Q: How equal were medieval men and women in the workplace?
A: Medieval men and women had different roles and responsibilities, but when it came to daily work, there were instances of equality between them. In the peasant class, for example, women were not only doing the same tasks as men but also taking on additional responsibilities. In the context of middle-class, artisanal occupations, women played a significant role as well. If a person belonged to a guild, such as a glover, their wife would typically be involved in the same work, making gloves alongside her husband. Additionally, women were expected to handle bookkeeping and financial matters, which were considered feminine tasks at the time.
However, it's important to note that women were not always accorded the same level of respect and recognition as men, especially within guilds, which, in many cases, women were expressly forbidden from joining. If a woman's husband was a guild member and she assisted him in his craft, she could be brought into the guild after his death. But if she remarried, she would lose that guild membership, unless her new husband was also a guild member. This limited women's opportunities
