Bluestocking Oxford

By Yasmin Beed

‘buy for me 1lb. of almonds and 1lb. of sugar, and that ye will do buyen some frieze to

maken of your childer’s gowns’

These are the words of 15th-century Norfolk gentry woman Margaret Paston, written to her
husband John Paston I in 1448. A great deal is known about this family due to a significant
quantity of their correspondence surviving. This correspondence is one of the largest known
archives of English private correspondence from the fifteenth century. Beginning in 1422 and
continuing until 1509, it links several generations of the Paston family, in particular, linking
several generations of Paston women.

These women were ordinary noblewomen. Their letters trace the mundanity of their life –
their hopes, loves, concerns, and trials – thus providing us an insight into their lives via their
own voices. The Paston women primarily used scribes but this cannot be taken to simply
mean they were illiterate. John Paston I also regularly used scribes, few of his letters are in
his own hand, and Watt argues that Agnes Paston may well have written some of her own
letters. This is unusual for the late Middle Ages. It is uncommon for writing by women to
survive since many women were illiterate, and even though scribes could be used this was
inaccessible to many women. Their activities were only usually recorded, if at all, in the
writings of others. As Mary Wellesley writes ‘medieval letters are unusual, but the survival of
so many letters written by women borders on the miraculous’. But why should we care about
the mundane lives of medieval women?

‘Well-behaved women seldom make history’

That this is true is the exact reason we should care about the ordinary lives of Margaret
Paston and the other women of the Paston family. This is why this collection of
correspondence is such a remarkable occurrence.

Since Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote this oft-quoted phrase in a 1970s article it has become a
mainstay in modern feminism, urging women to stop being ‘well-behaved’ – an attractive
idea because of its ambiguity – and instead rebel against social norms. This, however, is to
misinterpret Ulrich. What she was really saying was that for too long, women’s lives have
been considered by historians – historically often men speaking to other men – too domestic,
conventional, and ordinary to be worthwhile studying. Combined with the fact that writing
from medieval women survives much less commonly, women have largely been sidelined in
the study of history.

Whilst powerful women, namely queens, often draw attention in historical studies, Thatcher
Ulrich states that it also is the less powerful, more ordinary women who ‘make history’.
These women may have had more domestic lives, but raising children and running
households are necessities without which little could have been achieved. And in doing so,
she also argues that the contributions of these lesser-known women were also important
and should be afforded the status of worthy topics of study. In other words (also from
Thatcher Ulrich), ‘the real drama is in the humdrum’. The Paston letters provide valuable
insight into the cultural context in which women like Margaret Paston and Margery Brews
lived, as well as into the specifics of their lives.

‘Mine heart me bids evermore to love you Truly over all earthly thing’

One letter within the collection also happens to be the oldest known Valentine’s letter in the
English language. This was written by Margery Brews to her fiancé John Paston III in 1477
and is significant as it is a striking example of a letter where historians are able to hear from
Margery in her own words about her feelings surrounding a turbulent time for their
relationship. This turbulence was because their marriage was not guaranteed due to a
dispute between the two families over the size of Margery’s dowry.

Not only does the letter illustrate Margery’s personal feelings on the matter – and include
professions of her love to John – it also shows historians the complexity of marriage
arrangements in the late Middle Ages. It speaks to ‘the nuanced interfamilial, financial and
legal dynamics that governed medieval marriages and the role that women played in
navigating them’ according to Calum Cockburn. Although John’s reply to Margery does not
survive, we know that Margery’s mother-in-law – Margaret Paston – made efforts to ensure
the marriage survived, reminding us again of the agency of ordinary medieval women that
has so often been overlooked

‘Elizabeth Peverel hath lay sick fifteen or sixteen weeks of the sciatica, but she sent my
mother word by Kate that she should come hither when God sent time, though she shouldbe crod in a barrow.’

Going back to 1441, Margaret Paston writes about her pregnancy. She joked about her
midwife, Elizabeth Peverel, being ill and said that the midwife had told her that she would be
brought to her birth even if it required being carried there in a wheelbarrow. This story’s
playful tone again shows historians Margaret’s humour and personality and, like so many of
Margaret’s letters, it illustrates the daily reality for women like Margaret.

Later in the same letter, Margaret asks her husband John to wear a ring with an image of
Saint Margaret engraved on it. This again demonstrates the lived experiences of women like
Margaret, showing the awareness she must have had of the inherent risks of childbirth and
illustrating the way in which people used intercessory aids to help protect themselves
against these risks by asking saints to protect them.

These letters written and kept by the women of the Paston family are therefore a
considerable contribution to historical study. They allow historians to consider the lives of
medieval noblewomen and to appreciate their actions as having been valuable to society
irrespective of whether they were ‘well-behaved’ or not. For the women of the Paston family,
this may not have been as clear a distinction as we have been led to believe.

Although many of the letters in the Paston collection are administrative and demonstrate the
day-to-day workings of the lives of the Paston family members, the letters convey the fear,
gossip, and squabbles of the family, and the danger of the period. And Margaret Paston may
have lived a life of mundanity, but hers was also a life of danger.

‘…pray you to get some crossbows, and windases to bend them with…ye should get two or

three short poleaxes to keep with doors…’

Whilst the men of the Paston family were away working in London, the women ran the family
estates. For Margaret, this also meant overseeing the defense of the family’s castles. In a
letter from 1448 she requested her husband John buy weapons for this purpose, as their
manor of Gresham was in danger of being attacked. However, this quote is taken from the
very same letter in which Margaret requests her husband buy almonds and sugar only a few
lines later.

Requesting weapons for defense followed by almonds, sugar, and a bolt of cloth for
children’s clothes demonstrates the juxtaposition between Margaret’s life of nobility and the
danger she faced. In fact, this danger was tied to her life as a noble and these specific
requests were a result of Robert Hungerford, Lord Moleyns, laying claim to the manor of
Gresham in 1448, which Margaret was then attempting to defend in her husbands absence.

When Thatcher Ulrich wrote that well-behaved women seldom make history, she was
explaining her commitment to recovering the lives of women who would otherwise have
gone unnoticed. It has been argued that everyone is always making history through living
their lives and telling their stories but, as Thatcher Ulrich states, these stories only make
history when someone cares about them.

‘Some history-making is intentional; much of it is accidental. People make history when they
scale a mountain, ignite a bomb, or refuse to move to the back of the bus. But they also
make history by keeping diaries, writing letters, or embroidering initials on linen sheets.’

The women of the Paston letters were making history in the living of their lives and in the
writing and collecting of their letters, but this history can only be realised if an interest is
taken in their lives and in what we can learn from and about them. Where the Paston letters
are becoming an increasingly researched collection, and for good reason, there are
undoubtedly other, smaller collections of letters, pieces of material culture, or other sources
of evidence which have been overlooked in favour of focusing on women her were not so
‘well-behaved’. Now, the challenge will be to incorporate these sources into a reading of
history which makes space for the domestic and less considered women throughout history.

References

Cockburn, Calum. “Margery Brews, Be My Valentine.” In Medieval Women: Voices & Visions, edited by Eleanor Jackson and Julian Harrison, 62–63. London: British Library, 2024.

Davis, Norman. The Paston Letters. 1963. Reprint, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Thatcher Ulrich, Laurel. Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Random House
Inc., 2007.

Watt, Diane. The Paston Women: Selected Letters. Rochester: D.S. Brewer, 2004.

Wellesley, Mary. “Margaret Poaston, Woman of Letters.” In Medieval Women: Voices & Visions, edited by Eleanor Jackson and Julian Harrison, 60–61. London: British Library, 2024.