight of women being dependent on male family members to keep them from falling into the depths of poverty.  As women became educated societal issues became an increasingly important topic of discussion but also found women taking active steps to correct wrongs such as child labour, poverty, health concerns and so on.

Female scholars who became professionals will be a topic for another blog.