"I am not here to convince you that it is high time we put women at the centre of history. Many have already done that."

This quote says it all, and this book does an amazing job showcasing some of the women of our history, with a focus on Europe. We find a lovely balance of scientific fact with authors speculation while we read about Vikings, knights, queens, portraying times and characters riddled with great nuance and pointing out that looking at these woman through modern prism wont be enough to understand them. If you aren't into history heavy and a bit dryer books, prepare yourself, but still read it!

Really enjoyed this!

I am a fan of Dr Ramirez and she writes with a light touch on difficult subjects. Her books are readable for the general public and not just aimed at academics. This book is no exception and in my opinion her best. The look back through history via the female gaze is rich with depth and factual analysis but reads almost like fiction. How can these women be real?

I’d heard of a few but most were new to me and opened my eyes to the place of women in the past. I particularly enjoyed the section on Hildegard whom I had heard of and knew a little about. The author has the character singing off the page and I love how Hildegard stood up for herself against the men who constantly tried to put her down and shut her up. That behaviour is repeated in many of the stories here and shows why it was time for Dr Ramirez to reflect again on women and history.

A readable well written book and recommended if you’re looking to explore history from a different perspective.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley

Dr Janina Ramirez does a great job at bringing to the forefront stories about powerful, influential and interesting women who were little known, hidden, rewritten out or effectively removed from history, unless you really dig deep enough for the information. It was a very interesting read and clearly well researched. However I can't help but feel disappointed that more women of colour were not included in the book. Reference to this was only really a side note included at the end of the book. There are lots of examples of people of colour living in the UK and across Europe during this period, but I appreciate sadly that less care and importance was placed on keeping official records about these people. However, I would very much invite Dr Janina Ramirez to write a book on this subject specifically as it would be fascinating.

Medieval women don’t often have a voice so this was an enlightening read. Dr Ramirez has written an incredibly accessible book to cover a large period of time. She goes into much detail to ensure the reader engages with and acknowledges the possible roles of women throughout this rapidly changing time period. Whilst it was absolutely an interesting read, I do feel i would benefit from a re-read to truly absorb all the information. Highly recommended!

I read the digital ARC of this book and I don't know if that has affected my opinion of the book, but unfortunately I've just stopped reading it at around the halfway mark (excluding notes).

I have a personal interest in social history and women's history and readily admit I don't know much about medieval history, which is why I wanted to read this book! Sadly, I found it quite inaccessible. I'm unsure if other editions have them, but I would have appreciated a dedicated reference section for maps of kingdoms, timelines or family trees, to make the content much easier to interpret and digest. There were lots of separate headings and subheadings, but apart from this, but it felt quite unstructured. I understand that much of these women's stories need to be told in the context of what we know about the men, but sometimes separating the context-setting from the women's stories was very hard and it didn't feel like a book about women.

Perhaps the intention was not to appeal to those without knowledge of this period. There were certainly lots of fascinating parts which I did enjoy. On the whole though, I kept returning over and over, only to feel more and more frustrated.

There is a quote part-way through this book about the voices of the women of the Middle Ages, that they have either been lost or they are reflected in the views of the men around them. In this book Janina Ramirez tries to give voice to some of the key female players. They are not necessarily the most obvious but they highlight key roles and developments.
Ramirez writes with a true passion and her words sparkle. It is an incredibly well-researched book but that does not get in the way of the stories and that is what works so well. There are tales of women I was aware of and others I wasn't, also the roles of women in certain periods eg the Cathars. I really loved this book

Femin rescue stories of medieval times, that we still believe to be a dark supersticious era. A time where women had only three possible roles: wife, nun or prostitute. And that narrow scope of roles might not be an accurate picture of what it really was. That's the starting point of Janina Ramirez, following the door early 20th century feminist opened for us. She walks the reader through different other positions that women occupied and made them well-known among their peers and, even, decades later. From queens to pilgrims, from abesses to warriors, from artists to scientists.

Sometimes, non-fiction books are too academical and they're difficult to read, or they lack of references or further research, leading to unfinished conclusions.

Fortunately, this is a well-balanced book. Using references to historical researches, documents and excavations, Janina Ramirez lays a foundation for all the stories she collected in this book. Then, she creates the landscapes and scenarios where those women lived, so beatifully, that reminds of a novel instead. All at the service of showing women from a different perspective.

Being mindful that most of the stories Janina's included in the book, have seen the light quite recently; I would love to have more characters in the book. Maybe, if the medieval researches bring more insights in the near future, we can enjoy a second volume of Femina, soon.

In the other hand, some of the archaelogical studies are quite detailed; which slows the reading down at the beginning of the book. Don't be discouraged by this; as the chapters turn, these descriptions will make easier to understand the context of other stories.

Even if you only have a passing interest in history or feminism you are bound to enjoy Dr Janina Ramirez's latest book. This is a really accessible and informative read about the women who were written out of history and shines a light on our past in a way we were never taught at school.

The writing is enhanced with illustrations from texts and pieces of art and her knowledge is conveyed with such passion it draws you into the subject. A really interesting read and highly recommended. It feels more important than ever that women's contrition to society is not air brushed out of history.

“Extraordinary women have held positions of power throughout history. But, aside from the select few, why do we not hear about them?”

My thanks to Ebury Publishing, Penguin Random House for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Femina A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It’ by Janina Ramirez.

BBC historian Janina Ramirez confronts long held assumptions about the so-called ‘dark ages’ challenging the common view of the Middle Ages as a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women.

She draws upon evidence from a variety of disciplines to illustrate these myriad lives. In the process she uncovered countless influential women's names struck out of historical records, with the word FEMINA annotated beside them.

Although I was aware that the role of women throughout history had been suppressed and distorted by male gatekeepers, there were many inspiring accounts within these pages that were new to me.

The book contains numerous photographs and illustrations, extensive notes, a bibliography of primary and secondary sources, and finally an index.

Overall, I found ‘Femina’ excellent and feel that it is an important work of feminist history that deserves to be widely read. I am happy to add this beautiful hardback edition to my personal library.

Highly recommended.

The subtitle of this book promises ‘a new history of the Middle Ages, through the women written out of it’, and that is exactly what it delivers. The author does a brilliant job in interpreting artefacts and historical references to capture the voices of important but all-too-often forgotten individuals including Hildegard of Bingen, Jadwiga of Poland, the Birka Warrior and other Europan females. I liked the author’s specific writing style that is semi-academic but still literary and inventive enough to draw you in. I am now interested in reading more of Ramirez’s work and hope she will turn her attention to non-European females and their representation in history next. My thanks go to the publishers and to NetGallely for the free ARC that I received in exchange for producing this honest and unbiased book review.

This is truly a thought provoking book. I have read about some of the women included before and am thrilled to now have other avenues of research to pursue in the future inspired by this book. So much of history is about interpretation formed by the era in which it is being studied and I was struck by Dr Ramirez’s comment that we still view history through a Victorian lens and not the viewpoint appropriate to peoples who lived earlier. A fantastic book and a great addition to any history lover’s bookshelf.

This is an enjoyable and refreshing read that brings to life broad swaths of history while also focusing on uncovering the real women behind the missing stories. Rewriting history to reinclude excluded women offers a different perspective to events as you understand them, and makes for some pauses as you shift your view of the past. In rewriting history for the girls we get great insights and understanding that show us what we've been missing all along. The only criticism I have is that the illustrations are all black and white - some plates in the hardback would have been perfect.

Such a wonderfully, interesting, well researched book. It gave a whole new slant on women in medieval times.

This was interesting, if a little dry at time with the info, or a little to flowery with the reconstruction of events. Good to allow medieval woman a voice.

Fascinating, well written and well researched insight into the influence of women in medieval period and how they have been almost erased and forgotten..

An absolute must read for anyone interested in the Middle Ages and women’s history.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

Extraordinary women have held positions of power throughout history. But, aside from the select few, why do we not hear about them?

I really loved this book. The chapters are called Movers and Shakers, Decision Makers, Warriors and Leaders, Artists and Patrons, Polymaths and Scientists, Spies and Outlaws, Kings and Diplomats, and Exceptional and Outcast.

The book weaves the stories of some well known historical figures with lesser known figures. I enjoyed reading each chapter, from the Loftus Princess to the black African woman buried in a London plague pit. Femina takes you on a grand tour of woman and their experiences in the medieval world, using archaeology, literature, art and more to bring them to life.

This was such an interesting and thought provoking read. I hadn't thought much about women being influential in the middle ages - maybe because history and the men that defined it didn't want us too. A really insightful read

As someone relatively well versed in Middle-Ages history, and a fan of recognising women's roles in history 'Femina' by Ramirez was an ideal book for me to read and review. Ramirez, has a way with words of uncovering 'famous' (in lack of a better word) Middle-Ages women including; Hildegarde of Bingen placing them back in the narrative. The book is presented in a series of case studies, and whilst this does not impact how great the book is - I do feel the case studies do not truly flow from one to another.

I shall be suggesting this book to colleagues and students alike.

This is one of those books you read carefully, all the way through, or dip into when you feel ready for the next character. I read it carefully, since I felt a duty to do so, although at several points I was tempted to skim. And maybe it would be best to skim some of the great detail Ramirez goes into, especially when it involves the male politicians (and religious political manoeuvrings).

It is also very easy for me to view the Middle Ages with fresh eyes, since my previous encounters with it have all been through relatively recent books. I am not a historian. This book drew me because of the promise of women kicking against the establishment. And yes, I found them. But more, I found how much of our reason for needing female role models is mostly relatively recent. The Reformation certainly didn’t help, and started the exclusion of women’s writing. But the Victorians are probably most to blame for what we are currently still kicking against, despite the fact we’ve been doing it since at least World War 2 ended. Femina puts all this into perspective, and opens our eyes to what the women of the past went through to assert their rights.

It is not surprising most of the tales of extraordinary women who should be remembered better are a privileged few. Queens, consorts, abbesses and the occasional female king (Jadwiga), were better placed to get their voices heard. And they did, before they were buried by those who came after.

The best parts of this book were, to my mind, the start of each chapter where the author describes how the subject was rediscovered through painstaking research and archaeology, and sometimes through adventures worthy of a spy novel. The pattern of the book then takes us to era of the woman in question, exploring her life and work. This can get somewhat turgid: the author explains the setting and background politics in great detail. I suspect that historians won’t need that, and lay folk will sometimes get bored with it (hence the skimming temptation). But the author does return to the subject and her triumphs, or downfall, and how we should perhaps remember her, in a good summary each time.

This is a valuable book for all sorts of reasons, not least the attention to detail given to women whose work has been all but buried with them thanks to the political whim of later historians. It’s a tour de force, as you can tell from the pages of acknowledgements and the endnotes. If you are reading on Kindle, rest assured that 27% of the book is taken up by the reference material. It’s 5 stars for importance and 4 stars for a good read, in my assessment. And now I’m quite a fan of Hildegard, and the Cathars. I think I’d have joined the heretics if I’d lived then.

This is an excellent book about specific women in the Middle Ages who have been forgotten or underrepresented in historiography. These individual women together paint a different picture of the Middle Ages than we might be used to. The prose is excellent, very readable and thought-provoking. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in the period, or women's history.