"The Case for Women surveys extant writings formally defending women in the Middle Ages; breaks new ground by identifying a source for profeminine argument in biblical apocrypha; offers a series of explorations of the background and circulation of central arguments on behalf of women; and seeks to situate relevant texts by Christine de Pizan, Chaucer, Abelard, and Hrotsvitha in relation to these arguments. Topics covered range from the 'privileges' of women, and pro-Eve polemic, to the social and moral strengths attributed to women, and to the powerful models - frequently disruptive of patriarchal complacency - presented by Old and New Testament women. The contribution made by these emphases (which are not to be confused with 'feminism' in a modern sense) to medieval constructions of gender is throughout critically assessed, and the book concludes by asking how far defenders were controlled by, or able to query, assumptions about what was 'natural' (and therefore imagined inflexible) in gender theory."--BOOK JACKET.