Warring Maidens, Captive Wives and Hussite Queens: Women and Men at War and at Peace in Fifteenth Century Bohemia

Bohemia was characterized by a cultural framework which assigned authority to men, and obedience and deference to women, as was the rest of Europe. Within fifteenth century Bohemia, as one specific historical and social setting, the patriarchy was diversified, elastic and contained internal contradictions. Among other roles Czech women lived with vigor and self-confidence just as the warrior maidens of ancestral legend and as captive wives. Even as dependent daughters, sisters, and wives, medieval women were actively working to better their lot both discreetly and openly. This study focuses on these dissident women and the men that recognized their dignity.