Entre Ave y Eva: las mujeres de las Cantigas de Santa María. II. Las trabajadoras. III. Las Evas

Abstract

The Church, heavily present in medieval society, contributed to consolidate the patriarchal allocation of spaces: women in the domestic sphere, men in the public sphere. The works of the wife and of the mother had to be carried out within the household, which extended beyond the intimacy of the house, so that she had to take care of the farm, the animals and the land, without neglecting the education of the children. The Cantigas de Santa María, which gather versions of ancient legends but also make up others contemporary to the compilation of the work, offer a panoramic view of these working women, but also of those who developed a commercial activity in an urban environments as befits a work that portrays the society that has evolved over a century. Thus, we find women working in the most varied trades, thus participating in different productive sectors, mainly commerce, hospitality and the textile sector; but we also find women who, driven by a situation of extreme poverty, are forced to carry out the oldest trade in the world.