Warriors, Queens, and Intellectuals: 36 Great Women Before 1400

De: Joyce E. Salisbury, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Joyce E. Salisbury

Throughout history, women have played integral roles in family, society, religion, government, war - in short, in all aspects of human civilization. Powerful women have shaped laws, led rebellions, and played key roles in dynastic struggles. Some were caught up in forces beyond their control, while others manipulated and murdered their way to the top. However, unearthing their stories from the historical record has been a challenge, with the ordinary difficulties of preserving information across the generations increased by centuries of historical bias and gendered expectations. Women, when they were mentioned at all, often filled the role of virtuous maiden, self-effacing mother, or seductive villain. Imagine what you are missing when only half the story is being told.

In Warriors, Queens, and Intellectuals: 36 Great Women Before 1400, taught by Professor Emerita of Humanistic Studies Joyce E. Salisbury, you will experience another side of history, one that has often been overlooked. In these 36 lectures, women step out from the footnotes and sidebars of traditional history and into the spotlight, illuminating the dark corners of the pre-modern world along the way. From thwarted daughters and ambitious wives to fearless revolutionaries and brilliant philosophers, you will see how women have played diverse roles throughout history and why their influence is so vital to a fuller understanding of the world we live in today. Beginning at the start of the Roman Empire and carrying you through to the end of the Middle Ages, Professor Salisbury will introduce you to dozens of influential women from all across the globe.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 The Great Courses (P)2019 The Teaching Company, LLC

Totally engrossing

I learned so much in this fascinating book of lectures about women, many of whom I knew nothing about. Joyce brought them to life!

“Anonymous was a Woman” - no longer

For generations, history books show cultures created and molded almost exclusively by men. Here, the professor elucidates the lives of pre-Renaissance women who changed the world. Certainly there are more women who were influential, and perhaps the professor will write a sequel.

Excellent

Really enjoyed this. Very well researched and communicated in almost novel like form. I recommend!

Interesting Perspective of History

Although I'm generally not interested in history, I enjoyed this audiobook. It's history from a different perspective (36 great women before 1400), so it wasn't the usual war and conquest history I remembered from high school. It's also convenient that each chapter is a bite-size amount of information.

Good but not Great

This book was interesting but relied a lot on supposition - "We can imagine...", "It's easy to believe..."
The author is clearly passionate about her subject but there are only so many times that a woman can be described as "remarkable" and her deeds "astonishing."
I didn't dislike the work and found myself looking up some additional history on the women discussed but I also found myself rolling my eyes at some hyperbolic descriptions of the often thinly documented accounts of some of their accomplishments.

Interesting and Informative

This was an excellent opportunity to learn about women who for the most part are left in the margins of HIStory.

My quibble is the same for most historians. Until you walk in their clothing you cannot comment on how comfortable or uncomfortable it could have been. Linen was the typical under shift because of its comfort against the skin and fairly ease of washing. Cotton wicks water. It can be a good or bad element depending on environment. Skirts are not necessarily cumbersome. Our ancestors were far more practical in their dress and this part of history is sadly neglected despite how much of the economy of a country is made up of clothing related industries.

Interesting histories

I enjoyed learning about these notable women, although I feel the lectures would be improved by spending less time talking about the men in their lives.

Mixed thoughts about the lectures

I learned some different points of view about the beginnings of several religions and how many of the negative aspects go back to the origins of the religions and skip the importance of faith. It verified the subservient role that women have held in most societies through time with the exception of a few societies with matriarcal leanings that often didn’t keep those beliefs long. Overall not a bad listen for the long drive two and from work.

Fascinating and gripping!

A comprehensive and well structured introduction to history of women. This volume offers bite sized biographies over powerful women from Roman to late medieval times. It's a good introduction to anyone taking their early steps into women's history.

A very solid course worth your time

This was a refreshing history course that serves two great purposes: 1- a reminder that women played a bigger role in ancient and medieval history than most recognize and 2- provides historical narrative we rarely get from other history courses or in a lot of cases NEVER get (I hadn't even heard of a lot of the women warriors and their battles with established empires like the Roman Empire or Islam).

A wide range of regions are covered including China, Japan, Vietnam, Africa, Europe, Asia Minor, Russia, the middle east, and India and a wide spectrum of empires and peoples including the Roman Empire, Shogun Japan, Han and Tang China, Visigoths, Islamic, Rus, Mongols, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Byzantine, Vikings, and medieval France and England.

Professor Salisbury usually concludes each lecture with a summary of the legacy of that specific woman up until today. So in addition to understanding the woman’s impact in their own day we also get insight into how modern people of their native land view her (for example the professor will reference any statues created to honor the women, pilgrimages made in their honor by modern admirers, etc.).

My personal highlights were Lectures 3, 11, 16, and 18.

The hopping around from region to region and shifting from one empire or time to another can be disconcerting or jarring at times (until you get grounded in the time period and location shift) but I’m not sure Professor Salisbury could’ve done much to build continuity or cohesion between lectures (except maybe opening lectures by referencing that xxx time had passed since woman xxx from previous lecture had done xxx and the empire or region had changed by xxx).

But the shifts actually can be seen as a positive: it kept things fresh and exciting leaving you to wonder which region we'd be traveling to in the next lecture. And the professor provided good contextual background in each lecture on the time and region before diving too much into the personal stories of the woman of study.

Professor Salisbury was critical of nearly every male she discussed and while a lot of their behavior is in indeed abominable to us living in the modern day, it would’ve been better if their character/actions were compared to the standard of their day (i.e. were they more or less ruthless than the average noble/king of the day/region?).

But these are minor gripes indeed. I recommend this course to anyone interested in the lesser known side of history and everyone who thinks ancient history was only made by men. I suspect the majority of TGC customers will find this 18 hour listen well worth their time.