Gender and Literacy: the participation of women in book culture in England and Francia, c.650 - c.950

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This project will explore women's participation in the production and consumption of books, facilitated and sustained by literate networks in early medieval England and Francia. Building upon previous scholarship, it seeks to push the boundaries of what we think we know about gender roles and women's agency by exploring how powerful queens and abbesses influenced literary output in pursuit of their strategies and aims, and the extent to which they were successful. Through analysis of texts which provide evidence of women's involvement in book culture, including letters, wills and hagiographies, and the study of extant manuscripts created and used by women, this project will explore the varied roles women played as patrons, scribes, authors, owners and custodians of books. It aims to analyse how and the extent to which women's participation in book culture changed between 650 and 950, identifying and exploring any discernible geographical differences. It will also investigate what women's involvement can reveal about the nature of the networks of book production themselves, alongside exploring what the roles women played within these networks suggest about gender roles and women's agency in early medieval society more widely. Placing gender at the heart of its analysis, this research seeks to contribute to feminist scholarship, asserting not only the importance of women's lived experiences to the study of early medieval societies, but also the significance of constructions of gender. This study will be the first to conduct a sustained analysis of women and book culture in both England and Francia from the mid-seventh to the mid-tenth century. Thus, it will be in a unique position to explore both temporal and geographic change and differences, making an original contribution to the study of education, literacy and the networks of book production, and enhancing understandings of early medieval culture more widely.