For the past few years, I have embarked on an independent study of medieval and Renaissance Europe. I’ve read 30+ books and enrolled in several digital courses. I’ve attended live video discussions with historians and participated virtually in a Tudor conference.
I’ve just finished Dr. Lacey Bonar Hull’s 16-week course, Women in Late Medieval England. In January, I took her Women of the Wars of the Roses, which explored how several powerful women shaped the pre-Tudor politics of medieval England.
About Lacey Bonar Hull
With a Ph.D. in medieval history, Dr. Lacey Bonar Hull writes The Historian’s Desk newsletter on Substack. She is a medieval and Early Modern historian. On her Substack, she writes about premodern history, runs courses, and facilitates interactive digital book clubs.
About the Course
On Dr. Lacey Bonar Hull’s website, she describes the course as follows:
Join us for this sixteen-week course as we explore the lives and experiences of women living in England from ca. 1300-1500.
Topics covered include the following:
• Lifestyles available to late medieval women – married women, single women, and nuns
• Women’s conduct – Guides to manners and good behaviour
• Women’s bodies and fashion – Self-care, clothing, and cosmetics
• Women’s personal relationships – motherhood, friendships, and family dynamics
• Women’s avenues of power – politics, administration, and leadership
Each week we will explore the lives of several different medieval Englishwomen from alewives to duchesses and from queens to royal mistresses and nuns through a pre-recorded lecture and optional discussion posts.
Students will receive fourteen pre-recorded lectures and will have the option to participate in two LIVE discussions via Zoom. The live discussions will be recorded and uploaded for students who are unable to attend the live video calls, which will be scheduled according to student preference. Pre-recorded lectures will be released each week for students to watch at their convenience.
Delivery & Accessibility
Dr. Bonar Hull earns full marks for designing a course that is rich in text, images, and description. For each lecture, she narrates the content in a polished manner, easily delivering her prepared script without seeming robotic or stiff. Her slides contain many detailed images, which she describes for the viewer, highlighting specific visual features we should notice. The transcript is provided beneath the video, and she offers supplemental readings and resources for the hardcore enthusiast. She is also readily available during the course in case students have technical issues.
I enjoyed this course and genuinely looked forward to each lecture. My favorite topics were the exploration of behavioral and beauty standards medieval women had to navigate, in addition to the detailed overview of women’s clothing. I appreciated the profiles of historical figures like Cecily Neville, which expanded on the Women of the Wars of the Roses course in January.
I would definitely take another course with Dr. Lacey Bonar Hull. She is knowledgeable and engaging, using a wide array of primary texts. Her language is accessible, but her content is sophisticated. She clearly loves her subject matter and is well prepared to share it with others.
More to Explore
Listen to Dr. Lacey Bonar Hull on some of my favorite history podcasts:
On the Blink 