Femina

Ramirez’s Femina is a fascinating and much-needed reexamination of medieval history through the lives of women who were more or less deliberately erased from the record. Starting out at archeological sites, each chapter brings one or more forgotten (female) figures to light with vivid storytelling and solid scholarship, from Viking warriors to female kings (you read that right). I found the final chapter especially compelling, as it broadened the scope to include other marginalized groups, such as people of color in the Middle Ages and individuals who lived outside the gender binary. However, the print edition is marred by numerous orthographic errors, which can be distracting and undermine the polish of an otherwise excellent book. Femina is a powerful reminder that history is not fixed—it’s curated. And it’s time we curated it differently.

I am very glad to have listened to this book because the author has an entertaining speaking style. (She’s also a BBC historian). Many of the chapters were very interesting to me because the famous women she discusses are less often discussed than their male counterparts. But , that was perhaps the main issue I had with it… I feel like as much as she tried to incorporate information on regular women, she often referred back to those of privilege, or royals. I am not trying to undermine the significance of these women, but it is something that caught me as a potential downside to this book. Interestingly I found chapter 4 about artists and patrons to be a bit boring, and I think this is the chapter that was supposed to revolve around the artwork: and I am an art historian! So, I liked it some parts more than others, and overall I am glad to have read it because it inspired me to do my own research and take greater interest in female experiences of medieval life. Also something I feel she didn’t adequately address is that this book is literally only about European medieval life. I found myself wishing the author explored women across a more global view.

I love the stories about women during the Middle Ages, although, of course, the women chosen can never represent the "average" woman of their respective time.

I liked to see how much influence women could have even back then, since that's a truth that's rarely spoken of in history lessons.

I absolutely have a problem with the sloppy editing of Femina, though. There are so many typos and grammatical errors in there that I was quite taken aback. This isn't something I expect from a professionally edited and published book.
And just for the record, it's called "Riesenkodex" ("Giant Codex"), not "Reisenkodex" ("Travel Codex")!