Women have represented roughly fifty percent of the population since the beginning of human existence, yet rarely appear in the historical record prior to the modern era

Question

In the period of the third to the tenth century, however, women are far more visible in religious, political, and economic documents across the globe. Analyze the role of women in several societies, and discuss how understanding the position of women in each society offers crucial insight into that culture. Some examples include: • Theodora (Byzantine Empire) – Chapter 7 • early Islamic women's rights – Chapter 7 • Empress Wu (Tang dynasty) – Chapter 7 • Japanese royalty allowing women to rule – Chapter 7 • Abbess Hilda– Chapter 8 • "Religious Women" – Chapter 8

Answer 1

Answers will vary but correct responses should include: Theodora, a notoriously dissolute actress, married Justinian, ruler of the Byzantine Empire, much to the shock and disappointment of court members, and became Empress. As Empress, she was the counselor of every policy and the troubleshooter of every crisis. In the famous mosaic portrait of her in the church of San Vitale at Ravenna in Italy (see Map 7.5), she wears jewels of triumph and a cloak embroidered with images of kingship and wisdom.
In early Islam, women had important rights: to initiate divorce (albeit under much stricter conditions than those that applied to men); to own property and retain it after divorce; and to conduct business in their own right.
Empress Wu Zhao started as a lowly concubine, but her combination of beauty and brains impressed Taizong. Her recommendation of torture, brutality, and slaughter as methods of government supposedly amused him. It arose during a conversation about horse training, but, Wu Zhao said, Taizong "understood my meaning." She sought power by a characteristically bold stroke: seducing the emperor's heir. As the former emperor's concubine, she was ineligible to be the next empress, but she maneuvered her way around that obstacle with ease. In 655, she married the heir to the throne, replacing his official wife, whom she tortured to death. Similar methods ensured her ascendancy during her husband's lifetime and as effective regent during the next two reigns. To secure her own elevation to the rank ofemperor, she mustered every disaffected faction. The Buddhist clergy were her agents, proclaiming her as an incarnation of God, circulating propaganda on her behalf around the empire. Urged by 60,000 petitioners, she became emperor—literally, because she did not rule as an empress but used the masculine title.
Japan solved the problem that bedeviled the politics of other empires—devising a secure means to ensure the succession—by two means. First, women's aptitude to rule was accepted, increasing the dynasty's stock of candidates for the throne. Until the 770s, when a disastrous empress inspired lasting revulsion against women rulers, most rulers were women.
At Whitby in seventh-century England, the formidable Abbess Hilda ruled one of the largest religious establishments of the day, with one of the highest reputations for learning.
In Christianity, Buddhism, and the Islamic world, women acquired new roles, inside the home as guardians of religious tradition for their children, and outside the home as members of religious orders, seeking sanctity in common with other women. Nuns played the same role as monks in prayer and scholarship. In some places, both sexes shared the same houses of religion, often under female leadership. Nunneries played an important part in Buddhist life in China and Japan, often serving as nurseries and places of education for women.