WHAT? Medieval Women: In Their Own Words 

WHERE? British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB 

WHEN? Now until 2nd March 2025

WHY GO? To marvel at our medieval sisters. Calling all history buffs, feminists and book lovers. This glorious exhibition turns traditional stereotypes of mild mannered Medieval women upside down and introduces us to powerful personalities who undoubtedly ‘wore the trousers’ in marriages to influential husbands.

It validates the strength, power and intelligence of these women through their own words, displaying original documents and prized books such as the earliest known autobiography in English, The Book of Margery Kempe (1438)  which chronicles her life as a female mystic.

Where else but in the hallowed chambers of the British Library would you expect to see such antiquities? 

These Medieval women didn’t just sit in alcoves spinning yarns, but spun their own narrative, writing, administering medicines, ruling spiritually and composing music as embodied through the remarkable legacy of Hildegard of Bingen, the Benedictine abbess and mystic visionary.  Her enchanting Voices of Angels are guaranteed to soothe your soul on a bad day.

From an original letter signed by saintly Joan of Arc in 1429, to the oldest surviving Valentine’s Day letter in English sent by Margery Brews in 1477 along with artefacts like a 15th century birthing girdle inscribed with prayers for a painless birth, this is an epic introduction to our medieval sisters, to whom we should be eternally grateful!

IN THE KNOW The accompanying book is a pertinent reminder of an exhibition that brings history to life.  ‘Medieval Women,Voices & Visions by curator Eleanor Jackson and Julian Harrison records women’s visions and experiences from wet nurses to sex workers with a foreword by Kate Mosse whose own book Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries, makes for additional reading about celebrating unheard women in history.