ABSTRACT
It Is a curious paradox of English history that whereas the Englishwoman of the nineteenth century was considered too weak-minded and incompetent to play any part in public life, to benefit from a reasonable education, or even to control her own inheritance, the Anglo-Saxon woman was highly esteemed. In Saxon times there were women land-owners, widowed queens who ruled some of the Early English kingdoms, and convent-educated nuns, most of whom belonged to one or other of the royal houses, who were famous for their learning. In the days before the Norman Conquest a widow could if she chose-though preferably with the king’s permission-dispose of her dower and even disinherit her children.
