How does the life of wealthy girls in the Middle Ages compare to today? It wasn’t always easy, but it wasn’t always bad, either.

Girls had a short childhood, no matter what their station was. They ran their estates, especially when their husbands were away. Most, if not all, ladies understood math. Most often, wealthy girls married early and had and raised many children. Many girls in the Middle Ages died during or after childbirth, and their children didn’t have a very high survival rate either. They played, worked, and worried about fashion, the same as girls today. 

What did they do with their childhood? When did girls in the middle ages legally become adults? What did they have to be able to do to run a manor?

Childhood for Wealthy Girls in the Middle Ages

Childhood today lasts a long time. During the Middle Ages, childhood was a lot shorter. Medieval childhood appeared to have two main parts. First came the section of a child’s life, infancy.

Infancy lasted from birth until the age of seven. That is a little older than we consider the age of infancy today (like 6.5 years longer). During their infancy, boys and girls received similar treatment. As long as they were siblings, girls and boys could sleep together during this time. Beds cost a lot, and sleeping alone was considered sad and lonely.

The other segment of childhood was from age seven until they became adults. They were considered old enough to protect themselves then. Therefore, girls in the Middle Ages could legally become engaged when they were seven. Those engagements could be nullified when both people came of age.

When they turned seven, girls could only sleep with other women. Even wealthy girls in the Middle Ages would share beds with their sisters and servants. Children usually didn’t have to follow the diet restrictions or fasting days the church ordered. When the children did, people admired them for their piety and devotion.

Learning and Playing

Through their childhood, wealthy girls learned how to run their future estates. As children, they learned to do all sorts of things needed to manage their household in the future.

They had to learn to budget, delegate different responsibilities, manage servants, and even master how to throw a big feast. Other necessary things were learning to spin cloth, weave, sew clothing, and sew other household items. They had to learn to find and use medicinal herbs, create medicines, and even set bones. Physicians were scarce and expensive. They had to learn how to shop and garden. As children, wealthy girls in the Middle Ages had a lot to learn.

Childhood wasn’t all learning and other boring things. Children in the Middle Ages had toys and games, too. They had toy pots and pans; some were strong enough to boil water.

There were also little dishes, dolls (called poppets), balls, and whatever else they thought up. They would play many outdoor games, like Blind-man’s Bluff, Hide-and-Seek, foot races, and many other things.

They were encouraged to be kind of athletic for example, they could run, hunt, or dance. People enjoyed dice games, as there was a large variety of them, card games, and board games like chess and backgammon.

Other chase games like Snakes and Ladders and Cribbage were also popular. Wealthy girls spent time hunting and hawking and may have owned a hawk.

They also played lots of make-believe. Sometimes they would dress up, hold mock funerals, where a doll was the dead person, or whatever they felt like doing.

Betrothal and Marriage for Wealthy Girls in the Middle Ages

Today people can marry whomever they want, and they should be at least 18. Wealthy girls in the Middle Ages didn’t have a choice in whom they married. They never even had to meet their husband before the wedding day. But first, we can start with betrothal. Children could legally become betrothed when they were seven years old.

Sadly, not all parents listened to that law. Many members of higher nobility betrothed their children as babies, and little children, as young as two, had help from their parents to say the vows of future consent.

Arranged marriages gave both families involved some benefits. The girls had a dowry from their parents, which they brought to the union. The dowry was money, property, or other goods their parents chose.

Then came the Age of Consent and the legal age for marriage, set by canon law. It was different for girls and boys. For girls, the age of consent was twelve years old. Many wealthy girls throughout history were married at that age. The second wife of King John, the guy from Robin Hood, was young. Her name was Isabella of Angoulême, and she married him when she was about twelve.

That probably seems young, but that isn’t all. Not all parents waited until the Age of Consent. Isabella of Valois married King Richard the second when she was about six. Talk about an early wedding. She wasn’t the only one to be wed before the Age of Consent.

Wealthy girls in the Middle Ages often married men decades older than themselves.

Adulthood

The Age of Consent was the legal age to wed. After the age of consent came the Age of Majority. The Age of Majority was the legal age of adulthood, or the achieving of full age. Girls reached the Age of Majority when they were fourteen years old.

That is still pretty young. By then they were definitely adults and they could inherit property. Wealthy girls in the Middle Ages often married at the Age of Consent, so for some girls the difference wouldn’t really mean much at all.

Pregnancy and Childbirth for Wealthy Girls in the Middle Ages

Wealthy girls in the Middle Ages had to run their households, but they also gave birth to many children; they needed to produce an heir; death rates were high for children and babies. Women expected to lose one or more children, especially in the first year or two of life, so they also had to have a lot of backup heirs.

Pregnancy and birth were terrifying parts of a medieval woman’s life, and it wasn’t unusual for a noblewoman to make arrangements for her children in case she didn’t survive. They didn’t know they were pregnant until about five months into their pregnancy when they felt the baby moving inside them, since there weren’t pregnancy tests.

Before the upcoming birth, wealthy women might have a room blocked off; they did something called ‘lying in.’ Diverse women could enter once she took to her chamber, but no men could. The husbands weren’t allowed in any more than other male servants.

The noblewoman would have a fancy church service before then, where the priest prayed for her and her child.

The room remained dark to protect her eyes. The stuff inside helped keep the mother calm so the baby could stay unharmed. Crucifixes and other holy items provided Spiritual comfort.

The room was a recreation of the womb. Saint Margaret was the patron saint of pregnant women and childbirth, so many women prayed to her to protect them and the child they were having.

Style and Clothing

Styles come and go, now and during the Middle Ages. Wealthy women in the Middle Ages wore numerous layers of clothing. First came the chemise being the underwear and the hose (stockings) held up by garters. They kept the chemise hidden under their other layers. Then came the kirtle, surcoat, and sometimes mantle (cloak).

As children and unmarried women, girls could leave their hair down or in braids or plaits. After they were married, that changed. They had to wear wimples or some other headdress to hide the hair and preferably the neck.

If a married woman’s hair showed, she could be accused of witchcraft or of having low moral standards. They didn’t leave their hair down. One of their beauty standards was hairlessness. Women would pluck their eyebrows and their hairline as far back as possible. They wanted to look like babies, to appear pure and innocent.

The Church didn’t approve, but they didn’t care. Some treatments would cause more permanent hair removal. Once the treatment started to tingle they had to remove it immediately, or the skin would come off too.

They also used makeup to improve their looks. Pale skin was considered desirable, and some women even got bled to achieve the look. Again, the Church didn’t like it and scolded them for being so vain. They also wanted blond hair, and they would dye it. I guess hair dying and using make-up are beauty standards that are the same today.

To read more…

(and check out my sources…)

Check out childhood in the Middle Ages…

https://www.medievalists.net/2018/11/childhood-middle-ages/

Children’s lives in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

Historical Essays: Childhood in Medieval England

Here is about the child-bride Isabella of Valois…

Isabella of Valois – Wikipedia

Marriage and Betrothal…

Betrothal: Marriage Age | Encyclopedia.com

Child marriage in early modern England

Childbirth…

Childbirth in Medieval and Tudor Times by Sarah Bryson

Style and Clothing…

Medieval Body Hair And The Curious Practice Of Forehead Plucking

Women’s Medieval Hairstyles | LoveToKnow

A Medieval Noblewoman’s Guide to Dressing Up

Here is some more about women’s lives…

https://www.getty.edu/news/what-was-life-like-for-women-in-the-middle-ages/

https://www.lordsandladies.org/noble-women-in-the-middle-ages.htm

The post below pertains to mine. The writer has a blog devoted to girls in the

Middle Ages, of all classes.

https://rosaliegilbert.com/athome_noble.html

A few of my related posts…

Life of Peasant Women in Medieval Times

The Lives of Rich Men in the Gothic Period

The Life of Poor Men in the Middle Ages

If you want to see some more of my posts visit…

Cuisine of Wealthy People in the Middle Ages

Love and Powerful Couples in the Middle Ages

Did People Celebrate Birthdays in the Middle Ages?

What Animals Were Kept in a Medieval Castle?

What Hobbies did People Have in the Middle Ages?

Did People Have Holidays in the Middle Ages?

To visit my blog, visit…

lifelong ago.com