The position of women in 15th century Ljubljana and Maribor and in 14th century Izola

Položaj posameznika v življenju je bil določen že ob rojstvu, kar pomeni, da so bile ženske zaradi takratne miselnosti manj zaželene kot moški potomci in zaradi tega pri marsičem prikrajšane. Veljale so namreč za manjvredna, drugorazredna bitja, nevredna zaupanja, zaradi česar jih je bilo potrebno v življenju nenehno nadzirati. Takšno negativno sliko o ženskah sta širili tudi Cerkev in duhovščina, s čimer je postala splošno sprejeta – svoje je seveda doprinesla tudi ozkoglednost ljudi, s tem pa je bila omogočena krepitev patriarhalne oblasti in podrejenost žensk. Tako srednjeveškim ženskam v življenju vsekakor ni bilo lahko – še posebej ne tistim iz nižjih slojev. Poleg skrbi za gospodinjstvo in živino ter delo na polju so na njih prežale različne nevarnosti, ki so se skrivale za pragom lastnega doma v nasilnem možu ali izven domačega ognjišča, kjer so nanje prežali razni sprijenci. Pred slednjimi in tudi pred nasilnimi možmi seveda niso bile varne niti meščanke. Bolje se je godilo ženskam plemiškega stanu, katerih življenje ni bilo zgolj pehanje za zaslužek in preživetje. Poleg tega so si lahko obetale tudi zasedbo pomembnejšega položaja v družbi.The individual’s position in life was assigned to him already at birth. This means that female offspring were less desirable than male, for which women were deprived of many things. They were considered inferior, subordinate and a being unworthy of trust, for which they had to be constantly supervised throughout their life. The Church and the clergy spread this negative image about the women, by which it became generally accepted. People’s narrow-mindedness contributed to it, and by this means the reinforcement of the patriarchal power and women’s inferiority was pioneered. In the Middle Ages, the women’s path was not strewn with roses, especially not for those who were of lower class. The women had to take care of the household, livestock and work on the field. Beside these preoccupations, they were exposed to different perils: aggressive husbands at home or perverts outside the household. Not even the bourgeoises were safe from them. Aristocratic women, on the other hand, were doing fine, and their life was anything but worrying about the earnings or struggling for survival. They could also anticipate a higher position in the society. Certainly, every medieval woman gradually pioneered a thorny and long path to emancipation with their independent actions, integration into economy, etc