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Women and Property in Medieval Novgorod: Dependence and Independence

Women and Property in Medieval Novgorod: Dependence and Independence EVE LEVIN (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.) WOMEN AND PROPERTY IN MEDIE VAL NO V- GOROD: DEPENDENCE AND INDEPENDENCE* The topic of women in medieval Novgorod is likely to elicit, from scholars if not from laymen, two distinct and contradictory images. One is the posad- nitsa Marfa Boretskaia, draped in the romantic garb of a more colorful tradi- tion of historical writing, as the defender of the Novgorodian republic in its last years against the onslaught of the oppressive Muscovite autocracy. The second image, common to all of medieval Russia, and based on the much- published writings of Daniil Zatochnik, Herberstein and his fellow travel- lers, misreadings of Domostroi, and folklore, is of women confined to the terem in an attempt to limit the evil they could intlict on male society. Pre- liminary research indicates that for aristocratic women in the Novgorodian republic, neither image bears much resemblance to reality. Although the structure of Novgorodian society placed limitations on independent action for women even more than for men, the role women were accorded in the activities of society contradicts the notion that women were restricted to a life of total dependence. Recent years have seen the first serious work on http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Russian History Brill

Women and Property in Medieval Novgorod: Dependence and Independence

Russian History , Volume 10 (1): 154 – Jan 1, 1983

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1983 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0094-288X
eISSN
1876-3316
DOI
10.1163/187633183X00091
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

EVE LEVIN (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.) WOMEN AND PROPERTY IN MEDIE VAL NO V- GOROD: DEPENDENCE AND INDEPENDENCE* The topic of women in medieval Novgorod is likely to elicit, from scholars if not from laymen, two distinct and contradictory images. One is the posad- nitsa Marfa Boretskaia, draped in the romantic garb of a more colorful tradi- tion of historical writing, as the defender of the Novgorodian republic in its last years against the onslaught of the oppressive Muscovite autocracy. The second image, common to all of medieval Russia, and based on the much- published writings of Daniil Zatochnik, Herberstein and his fellow travel- lers, misreadings of Domostroi, and folklore, is of women confined to the terem in an attempt to limit the evil they could intlict on male society. Pre- liminary research indicates that for aristocratic women in the Novgorodian republic, neither image bears much resemblance to reality. Although the structure of Novgorodian society placed limitations on independent action for women even more than for men, the role women were accorded in the activities of society contradicts the notion that women were restricted to a life of total dependence. Recent years have seen the first serious work on

Journal

Russian HistoryBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1983

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