Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
Episode: How to Survive as a Medieval Single Woman
Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Dr. Kate Lister
Guest: Dr. Eleanor Janega (medievalist, co-host of Gone Medieval)
Episode Overview
In this lively and candid episode, Dr. Kate Lister and Dr. Eleanor Janega dig deep into what it meant to be a single woman in medieval Europe. Together, they challenge misconceptions, examine the pressures and stigma facing medieval singles, and explore how women navigated work, housing, survival, and even old age on their own terms. The discussion is filled with humor, sharp social critique, evidence-based insights, and more than a few memorable asides about sex, scandal, and societal expectations—which, Kate and Eleanor argue, may not have evolved as much as we like to think.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Social Expectations and Stigma Around Singleness
[03:53]
- The default expectation was for women to marry and become mothers.
- Single women, then and now, face social stigma ("single Pringle" as Kate quips).
- “We exist in a world that's set up for couples. ...You tell someone you're single, then you get the headcock. ...It's like, no, I really don't want to.” – Kate Lister [04:40]
The Reality & Prevalence of Single Women in the Middle Ages
[06:26]
- More single women existed than often assumed.
- Singleness comprised both those never married and widows (“...just kind of like sitting around waiting for your husband to die, which is a time honored tradition.” – Eleanor Janega).
Legal Limitations: Coverture and Women’s Identity
[07:12]
- Coverture meant women legally existed as someone's wife or daughter; unmarried women’s identities erased in records.
- Some single women inherited and managed land, especially when there were no sons.
Daily Life & Economic Activities
[09:00]
- Nuclear families weren't yet the norm; extended family and local networks prevailed.
- In rural settings, groups of unmarried sisters might live together and run inherited land or businesses—“Very Jane Austen,” as Kate jokes.
- Work:
- Single women often worked—running alehouses, weaving, washing, working as household staff.
- Legal and tax records provide evidence when women were fined or shamed for business mishaps (e.g., brewing poor ale and being paraded on the “cucking stool”).
“Agnes will get yelled at. ...Your beer sucks, Agnes.” – Eleanor Janega [10:07]
Public Punishment and Societal Shame
[10:22]
- Shame was a key tool for enforcing social norms. “Chair of shame” (cucking stool) as punishment for rule-breaking.
- “Shame is the major form of punishment, slash torture, in the medieval period.” – Eleanor Janega [11:20]
Urban Life: Distrust, Vagrancy Laws, and Sex Work
[13:18]
- Single women in cities were regarded with suspicion—assumed to be sex workers if their livelihood couldn’t be easily explained.
- Urban laws targeted women, requiring newly arrived single women get ‘attached’ to a household within a week ([18:09]).
“Single men, come on in. ...It's specifically a law for [single] women.” – Kate Lister [18:35]
Secret Sex Work and 'Suspect Women'
[19:19]
- In places like 14th-century Prague, legal brothels coexisted with various categories of “secret prostitutes” and “suspect women,” many simply living together or running informal enterprises.
“Mulieris Suspectus, that's the name of my progressive noise band, don't worry about it.” – Eleanor Janega [20:23]
- Some so-called “secret prostitutes” may have simply been single women pooling resources, but the label was used due to suspicion about unregistered sex work.
The Shaming of Financially Independent Women
[24:06]
- Medieval German term “Eigenbrotlerin”—women able to “buy their own bread”—was tinged with suspicion; modern parallels like “spinster” or “cat lady” endure as pejoratives.
“Every study ...shows that women who are single are happier and live longer—because, you know, having children and dealing with men will kill you.” – Eleanor Janega [25:13]
Policing, Surveillance, and Social Anxiety
[25:56]
- Single women were heavily policed and monitored—suspected of sex work or other transgressions simply for living together or being in public spaces (e.g., beer halls).
- Cited examples from medieval Prague of collective female living arrangements (the “Golden Girls” of the Middle Ages) being perceived with deep suspicion.
Aging, Mutual Support, and Retirement
[29:22]
- Older single women often formed mutual support households.
- Retired sex workers, especially in southern France, sometimes pooled resources for joint retirement—sometimes supported by their communities for various reasons.
“Whole brothels will just kind of retire together. ...They often save up for it. ...The community does pitch in... because they do like [the brothel], but you’re not allowed to say it.” – Eleanor Janega [30:03–31:49]
Nunneries as Retirement Communities & Social Escape
[34:13]
- Nunneries served as an option for older single women—including queens and former sex workers—but usually required financial means to gain entry.
“You often have to come with some money ...especially in the case of women who are older, if you want to use it as a retirement community.” – Eleanor Janega [34:41]
- Social and religious motivations intermingled; entering religious life provided community, security, and a way to atone for “worldly” behaviors.
Protective Ambiguity & Sexual Suspicion
[38:00]
- The ambiguous sexual status of single women triggered particular anxieties: could they be lovers, rivals, temptresses?
- Social categories offered differentiation (wife = sex with husband; nun = celibate; prostitute = sex with anyone; widow = ‘retired’), but single women were liminal, “potential problems.”
“If you haven't been locked down, so to speak, then ...you've not been locked down.” – Eleanor Janega [40:18]
Was the Medieval Period a Good Time to Be Single?
[41:01]
- Patriarchy made life difficult for single women in any era.
- But many medieval women might have preferred singleness to marriage due to the dangers of childbirth and rigid expectations.
“If you ask basically any medieval historian who's a woman, they will tell you, oh, I would like to be a nun …because you get to read books and hang out with the girlies.” – Eleanor Janega [41:39] “If we didn't tie the worth of women in society to being a wife and mommy, then women wouldn't do it because it fucking sucks.” – Eleanor Janega [41:59]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On persistent singleness stigma:
“Take it from someone who knows, the single tax is all too flipping real. And that's me saying this in 2026. So spare a thought for the medieval women who chose the single life.”
– Kate Lister [02:50] -
On survival strategies:
“You'll just kind of club up…again, real Bronte sisters times. ...There's a reason why we tend to say ‘spinster aunt,’ right?”
– Eleanor Janega [31:52] -
On community and retirement among sex workers:
“If you've been working with the same women the whole time, ...you're like, if you see another dick, I swear to God. ...this is a retirement community now.”
– Eleanor Janega [31:02] -
On single women as ‘potential problems’:
“They are seen not necessarily as people, but as potential problems. ...They don't fit easily into the neat categories of what is expected of women.”
– Eleanor Janega [38:47] -
On the eternal suspicion of women living together:
“If it was a brothel, that would make sense. ...But just a bunch of women living together? Suspicious.”
– Kate Lister [27:53] -
On the allure of nunneries:
“I would like to be a nun ...because you get to read books and hang out with the girlies.”
– Eleanor Janega [41:39]
Useful Timestamps
- [03:53] – Introduction to medieval singleness and modern parallels
- [06:26] – Prevalence and types of single women in medieval times
- [09:00] – Life structure, family ties, and communal living
- [10:07] – Methods of shaming/punishing women for economic failures
- [13:18] – Single women in urban settings: suspicion & regulation
- [18:09] – “One week” rule: single women must attach to a household
- [19:19] – ‘Suspect women’ and clandestine sex work
- [24:06] – Language of stigma: “Eigenbrotlerin,” “spinster,” and modern echoes
- [29:22] – How older and retired women supported each other
- [34:13] – Nunneries as social and financial refuges
- [38:00] – The ambiguous sexual status as a root of suspicion
- [41:01] – Was it ever good to be single? Choices, trade-offs, and hazards
Tone & Style
The episode is frank, witty, and irreverent, maintaining both scholarly insight and playful banter. Kate and Eleanor’s rapport is full of asides, jokes, and contemporary connections, making dense information both accessible and relatable.
Further Exploration & Recommended Reading
- Dr. Eleanor Janega’s book: “The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society”
- Dr. Janega’s podcast: Gone Medieval (History Hit)
For listeners interested in the evolving status of women, societal policing of sexuality and autonomy, and the humor and messiness of history, this episode of Betwixt The Sheets delivers both insight and entertainment.