A noblewoman is a female member of the nobility. Noblewomen form a disparate group, which has evolved over time. Ennoblement of women has traditionally been a rare occurrence; the majority of noblewomen were linked to the nobility by either their father or their husband. However, women of the nobility assumed political functions, participated in the art of war, were cultural patrons, and took on religious responsibilities.
Within nobility, noblewomen are often heiresses who transmit titles or property. They are distinguished by titles of nobility and by appellations to which they are entitled by their birth, marriage, or both when there is accumulation of functions. Common titles of nobility for European women include lady, dame, princess, baroness, countess, queen, duchess, archduchess, and empress. In Asia, some noble title for women include Adi (Fiji), Ashi (Bhutan), and the Imperial Chinese titles of Gege, Mingfu, and Xiangjun.
In Europe, marriage contract with a noble could include a clause such as the dower, for queens for example. Thus, in the event of widowhood, we then speak of a dowager queen.[1]
In hagiographies, many Christian female saints have noble origins. We can cite Saint Bathilde, wife of Clovis II in the 7th century, and being at the origin of the very first act in the known world having as its object the abolition of slave trafficking; or a little more recently Saint Jeanne de Chantal in the 16th century, born and wife of a nobleman before entering the orders.
In Europe, the life of women under the Ancien Régime was specific, both with regard to their formation and marital alliances. Manuscript sources dealing with the subject are few in number. Nobiliary historiography especially gives place to alliances and titles of the nobility.[2] However, in certain countries such as England, titles of nobility could sometimes be transmitted through women. Likewise, the titles attached to certain lands could be transmitted to their descendants by the women who owned them.
Traditionally, the education of noble girls in Europe occurred either in convents (preferably noble chapters) or family homes. Many women testified to their education and their moral, religious and intellectual instruction, in their memoirs or their correspondence. One example is Christine de Pizan, poet, philosopher and woman of letters from the 15th century, author of works entitled: The Treasure of the City of Ladies and The Book of the City of Ladies.
Many women of the nobility were perfectly proficient in writing and reading.[3] They could be sponsors or recipients of works such as books of hours.
In Europe, it was common for a woman born noble to run an abbey, take important responsibilities in the clergy or become a canoness. For example, proof of nobility was mandatory to join the chapter of Epinal. This is the case of Hildegard von Bingen, who in the 12th century was abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg and founder of Rupertsberg Abbey. Considered for her intellectual talents, she was recognized as a Doctor of the Church.[4] [5]
Hersende of Champagne was the co-founder (with Robert of Arbrissel) and first grand prioress of Fontevraud Abbey, mother house of the order of Fontevraud, in the 12th century.[6]
We observe responsibilities by women of the nobility in several European territories, such as in Scotland.[7]
In France, women of the nobility were admitted to the Estates of Brittany.[8]
One place in which European noblewomen had more choice and control was in the area of patronage. Noblewomen could often choose which artists they wanted to support. They could also commission manuscripts, religious and otherwise, allowing them to have texts created that reflected their individual interests. For example, noblewomen could commission books of hours in their native languages or with specific choices in wording.[9]
Patronage also allowed noblewomen to support social or religious change. Noblewomen could be financial supporters of religious dissenters, for instance; noblewomen were documented supporters of the Huguenot movement and of Dutch religious dissenter David Joris.[10]
Ermengarde de Narbonne, viscountess in the 12th century, surrounded herself with a court mixing numerous arts, troubadours, doctors and jurists: she thus promoted the intellectual development of Narbonne in Occitania.[11]
European noblewomen were expected, alongside the rest of nobility, to provide charity to the poor and less fortunate. For noblewomen, this could include material goods or services such as medical care.[12]
Noblewomen often were given the responsibility of educating their children, although what was expected varied based on time and period. Marie-Elisabeth von Humboldt, in the 18th century, structured very precise instruction, allowing her children, Alexander and Wilhelm, to access courses of a very good level of science and knowledge.
In medieval Europe, noblewomen were expected to provide basic medical care to their households if a doctor was not available. Between 1400 and 1700, "women from Northern Europe to the Meditteranean basin permeated every aspect of healthcare services both within and beyond the home".[13] This extended to noblewomen as well.
As early as the 12th century, but increasingly in the 16th and 17th centuries, some European noblewomen became healers or pharmacists, as "making medicinal remedies was seen as an entirely proper task for an aristocratic lady to undertake". They would also share medical recipes and knowledge through letters.
Several orders of chivalry are open to women or even exclusive to them. As with men, these distinctions can be honorary. They reward acts of bravery, organize groups of women and provide places for discussion and exchange, and to obtain advantages.[14]
The Order of the Starry Cross in Austria was inspired by orders of chivalry, but is not technically an order of chivalry. It is reserved for ladies of the high nobility and is intended to reward their virtue, good works, and charity. The order was created in 1688 and is still active. Its grand mistress is still a princess of the House of Austria.
| Female order of the Band | Palencia, Crown of Castile | 1387 | ||
| Order of the Ermine | France | 1381 | ||
| Order of the Hatchet | Tortosa, Catalonia, Spain | 1149 | ||
| Order of the Ladies of the Cord | France | 1498 |