Europe
From the windy islands of the North Sea to the cold Caucausus Mountains, meet the women of Europe a thousand years ago.
August 2018
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Bonna
Mainz, Germany Wife of Rabbeinu Gershom, a famous teacher of the Jewish diaspora in Europe. She sewed Torah scrolls for her husband's school and may have influenced his divorce rights legislation and polygamy ban. |
December 2018
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Queen Gurandukht
Bedia Cathedral, Georgia Last member of the Abkhazian royal family. A great patron of churches, she successfully manipulated local politics and administered part of the kingdom to secure her son Bagrat's place as the first king of a unified Georgia. |
March 2019
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Raingarde
The Livradois, France French noblewoman who gave birth in the middle of a forest, foreshadowing the child's future life as a hermit. Her son would go on to become Saint Robert de Turlande, whose influence depended in part on the support of his mother's powerful family. |
September 2019
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Mór
County Tipperary, Ireland A young woman with her milch cow on the first of May. The daughter of a poor farmer, she leads her cow through the protective Beltaine fires to ensure its safety against witches and other malevolent forces during the transition to the summer pastures. |
November 2019
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The Skiier of Sápmi
Saltfjellet, Norway A Saami woman skiis towards her camp to rendezvous with her family before the early winter sunset. A curious reindeer watches her go by, hinting at the shared future of the reindeer and the Mountain Saami. |
March 2020
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The Devotee of Žemyna
Pavirvytė, Lithuania A woman pours an offering of beer at the roots of a sacred oak tree. In a sacred grove, she asks for assistance from the Earth Mother Žemyna, who presides over many aspects of life and death. |
May 2020
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Sophia and Adelheid
Gandersheim, Germany Two sisters, imperial princesses of the Ottonian Empire and leaders of their religious communities, walk down a cloister while discussing the latest political events. They were two of the most influential people in the politics of their time. |
September 2020
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Thorgunna
Valtos, Lewis, Scotland A young unmarried mother looks out across the Strait of Pabay. Her lover, Leif Eriksson, left from here for Norway a year ago, refusing to take her with him. Adept in magic, she made a prophecy about their son's future before he departed. |
October 2020
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The Deaconess of Lucca
Lucca, Italy A woman kneels at the altar, her head bowed in prayer. She has just been ordained a deaconess, an ancient role in the Church which will involve instructing other women in the faith and perhaps serving at the altar. |
February 2021
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The Parishioner of North Elmham
North Elmham, England A Black English woman sings a hymn while partaking in a Palm Sunday procession. She and the other faithful carry yew branches to represent the palms that accompanied Christ into Jerusalem. |
March 2021
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Zoë and Theodora Porphyrogenita
Istanbul, Turkey Two sisters, imperial princesses and last of the Macedonian dynasty, uneasily share the women's quarters. Their futures hold a whirlwind of betrayals, marriages, monasticism and murder that would ultimately end with two sisters jointly ruling the Byzantine Empire. |
May 2021
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Fātima bint Zakariyyā' and 'Ā'isha al-Qurtubiyya
Córdoba, Spain Two women relax in a small library. The head librarian of Córdoba laughs while one of the city's leading intellectuals recites her most famous poem. Fātima travelled the world collecting books while 'Ā'isha amassed her own personal library. |
August 2021
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The Heretic of Plovdiv
Plovdiv, Bulgaria A woman closes her eyes to mark the solemnity of her baptism by the Holy Spirit, the initiation rite into the heretical group known as the Bogomils. By joining the Bogomil elite, she is committing to a life of fasting, vegetarianism, celibacy, and a radical rejection of the Orthodox Church. |
March 2022
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The Lovers of Amesbury Abbey
Amesbury, England Two nuns share a passionate kiss in the abbey's orchard at sunset. They were professed to the monastery as children and fell in love as they grew up together. Penitentials and poetry give us glimpses into the lives of medieval European lesbians. |
July 2022
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Gunnborga
Jättendal, Sweden A runemaster concentrates on finishing up the carving on a runestone. She is signing her own name on a memorial stone which commemorates the father of two Christian brothers. They were early converts during the reign of the first Christian king of Sweden. |
October 2022
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The Riders of Holda
Worms, Germany While her body lies sleeping in her bed, a woman joins the nighttime retinue of a mysterious but benevolent supernatural lady. She and other women ride wild beasts through the night sky, defying the admonitions of their local bishop. |
July 2023
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The Healer of Chełmno
Kałdus, Poland The community healer performs a sacred ritual in order to relieve the pain of a noblewoman. Medieval Polish people had many different strategies for treating pain and disease in pre-Christian rituals. |