Online talk on Medieval Women

On Saturday 27th January, I will be joining a panel of speakers to talk about medieval women at an online conference with the Mortimer History Society.

My talk, one of three making up the online conference, is entitled ‘Lay lady, lay: Rediscovering skilled medieval women in Wales’

Many of the royal accounts for Edward I’s castles of north Wales survive, including the details of the skilled workers responsible for building the castles. Whilst researching information for a new interpretation project based on ‘medieval construction’ at Beaumaris Castle, part of the World Heritage Site of the Castles and Town Walls of Edward I, new discoveries of note were made. These included previously unrecorded masons’ marks & a gargoyle, plus the presence of skilled women workers at the site. This led to the search of their presence at other castles in Wales in the 14th Century. It has now become clear that women held a strong and significant role in medieval Britain building work.

I’m excited to share my discoveries at the conference, and to hear the other two speakers who will be talking about ‘Stories of female freedom and fear in the Welsh Marches’ and ‘An Archaeological Analysis of Medieval Anchorite Cells in the Welsh Marches’.

I was also delighted to be asked to write an article on medieval women for the next edition of their magazine ‘Mortimer Matters’, which is out later this month.

The conference will run from 2pm (join from 1.45pm)-4.45pm on Saturday 27th January and for non-members costs £12. All are welcome.

For full information and online booking go to: https://mortimerhistorysociety.org.uk/events/