Women in Anglo-Saxon England were near equal companions to the males in their lives, such as husbands and brothers, much more than in any other era before modern time. This status of equality was shown up until the Norman Conquest of 1066, at which point a military society took women to be unimportant.

"She was both an entity and a nonentity. She was both valued and valueless. She was a guardian of the home and at the same time feared to be the destroyer of the home. She was loved and hated; she was sought out and hidden away; she was praised and she was scorned. She was condemned by theologians and yet these same male theologians raised her to the altar acclaiming her to be a saint. She was both the Destroyer of Mankind (as the fallen Eve) and she was Mankind’s savior (the Mother of God)."

Occupations

Women and children were generally involved in tasks that required little physical work, although due to climate and weather constraints women may have done the work that needed attention at the time. While men were ox-herders, laborers, swine-herders, and so forth, women were cheese-makers and dairy-maids. They were also bakers, although not cooks. In Old English the word for cook is coc, and is only found in the masculine form, while baecere and bascestre respectively represent the feminine and masculine forms of baker. Female slaves were corn-grinders, serving maids, wet-nurses, weavers and seamstresses. Common free women may have been found weaving and spinning as well. Women and ladies, including queens, would serve drinks for company and family. It is clear that this was not only a job for a woman of lower-class although would have likely been done by a low-class woman if one was present. Women of this time were also entertainers, comedians and singers, and may have been employed by households or travelling groups.

Status

Gender was influenced by social status, religion and sexuality. Many women in Anglo-Saxon England were courageous and independent, they also had souls and destinies, and were ambitious and powerful. The place women took in society was more reflected on their class, rather than gender. Women of this time took a solid stance in society. They were not only allowed to have private influence, but as well had a wide liberty of intervention in public affaires.

Christianity

Churches in Anglo-Saxon England stressed doctrines that preached about virginity as a virtue and faithful monogamy; this is believed to have limited an individual’s chances of acquiring status, political power and property. Anglo-Saxon England was the first place in history that women had been raised to saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

hood , and this was the strongest immediately following the acceptance of Christianity. Within the church women appeared to have been equal as well there are evidences of anti-feminism found in Homilies. Although anti-feminism was found in Homilies, it does not seem to hold true in practice. Women that went into the convent and took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience were glorified in the eyes of the Church and its Fathers. The convent offered self-development and social responsibility to women, something that women are fighting for today. Uniquely, the Anglo-Saxon church had institutions that consisted of male and female monasteries, located together but segregated, and in these the female abbot had the headship of the institution. Convents were run by abbesses, and this was an opportunity for women to have a position of authority. They were responsible for the finances and managing the property, with some the help of the other nuns. This control that women had did not survive the Viking invasion of 789, although women continued to play a major role in the church in late Anglo-Saxon England. Single gendered convents and monasteries had the chores that were commonly done by the other sex would have been performed by the common gender in that location; examples are men would have worked in the kitchens of monasteries and women would have worked in the gardens of nunneries.

It is clear that there were equal opportunities for men and women in the Christian Church in Anglo-Saxon England, but it is still important to look at the “Patriarchs of the Bible.” Although women were given these opportunities it is crucial that they were given them by men and that the Church's significant positions of authority were held by men. Thus the gender differences and coping with the ideological conflicts that have to due with sexuality and kinship resulted from the introduction of Christianity.

Marriage and divorce

In Anglo-Saxon England there were many laws related to marriage. Neither widow, nor maiden was forced to marry a man that she disliked. Once married a woman was to situate herself as the object of her husband’s subjectivity, she was to become the object of his protection and the property, although she still remained the owner of her property. The Church saw that married women had no authority and were to stand under the lordship of men. Therefore under the church they were not able to teach, witness, take an oath, nor be a judge. In marriage a male often developed his sphere of influence through his wife. Although women were seen as such under the church while married there were laws that protected them in the public sphere. Divorce was rare and the only documented ones were in times of Adultery. A woman that commits Adultery by sleeping with a man that was not her husband while he was still alive was subject to give what she owned to her husband. Æthelraed

Ethelred the Unready

Æthelred the Unready, or Æthelred II , was king of England . He was son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth. Æthelred was only about 10 when his half-brother Edward was murdered...

’s 1008 code states that widows shall remain unmarried for 12 months after the death of her husband, at which point they have the freedom to choose. This was likely the case to allow for the widows have time to think and not make any rash decisions which may have led to relationships or commitments.

A prospective husband must pay money or land for a woman’s hand in marriage. This was paid to her directly and she had the right to do with it as she pleased. It is made clear that the marriage finances were held by both man and woman. A woman was free to leave a marriage, keeping in mind the only times divorce was documented in cases of Adultery, and if the woman did leave and take the children she was entitled to half the property. These gifts were substantial sums and generally property. The gifts given by the groom were sometimes viewed as a sale of the bride, when in reality it was to safeguard her interests and add security.

Sex and rape

According to the church sexual desires were evil and sinful, thus appeared as so; therefore women were not to orgasm or enjoy sex. Many times sex was not gentle, because it was a sense of security for the man and not meant to please the woman. When it came to paying for sex with a woman belonging to the King she would have cost roughly 30 shillings, while a commoner only 6 shillings. The transfer of money for sex shows that there was the presence of prostitution, although it is not clearly stated whether the women were forced into the act or not, and this issue is still up for debate, although there still was the sex trade. The fact that rape to a slave was more expensive than seduction of a free woman shows how rape was viewed so negatively in society, although the law protected women against both actions. Laws of Ælfred go into great detail regarding laws about sexual assaults. An example of the law committed by a man was King Æthebald of Mercia who was punished for numerous reasons, including violating holy nuns that were virgins consecrated to God. When compensation was paid a free woman, ceorl or ranked above, she collected the money directly, and the money for slaves went to their owner. It is also unclear as to whether the wife or husband received the money for their servants. Rape as a topic is important because it relates to gender relations, class status, property rights, judicial, female agency, religious virtues of integrity of the body and representation in of all of these in a society. Sexual assaults were greatly penalized whether it was a slave or free woman. Burials suggest that a raped body was unceremonious. And even some men of this era applauded other men who beat their wives and some men even thought that a wife should be beat regularly, unfortunately this was encouraged by the clergy. Even though there were law protecting women that had been raped many times the acts went unpunished, for lack of information or time, the women herself would not tell anyone until many years after, or no one really took an interest in the crime; a wash woman is an example of a typical victim of unnoticed rape.

Sex and rape were also found in literature. There are actual and threatened acts of violent sexual assaults presence in the literature and legal texts; an example is the homily of Wulfstan, a text in which he wrote about women being raped in the hands of the Viking.

Laws

The written law only represents a portion of the laws that impacted the lives of women; therefore they only reflect partial views of what actually happened. Despite what the churches doctrines taught women were considered to be a member of the state and their rights were protected, no matter whether they were maiden, widow or wife. Women were classed as oath worthy and could appear as grantors, grantees and witnesses of charters

Anglo-Saxon Charters

Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving charters granted land to the Church, but from the eighth century surviving...

. Women were held responsible and accountable under the law for their activity, although were not held accountable for any criminal activity that her husband did, unless she was a willing accessory to the crime. Along with being law abiding them, they received appropriate compensation for crimes that were committed against them, and the compensation was paid directly to them.

Wills

Women had property rights and many of the land owners were women. They we able to hand down land, as shown in numerous wills, leaving property by means of a will was not restricted to only kin, but servants, churchly persons, and to churches. Documents of wills and charters show that women owned estates, by virtue of grant, given in will, or inheritance, and that they were seen roughly equal in the common life of the countryside. Evidences in these documents explain no preference to daughters or sons as heirs. Ceorl women and high of ranking were responsible for their homes. Some of the items that women would commonly entrusted or inherited were estates, slaves, livestock, household furnishings, clothing, gold, jewel and books. Items such as table clothes, bed sheets and wall hanging were considered to be the female’s property, because they had made them, therefore when a husband died items such as these clearly went to the wife.

Health

There were warnings for pregnant women which included not eating food that was too salty or sweet, and the soon to be mother should not drink strong alcohol, and not drink to the point of drunkenness, as well they were advised to stay away from pork and other fatty food, and to avoid travel a riding horseback. If a woman was to stop menstruating due to lack of nutrient and was not pregnant she was to take hot baths, drink hot herb teas and warm dressings.