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The china cabinet in the dining room at St. Nicholas’ Abbey in Speighstown, Barbados. Author Photo This Colonial Era china cabinet from Barbados, along with the portrait hanging above it, encapsulates a Caribbean history steeped in plantation culture. The only similarity between the Caribbean of today and that of centuries past is the year-round heat. A spirit of resentment plagued white, landed settlers and their descendants. Many dreaded the idea of living in the Caribbean, and for those who did, it often became a nightmare. The inhabitants relied heavily on the Americas and Europe for everything—from furniture to food to patriarchal traditions. White landed settlers clung to Old World heteropatriarchal customs as if they were lifelines to Europe, which imposed barriers on white landed women seeking authority on English and French Caribbean plantations. The Role of Women in Plantation Authority White landed Caribbean women occasionally occupied positions of authority as landlords or landladies. Yet, male servants and governors often undermined their authority, creating obstacles for women in these roles. An exchange of letters between Governor Roger Wood of Bermuda and the Countess of Dorset, a landed woman in Bermuda, illustrates this dynamic. In their correspondence from the 1630s, the Governor threatened to deprive the Countess of her indentured servants if she failed to produce enough tobacco. The Countess' indentured servants undermined her authority, leading the Governor to assert, "They should be [paying] the rent they were rated at and afterwards upon halves [as before]…they return no profits [to] your honour nor benefit themselves." If uninterrupted, landed women could control their tenants and earn revenue, allowing them to assert their authority. However, uninterrupted female authority on plantations was a rarity across the English and French Caribbean. Landed men and women operated under the mentality, as penned by Elizabeth Robbins, that women were "Confined at the home, are so Blown Up and Corrupted, with the flattery of Servants and Tenants." Robbins' The Whole Duty of a Woman provides insight into white Caribbean landed men’s perceptions of their female counterparts. Written for other women, Robbins literally outlines the ideal woman's life cycle through her work, which circulated on both sides of the Atlantic. Consequently, landed white Caribbean men often relegated their female counterparts to mere ornaments. Nonetheless, white landed Caribbean women persisted, finding authority through inheritance, commodification, and participation in the plantation economy. Understanding Primogeniture Before I continue, I must explain primogeniture. This legal principle, granting the right of the eldest son to inherit everything, was weaponized against landed women to prevent them from occupying positions of authority. Colonial Caribbean courts sought to uphold primogeniture, clinging to this European heteropatriarchal custom. In response, landed women pursued legal action through requisition trials, attempting to challenge primogeniture in court. These trials often dragged on for years and frequently ruled against women's interests. However, if there was a will, there was a way. To circumvent lengthy courtroom battles, landed men cleverly drafted their wills to allow their wives and daughters to inherit land, slaves, and the corresponding authority. Such strategically written wills often contained clauses that reassured men that a woman’s authority would only be temporary. For example, a will from Bermuda's infancy stated, "it shall be lawful for the said Neptunia Downham to dispose of or give away three shares of land." Listing a female beneficiary as a creditor was a loophole; men expected generosity from "creditor…Widow HILTON for two shares of land [for] 100 lb Tobacco" instead of outright authority. Allowing women to inherit land bypassed primogeniture and, in doing so, recognised their capacity to occupy and assert positions of authority on plantations. Following or challenging wills in court acknowledged, albeit reluctantly, a woman’s mobility within the systems of plantation patriarchy. What remains of the Governor’s House in St.George’s Parish Bermuda. Author Photo. The Intersection of Patriarchy and Plantation Life White landed Caribbean women faced not only the challenges posed by primogeniture but also the pervasive patriarchy inherent in plantation life. A father was not merely the head of the household; he was also the head of the plantation. Randy M. Browne’s works, Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean (2017) and The Driver’s Story (2024), along with Paul Cheney’s Cul De Sac (2017), attest to how patriarchy permeated Caribbean plantation systems. Both resident and absent plantation owners relied on male subordinates to sustain their plantations. The European Caribbean colonies were vulnerable to both external and internal threats. It is essential to remember that even landed individuals could not escape the Caribbean’s overall dependency on Europe and the Americas. Furthermore, demographic imbalances haunted the English and French Caribbean. Enslaved people vastly outnumbered non-enslaved individuals, and men outnumbered women among the landed class. Clinging to European heteronormative patriarchy was not conducive to a plantation economy. Yet, landed plantation women played this game, often rigging it in their favour. The remainder of this article will explore a landed white Caribbean woman’s pathway to authority on plantations, from before her marriage to the crafting of her own will. Marriage as a Pathway to Authority Marriage offered a significant pathway for white landed Caribbean women to assert their authority on plantations. The importance of marriage was imported from Europe to Caribbean colonies, where it was believed that "the Marriage state…For here as you marry the person." Entire families invested in their children’s marriages. However, a demographic imbalance between men and women made arranging marriages exceedingly difficult for these white landed families. Women capitalised on their scarcity, leveraging it to negotiate unrealistic provisions in marriage contracts. Given the pervasive debt among landed Caribbean families, requiring both spouses to be debt-free was often unrealistic. Including a lack of debt in the marriage contract further narrowed the already shallow pool of potential husbands. If this selection pool was not already limited enough, absolving (or being willing to absolve) landed wives of their husbands' past or future debts evaporated this already dry marriage pool. Women created positions of authority from their scarcity. Property, particularly slaves, became a point of negotiation. Future fathers-in-law would be contractually obligated to transfer slaves to their future daughters-in-law. This transfer of property simultaneously conferred the corresponding position of authority as a property owner. White landed men ceded their patriarchal authority to their female counterparts, for "it is necessary for men to multiply; it is no less than a man’s responsibility to marry." Joint-Mastery Partnerships Joint-mastery partnerships represented another avenue for white landed Caribbean women to assert authority on plantations. These partnerships were essentially business relationships between a plantation owner husband and his wife. The reasons behind the establishment of joint-mastery partnerships remain complex. However, being in such a partnership enabled landed Caribbean women to participate in the plantation economy with corresponding authority. Theoretically, these partnerships were centred on equality, as husbands and wives conducted plantation business together. In practice, the extent to which wives were genuinely equal in joint-mastery partnerships requires further investigation. Existing evidence suggests that Caribbean courts provided wives in joint-mastery partnerships a platform to assert their authority in the presence of landed men, often before a male judge. Acknowledging a joint-mastery wife’s authority in court was a significant step. Instead of creating courtroom drama, the legal system took the landed female authority of joint-mastery wives seriously. The Heights of Authority: Planters Joint-mastery partnerships were not the pinnacle of authority that a landed white Caribbean woman could achieve on a plantation. Beyond these partnerships, women could hold immense authority as planters, a position typically reserved for men. As planters, they owned entire plantations and tracts of land. Landed white Caribbean women purchased property, such as "belonging to the said Mrs. Agnes Heydon, at 12s for the share of the first payment, and at 13s 14d being for 10 shares" (Using the Bank of England’s Inflation Calculator, 12s is approximately £1,208.20 and 13s 14d is approximately £1,409.57). Having property in a landed woman’s name was a significant achievement. These women could utilise their property as they saw fit, with the option to live on-site near their slaves. However, many opted for absentee landownership, meaning they did not reside on or near their property. Absentee landowners were not exempt from the responsibilities of land ownership. They had to manage the high turnover of overseers, who were invariably male; there are no records of female overseers in the English and French Caribbean. These overseers directly managed a landed person’s land. With high overseer turnover, landed white women perpetuated a cycle of subordinating plebeian white men to work on land owned by a woman, for a woman. When an overseer was not quitting, they were managing property belonging to a landed female landowner. If a woman owned multiple parcels of land, she required more than one overseer to manage her holdings. Regardless of the number of overseers, the ownership of land in a woman’s name subtly asserted authority in a predominantly male-dominated system of plantation patriarchy. Wills and Testaments: A Strategic Tool Finally, following the example set by their male counterparts, landed Caribbean women utilised wills and testaments to their advantage. Crafting a will during a landed Caribbean woman’s lifetime enshrined her authority, allowing her to distribute property posthumously. Slaves and land were commonly bequeathed by white landed Caribbean women to surviving relatives, both male and female. One such will exemplified the routine provisions of bequeathing slaves to children and grandchildren: "[has] given to my grandchild, Paul Vaughan, my … boy Robin to hold for him and his heirs so long as the … liveth." However, wills and testaments could only go so far in preserving landed female authority, especially in the Caribbean, where such authority was often contested. White landed Caribbean men could challenge a woman’s will, as illustrated by "widow Durham, Henry Durham, who made a request to have the school lands they now held at halves to be let unto them at an annual rent." Ultimately, the ruling on such challenges would largely depend on the discretion of a male judge. Nonetheless, contesting a will acknowledged the authority vested in a white landed Caribbean woman’s testament. This photo is a striking example of what Caribbean plantations look like today, a haunting shell of what they used to be, outside Basseterre, Saint Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis. Author Photo. Conclusion: The Legacy of Authority In conclusion, white landed Caribbean women occupied and asserted positions of authority on plantations. Despite the wealth of primary source evidence supporting the existence of landed female authority in the Caribbean between 1615 and 1776, the historiography remains deficient. Women often appear only tangentially in histories of the Caribbean. Virginia Bernhard’s 1999 book Slaves and Slaveholders in Bermuda 1616-1782 made significant strides in this area over the past 30 years. However, Michael Jarvis’ 2022 book Isle of Devils, Isle of Saints is among many that continue to sideline women. This article has focused solely on landed white women, as there is no evidence of landed black or indigenous women in the English and French Caribbean during this period. The predominance of absentee plantation ownership—where the owner does not reside on the plantation—fostered the misconception that no landed families existed in the Caribbean, as they lived in the comfort of Britain or France. The final image exemplifies an absentee plantation. Returning to the first and second images, it is clear that white landed families did inhabit the Caribbean. Obstacles to white landed female authority in the Caribbean between 1630 and 1776 were created by a suffocating spirit of resentment. Some Old World traditions, such as marriage and estate planning, charted paths for these women to assert their authority within the systems of plantation patriarchy. And if the Old World path was closed, a white woman’s scarcity was leveraged, enabling her to be more than just an ornament in a plantation home. Endnotes A.C. Hollis-Hatchett, Bermuda Under the Somer Isles Company vol. 3 (Pembroke: Juniper Hill & National Maritime Museum Press, 2005), 71. Elizabeth Robbins, The Whole Duty of a Woman (London: J. Guiffem, 1701), 91. A.C. Hollis-Hatchett, Bermuda Under the Somer Isles Company vol. 3 (Pembroke: Juniper Hill & National Maritime Museum Press, 2005), 2. A.C. Hollis-Hatchett, Bermuda Under the Somer Isles Company vol. 3 (Pembroke: Juniper Hill & National Maritime Museum Press, 2005), 263. Elizabeth Robbins, The Whole Duty of a Woman (London: J. Guiffem, 1701), 65. Jacques Chaussé, Traité de L’Excelence du Mariage (Paris: Chez Martin Jovenel, 1690), 131. A.C. Hollis-Hatchett, Bermuda Under the Somer Isles Company vol. 3 (Pembroke: Juniper Hill & National Maritime Museum Press, 2005), 2. A.C. Hollis-Hatchett, Bermuda Under the Somer Isles Company vol. 3 (Pembroke: Juniper Hill & National Maritime Museum Press, 2005), 278. A.C. Hollis-Hatchett, Bermuda Under the Somer Isles Company vol. 3 (Pembroke: Juniper Hill & National Maritime Museum Press, 2005), 312. Bibliography Archival Sources from the Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture Sc MG 383 Printed Primary Sources Chaussé, Jacques. Traité de l’excelence du Marriage (Paris 1690). Foster, Nicholas. A Briefe Relation of the Late Horrid Rebellion Acted in the Island Barbados (London 1650). Hollis-Hatchett, A.C., editor. Bermuda Under the Somer Islands Company, vols. 1-3 (Pembroke: Juniper Hill & National Maritime Museum Press, 2005). Ligon, Richard. A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados (London 1657). Robbins, Elizabeth. The Whole Duty of a Woman (London 1701). Secondary Sources Bernhard, Virginia. Slaves and Slaveholders in Bermuda 1616-1782 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999). Brown, Randy M. Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024). Brown, Randy M. The Driver’s Story: Labor and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024). Cheney, Paul. Cul De Sac: Patrimony, Capitalism, and Slavery in French Saint-Domingue (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017). Jones-Rogers, Stephanie. They Were Her Property, White Women as Slave Owners in the American South (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019). Higman, B.W. Montpelier Jamaica a Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom 1739-1912 (Kingston: The Press University of the West Indies, 1998). O’Day, Rosemary. Agency in Early Modern Britain and the American Colonies (New York: Routledge, 2007). Ragatz, Lowell Joseph. The Old Plantation System in the British Caribbean (London: The Bryan Edwards Press, 1925).

Trigger Warning: Images of Human Remains & Mentions of Rape/Necrophilia Glossary Deviant - Deviating from normal social, etc., standards or behaviour. Hundred - a subdivision of a county or shire, having its own court; also formerly applied to the court itself Perimortem - At the time of death Wergeld - the price set upon a man according to his rank. This would be paid as compensation in the event of death, harm, or a broken oath.  Isotopic Analysis  - analysis of isotopes that are taken from archaeological remains to provide details on how old the remains are, where the individual lived at birth and later in life, and further information A depiction of a young Anglo-Saxon woman and the troubles they faced with men (The End of the Song by Edmond Leighton, 1902) “The dead are not all remembered equally.” - Howard Williams, 2011 It is the 1960s in Oakridge, Basingstoke. The solitary cranium of a young female is uncovered  by a construction crew at a roadside. Oakridge is an exceedingly rare site in that the remains are singular and exhibit a show of brutal punishment and mutilation at the time of death. This is considered to be “the first case of formal facial mutilation” as the evidence is frequently limited due to the deterioration or loss of the soft tissues and a lack of marks left on the skeletal structure. The discovery of this site provides the opportunity for further understanding of local law, mob mentality, as well as legal action that is usually lost on the archaeological record, especially in reference to the Anglo-Saxon period which is dated from 410 AD to 1066 AD. It is theorised by archaeologists that this mutilation was not intended to kill her, but done as an extreme form of humiliation and debasement. This belief is based on analysis undertaken on the perimortem cut marks, which are multiple and precise. This mutilation does not align with a single law, rather is an accumulation of several, which leads archaeologists to believe that this is the work of local people rather than a formal judicial action, and was done as a way to mark her for an offence - a form of scarlet letter. It is remarked upon that the aim was to ensure that these criminals, and in this instance this young girl, ‘lost face’.  Her isotopic results and tooth analysis have revealed that she was between 15 and 18 years old and was not local to the area. Her remains have been radiocarbon dated to between 920 - 946 AD. There is extreme perimortem trauma to her nose and mouth, with no remodelling, further proving that this was inflicted at the time of death. Only the skull was recovered, and it is possible that decapitation was included as part of her humiliation and punishment but this cannot be confirmed. This site is a rare occurrence that aids in the understanding of local law, mob mentality, as well as revealing legal action that is usually lost on the archaeological record due to the loss of organic materials. The cranium itself was found 80 metres south of a parish hundred boundary, as well as near an Iron Age site, which would have been used as a reference point within the landscape. The repeated use of a site over successive stages of occupation and having these earlier connections allows this case to stand out further as it implies some form of ritualism or reverence of space, time, and the ancestors. Selection of images to show the angled and linear cuts to the Oakridge remains (Cole et al., 2020) Anglo Saxon Legal Codes Legal texts are among some of the oldest written documents that survive from many different civilisations across time. In reference to Anglo-Saxon communities specifically, Andrew Reynolds (University College London) comments that whilst legal texts are significant and provide a lens through which to see these communities, that it is also pertinent to be aware that the enforcement of these laws and the standard to which they are upheld will differ depending on where and when you are in the territory. It is also critical to consider that regional and local laws would likely also have been in use and may not feature on the national legal records. Moreover, many laws may have communicated through oral tradition rather than viewing these laws in their entirety in a written form. Law and order saw a change throughout the Anglo-Saxon period with laws being introduced on a national scale, and Christianity becoming a major factor within the formation of new laws and the upholding of new Christian ideals. This is reflected through burial evidence across the UK. These changes also coincide with the major change of the conversion to the Catholic Church in the 9th century. At this time, there was a sharp increase in the country’s lawmaking and the enforcement of laws, with gallows being placed at ports, entrypoints, and they are thought to have been placed within the majority of large towns. Several laws themselves lay out punishments, usually in reference to wergeld  (or ‘man’s price’). These laws commonly focus heavily on the male experience, and later also encompass religious and ecclesiastical laws which are held to the very highest standard. It is thought that women sometimes evaded the law due to the legal codes being heavily tailored towards male perpetrators. This is also seen within the archaeological record where the majority of the deviant remains found are those of young men.  Mutilation was a form of punishment undertaken by the judiciary, short of execution. Many Anglo-Saxon laws decree scalping and mutilation as the primary punishment as wergeld  appears to have been a tangible honour to the Saxon peoples and its right must be upheld. Moreover, King Cnut’s clause 53 (a law) shows a female adulterer losing her nose and ears as punishment, a code that aligns with the damage seen on the cranium at Oakridge. This could also be implemented for thievery, such as with the idea that thieves lost their hands, as well as through activities such as branding, that would not be evident in the osteological record due to the loss of the soft tissues. Despite these being seen as kinder punishments than execution, many likely would have lost their lives due to complications and infections from the mutilation site. Grave Reopenings Historically, the reopening of graves was primarily for the purpose of grave robbing. However, new research by Aspöck has shown that graves from the Anglo-Saxon period were opened relatively close to the date of internment and that it is likely that some of the bodies had not finished decomposing by the time their grave was opened. This brings forth new considerations into the treatment of the dead, as well as how the dead were treated and remembered.  In the case of these deviant cemetery sites it is likely that these graves were reopened as a secondary form of punishment where they are once again humiliated after death. The opening and viewing of decomposing remains reinforces fear and allows for the punishment of the deceased individual to be felt within the community for an extended period of time, maintaining fear and order within the population. There is some consideration that this may have been a ritual occurrence to revisit the deceased, however, the movement of bodies and in some cases, the removal of parts of the remains from the grave, present this as an abusive and degrading act. The reopening of graves may not always be obvious and it is unknown how many graves would have been opened during the Saxon period.  Some theories show that these graves, mostly of younger women, were reopened for nefarious means, specifically for the further debasement and rape of these women. This is theoretical and based on the positioning of the remains, as well as the times of reopening. The graves were cut to the size of the individual, however, after they were reopened the bodies were pushed far up to the head-end with legs akimbo. Rape and necrophilia are unsettling but very real considerations in this instance. Grave desecration was outlawed within the Anglo Saxon code, and these offences may have resulted in legal action themselves.  The reopening of deviant burials is a further aspect of deviance that requires further analysis. These instances of desecration are highly motivated, and by understanding these motivations archaeologists can produce a clearer understanding of the societal and cultural driving forces that allow deviancy to be so prevalent.  What does this tell us? Throughout the period, women were needlessly debased and defiled, even after death. These instances build an image of a society where women were clearly second class citizens who were not even important enough to factor into the legal codes. However, this is not always the case as there are many instances of Anglo-Saxon men championing their female counterparts, such as King Edward the Elder building and endowing an abbey for his daughter Elflaeda. Women of all echelons, with a few exemptions, were not afforded the same opportunities or respect as their male counterparts. Despite these occurrences, it is clear that Anglo-Saxon attitudes were not kind to women and heavily favoured men and even young boys who were considered to be adults around the age of 10! This is again reinforced by the likely mob action against this teenage girl, which resulted in her losing her nose, ears, and her scalp. Further Reading: Aspöck, E. (2011). Past ‘Disturbances’ of Graves as a Source: Taphonomy and Interpretation of Reopened Early Medieval Inhumation Graves at Brunn Am Gebirge (Austria) and Winnall II (England). Oxford Journal of Archaeology , 30(3), pp.299–324. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0092.2011.00370.x . Aspöck, E. (2015). Funerary and Post-Depositional Body Treatments at the Middle Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Winnall II: Norm, Variety – and Deviance? In: Death embodied: Archaeological Approaches to the Treatment of the Corpse . [online] Oxbow Books, pp.86–108. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1989441.7 [Accessed 19 Apr. 2023]. Cole, G., Ditchfield, P.W., Dulias, K., Edwards, C.J., Reynolds, A. and Waldron, T. (2020). Summary justice or the King’s will? The first case of formal facial mutilation from Anglo-Saxon England. Antiquity , [online] 94(377), pp.1263–1277. doi: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.176 . Hough, C. (2021). Early English Laws: Women and Law in the Anglo-Saxon Period . [online] Earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk. Available at: https://earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/reference/essays/women-and-law/ [Accessed 29 Jan. 2023]. Lucy, S.J. (1996). Housewives, Warriors and slaves? Sex and Gender in Anglo-Saxon burials. In: Theoretical Archaeology Group, ed., Invisible People and processes; Writing Gender and Childhood into European Archaeology , Theoretical Archaeology Group. Leicester University Press, pp.150–168. Reynolds, A. (2011). Crime and Punishment. In: H. Hamerow, D. Hinton and S. Crawford, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology . Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.238–259. Reynolds, A. (2013). Judicial culture and social complexity: a general model from Anglo-Saxon England. World Archaeology , 45(5), pp.699–713. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2013.878524. Reynolds, N. (1988). The rape of the Anglo-Saxon women. Antiquity , 62(237), pp.715–718. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00075141. Williams, H. (2011). Mortuary Practices in Early Anglo-Saxon England. In: H. Hamerow, D. Hinton and S. Crawford, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology . Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.238–259.

The Historiography of Women The phrase ‘winners write history’ helpfully encapsulates how men have treated women throughout history. How is a ‘winner’ defined other than the one with control over both the pen and the sword? The idea that men have always been the main characters on the world’s stage has been upheld by one persistent system; patriarchy. This system has attempted to sideline women’s stories in all realms, be it medicine, war, poetry or art. One quotation that summarises this atavistic but sustained belief comes from Steve Biddulph’s Raising Boys; ‘In an anti-male era, it’s important to remember that men built the planes, fought the wars, laid the railroad tracks, invented the cars, built the hospitals, invented the medicines and sailed the ships that made it all happen.’ If this is to be believed, Pankhurst herself would hang her head in shame.  With the fourth wave of feminism advancing through society there has been an increasing volume of historiography surrounding women’s histories and contributions to politics, culture and science. This series ‘Winners Write History: Or is it just Men?’ aims to explore this historiography and the evolving discussion on the true nature of women’s history and how it is represented. History itself arguably cannot be rewritten, but it can be better represented and better understood. In fourth wave feminism we are battling with the infinitesimal intricacies of sociopolitical equalities. It is important to remember, however, that all movements are started by and propelled by continuous questioning, even of the movement itself. How have women been treated in their lifetimes, in spite of or because of their achievements? How has this treatment impacted ongoing perceptions of these individuals and of women’s contributions to society in general? Ultimately, how have men used their control over historical narratives to shape our idea of gender in society? Alice Perrers Alice Perrers Perrers is a lesser-known royal mistress from the mediaeval period of British history, living alongside the court of Edward III in the 14 th  century. Perrers is a classic example of the vilification of women in history by men who sought the power she wielded. This process was aided by her sexuality, supposed promiscuity and the enforcement of gendered expectations. A more famous example of this is the life and memory of Anne Boleyn, the ‘great whore’ whose extraordinary rise to power angered courtiers and countries alike and whose memory has been sullied continuously by misinformation spread during her lifetime. As mistress to Edward III (r.1327-77) Perrers possessed an extraordinary amount of independence in an age where women were still considered property and had little to no legal protection or rights. Perrers’ life defied these constraints on mediaeval women even in the highest of circles. This did not sit well with her contemporaries. Alice differs in an important way to the story of Anne Boleyn; her rise defies the stereotype of sexualised women elevated by men around her and simultaneously defies the image purported by her contemporaries of an evil manipulative shrew that has lasted the centuries.  Historiography generally agrees that many of Alice’s contemporaries have given an inaccurate account of her character and events in her lifetime. However, the overall narrative of a manipulative woman still influences her image today. These sources, namely Thomas Walsingham and Jean Froissart, are pivotal to the depiction of mediaeval warfare, royalty and politics including the Hundred Years War, Edward III’s kingship and that of his counterpart Philip VI of France. Their understanding and depictions of women’s roles, however, is severely lacking in accuracy, let alone empathy. Alice has been depicted as a manipulative gold digger, using an ageing Edward III for her own financial gain, offending his pious queen, Phillipa of Hainault as well as the Christian sensibilities of the court. Phillipa’s queenship has also been used against Alice as evidence of her inferiority and immorality. The mere connotations of ‘mistress’ already have inbuilt ammunition against women like Alice who worked for their livelihoods. Alice became one of the wealthiest people during her lifetime through various means that have been erased by antagonistic contemporaries and biased historiographical works. This wealth was all but lost by her death as Edward III died before her, leaving her undefended against the Good Parliament. With modern understanding of the reality women faced in these years, Alice’s life deserves a sympathetic reassessment to better understand the complexities of mediaeval life. A Woman Born and a Woman Made   Perrers' Lover, Edward III Mediaeval historiography is subject to a paucity of sources remaining today to tell us about life in this period. This has made the invisibility of women in society ever more present. Little is known about Alice’s origins, even the time and place of her birth is contested with most estimating around 1348 in the south of England, possibly London. Her parentage is also unknown, but it is generally agreed (Given-Wilson, Ormrod, Tompkins) that her father was a jeweller of the Salisbury family making her suitable for a traditional education of French, basic literacy and numeracy as well as the economic abilities necessary in her family’s industry. Alice was also born in a time of economic prosperity for the mercantile class of London, so prosperous in fact that the first sumptuary laws were implemented dictating what the lower ranks of society could eat and wear so as to not compete with nobility. Alice therefore received a comparatively privileged upbringing and benefited greatly from her family’s business, making her relatively well suited for court life.  English chronicler Thomas Walsingham wrote that Alice was born to a thatcher. Whilst a jeweller was not a noble profession, it did rank higher than a thatcher and this debasement of Alice’ birth has evident intentions. We don’t have to dig deep to decipher Walsingham’s bias as he calls Alice a ‘shameless, impudent harlot’ and rallies against her role at the king’s side. Criticism of royal favourites, be they mistresses, advisors or soldiers, is an age-old tactic of indirectly criticising a king himself without facing the consequences of doing so (see the fate of Henry VIII’s courtiers). Edward III has been described as the ‘perfect king’ (Mortimer) however he has also been subject to heavy criticism for his later kingship. In the years before his death Edward is criticised for his personal conduct and his military record, the time when Walsingham was writing his chronicles again furthering his bias against Edwardian rule. Walsingham was also a monk of St Albans Abbey, which became a rival of Alice Perrers in her rise to prosperity, furthering his bias against the royal favourite. Although a prominent English chronicler, Walsingham’s account of Alice’s life has largely been dismissed as unreliable. Contextual clues can also be used against this chronicler’s description of Alice, as a low-born, ill-educated woman would not be elevated to the position of lady-in-waiting to a queen. It can be concluded that Walsingham exploited societal expectations of mediaeval English women, being the categorisation of obedient, quiet and subservient Christians vs disruptive, promiscuous and disobedient ‘harlots’ against Alice in her rise to prominence.  Perrers is the name by which Alice is generally known as her maiden name cannot be certified; she is also sometimes referred to as Alice de Windsor following her second marriage, however both unions left little evidence of their occurrences. Alice’s first husband was ostensibly of French descent so it is fair to say that her understanding of the language would have made her suitable for life at court, where French was the primary language until the Statute of Pleading issued by her lover Edward III in 1362. As with most royal mistresses, Alice’s husband was known to the king through his work, in this case as a jeweller offering Alice the opportunity to meet the king herself.  It was common in these times for women of the peasant and mercantile classes to marry a man of the same profession as their father. Alice had begun to exercise her knowledge of her family’s trade, carrying out business herself following her first husband’s death in 1364.  Alice’s official entrance into court was as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Phillipa, to whom Edward was reportedly devoted to throughout their 41-year marriage. This role opened the door for Alice’s most rewarding career move. As a royal favourite, Alice received many gifts and, through a diversity of means, became one of the richest people in the realm. This wealth was only protected, however, by the presence of the king and after his death Alice was exiled by the Good Parliament and her lands stripped. Although this has been referred to as her fall from grace (Moorhouse), Alice went down fighting. A Career Woman   Reese Witherspoon, Glamour Women of the Year Awards, 2015 The primary issue contemporaries and historians have taken with Alice is the vast wealth she amassed in her lifetime, ostensibly at the expense of Edward’s purse and pride. Some of the most infamous royal mistresses throughout history have amassed great wealth through their influence like Madame de Pompadour, Barbara Palmer, and Diane de Poitiers. In many ways Alice’s treatment in history has not been so different from her counterparts as the work of women not of the blood at royal courts is often degraded or dismissed. This is habitually achieved through the hyperfocus on the sexual life of a mistress and, although this is often a key part of such a career, it is not the backbone of its success. Palmer maintained her influence in the Caroline court through patronage, Poitiers allied herself with Henry II’s closest courtiers and Alice secured her wealth with the knowledge and skill learned through her time spent in her family’s industry. The lens through which Alice’s wealth has been assessed has been a misogynistically motivated and cynical one. Edward’s wife Philipa was ailing by the beginning of his relationship with Alice and died before they became public. Edward himself was ageing and Alice has been accused of manipulating the weakened, mourning king to her own financial gain at his expense. I argue, however, those without official power, in the feudal world, cannot manipulate those with ultimate power - the king. Undoubtedly, Alice took advantage of the situation, utilised her skills and exploited the system to her benefit but this does not warrant the image of a ‘manipulative shrew’ to which she has been subject throughout the centuries. It could even be argued that her actions in her time when an unmarried woman could not own property, stand in court, or, (God forbid) vote, is admirable. However the connotations of the profession ‘mistress’ perforates today’s understanding of women’s lives in royal and noble history. Oversexualisation of women both vilifies and victimises these women as it reduces their achievements to a sexual conquest, disenfranchising their independence or contributions to the world of politics, art, literature or economics. Alice, in addition to a romantic and sexual partner of the king, was also a skilled businesswoman and property investor using her skills and good fortune to increase her net worth and secure her independence and protection when society offered her none.  The evidence that Alice formed alliances at court to protect her economic interests following the uncertainty of her early widowhood has been used to represent alternating portrayals of her life and personality. As always in historical analysis, context is key. Alice undeniably used her sex to her advantage, utilising her close relationship with the king to line her coffers. Yet she had already amassed a considerable fortune relative to her birth and made her family proud with her position in the queen’s court as a lady-in-waiting. Men born into similarly modest backgrounds throughout history have faced starkly different treatment from society and historians alike. To quote Reese Witherspoon, ‘ambition is not a dirty word’, but when it comes to women in the royal court, their successes have not been treated kindly. Instead, they are often debased and slandered in an attack on women outside of biblically archaic expectations of a meek and modest woman; ‘That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands’ -  Titus 2:4-5 Drawing from Fiona Tolhurst's insights, royally associated women have faced unjust criticism and condemnation for exhibiting traditionally masculine traits like ambition, financial autonomy, and intellectual prowess—qualities that are often commended in men. Where Edward VI’s 1 st  Duke of Northumberland had a ‘determined ambition’ as he worked to control the young king and implement the soon-to-be Nine Day Queen, Jane Grey. Meanwhile, Tolhurst helpfully encapsulates the plight of women’s characterisations in history through the lens of Empress Matilda, who for modern historians is ‘both too feminine in her weaknesses and too masculine in her aggressive exercise of power.’ Witherspoon’s speech at the Glamour Women of the Year awards is obviously from a wildly different context than the life of Alice Perrers, yet serves to illustrate the way in which she has been remembered. Her ambition was her cause for success but also her adverse memorialisation. Hollman’s biography of Phillipa and Alice illustrates the sympathetic approach to women’s history we should be taking today with our understanding of the realities these women faced without an icon like Witherspoon to inspire them. Without looking at Alice through rose-tinted glasses, we can remove the ‘caricature’ recognised by Hollman and assess the mediaeval figure through a less biassed criteria.  It can be argued that mistresses throughout history have partaken in one of the most controversial jobs in society. They exchanged sexual relationships for wealth and protection and used the position this work gave them to further their interests and those of their friends, families and allies. The narrative of a rapacious, manipulative, vindictive woman is based on the shame associated with sex work. Even the word ‘mistress’ pertains certain connotations around femininity and promiscuity despite the many successful careers shared by women in countries across the world (Hürrem Sultan, Madame de Montespan). Looking at the context of her time, Alice had very limited pathways to bettering herself. Alice’s supposed promiscuity has made it all too easy to dismiss her meteoric rise as a misuse of her feminine virtues and thus she has been treated harshly throughout history. Alice was involved in the business of her family, her husband and later for herself when she became a widow in 1364. The beginnings of Alice’s extensive property portfolio began in Kent with a deal exchanged between herself and John de Mereworth, a knight at Edward’s court. A major part of economic and social success in these courts was to be seen to be successful and owning property such as this would have significantly aided Alice onto her path of wealth and fortune. Behind the scenes, this land deal was even more impressive and is highly indicative of Alice’s hidden potential as a financial investor and property manager. This deal was the beginning of Alice’s independent income and has no relevance to her relationship with Edward; the introduction was made through her role at Phillipa’s court attained through her own means. This business attitude was sustained throughout her time at Edward’s side as she only became richer and richer until his death. Bothwell has described the role of ‘mistress’ as a passive one whose ‘ position, her wealth, and even her fate were dependent upon the will of the king’. If this is to be proven true, should Alice not be heralded as the ultimate ‘girlboss’ who navigated these constraints and surpassed all expectations? Woman to Woman  Phillipa of Hainault  The feudal system of Edward’s reign thrust high expectations of mediaeval kingship upon him. Chivalric values embodied by the Order of the Garter formed by Edward in 1348 demanded military prowess, achieved at the Battle of Crecy, and domestic domination, achieved through the obtainment of an obedient wife. In Edward’s case this was the pious and loyal Phillipa of Hainault, who herself deserves a historical re-analysis. Jean Froissart, a French chronicler of the Hundred Years War described Phillipa as the ‘most gentle Queen, most liberal, and most courteous that ever was Queen in her days’ and this has been the general consensus of Phillipa’s queenship since her death (Hollman). Our old friend Thomas Walsingham similarly described Phillipa as ‘the most noble woman’ from which we can infer an additional motivation behind his slander of Alice’s name.  If one meets the societal expectations of womanhood and femininity, one must fall short to perpetuate general masculine superiority. Phillipa’s maternal, beautiful, charitable queenship heightens the standard by which Alice is contrasted, painting an image of a white sheathed maiden angel on one shoulder and a red cloaked horned devil on the other. Comparing women in order to maintain power over them is an age-old strategy of the patriarchy that remains present in modern society; think Olivia vs Sabrina or Haley vs Selena. Evidently the standards to which Alice and Phillipa were, and continue to be, held vary greatly from today’s modern pop icons. Gentle femininity and obedience have been key characteristics of the ‘perfect woman’ for centuries in most cultures; the fact that Phillipa was able to publicly meet these requirements has served as fuel for the fire surrounding the continuous deformation of Alice’s character when compared to the pious queen. Alice has also been vilified through the victimisation of Phillipa in her final years as she watched her once faithful husband conduct his affair with the decades younger Perrers. To this, I refer to my earlier argument that those without official power in the feudal world, cannot manipulate those with ultimate power, such as the king. This means that Alice did not ‘steal’ her husband from her and should not be cast in the role of master manipulator.  By separating these women as individuals whilst simultaneously recognising their coexistence we can better assess their characters, faults and virtues. Gemma Hollman’s comparative work on Phillipa and Alice seamlessly highlights the two women’s characters including their respective flaws without using either to elevate or vitiate the other. The Queen and the Mistress exemplifies changing attitudes towards women in history and especially those who lived in a time with strongly enforced gender expectations with a more empathetic analytical approach.  The Rise and Fall of an Empire  Artwork of Alice reportedly taking the rings off a dying Edward III’s fingers The evidence of Alice’s shrewd cunning is apparent on multiple fronts, not least in the physical manifestations of her wealth. Her portfolio of 56 properties across 25 counties by the time of her lover’s death made her one of the richest people (not just women) in England, transcending all gender expectations. This manifestation of wealth has been used as evidence of her ‘greed’, rather than her immense success (Ormrod). Notably, 15 of her manors were gifted to her by Edward III while the remaining properties were acquired through Alice’s own financial acumen by Alice herself owing to intricate land deals, agreements and negotiations.  Alice's tale is a fascinating account of a woman’s ambition, fortune, and the prejudices that often accompany the elevation and memory of successful women. This success, however, inevitably stirred resentment, leading to a concerted effort from her adversaries to strip her of the wealth she had meticulously accumulated and fought to protect as she foresaw the vulnerability Edward’s death would expose her to. The Good Parliament was formed in 1376 in response to Alice’s excessive accumulation of landed wealth.  Mediaeval historiography faces the challenge of a great paucity of sources due to the obvious problem of time. Most material has decayed in centuries past and so few people were literate, written sources are also scarce. This has meant a heavy reliance on sources with ostensible biases, including court documents, chroniclers as aforementioned and religious material. In Alice’s case the primary sources on her life come from the former, namely documentation of the trials of the Good Parliament and her demise. These trials represented public sentiment towards the royal mistress who had achieved so much in her lifetime. Alice’s contemporaries resented her for the wealth she had amassed with the aid of Edward III, who for so long had been the figurehead of chivalric kingly values as Froissart wrote ‘his like had not been seen since the days of King Arthur’. There is little evidence that Alice had any real parliamentary or military influence and although she was better educated that most would give her credit for, she was not so politically inclined. The influence she is accused of wielding over Edward was primarily financial as she exploited her position to benefit her coffers, arguably conflicting with the chivalric dictum of domestic control i.e. control over one’s household, including its women. Edward has been recorded as the ‘perfect king’ and this deference to a woman, a low ranking one at that, did not suit this narrative of a great and noble king (Mortimer). This was unacceptable to a proud and patriotic community as the English. Alice represented a threat to traditional masculine and chivalric values, further transcending gendered expectations of strict feudal society.  Edward’s politicians and courtiers also blamed her for his later downfalls including ill health, military losses in France and costs to the royal coffers. The Good Parliament, so named after their desire to reform the corrupt royal house, exiled Alice from the realm and seized her worldly goods. By this time Alice had secretly married Sir William Windsor in order to protect herself from what she saw coming as her lover was dying and those in power despised her. This marriage was further ammunition to use against the royal mistress as a supposed betrayal of the king’s love. A targeted decree was made against Alice declaring;  some women have pursued various business and disputes in the king’s courts by way of maintenance, bribing and influencing the parties, which thing displeases the king; the king forbids any woman to do it, and especially Alice Perrers, on penalty of whatever the said Alice can forfeit and of being banished from the realm. Gesta abbatum Monasterii Sancti Alba This declaration showcases Alice as a conniving gold digger defying the rules of femininity set out by the mediaeval patriarchy and feudal system that demanded a strict hierarchy in society that placed women in the lowest ranks. The ‘bribing and influencing’ found in the royal courts has been rife throughout all of history and is arguably what the nation is built on. The reason for the direct attack on Alice for these crimes which all courtiers and politicians were guilty of, is plain (misogyny, if you weren’t sure). It is a disappointment but not a shock, then, that this depiction has been the one to stand the test of time.  The seizure and exile were not so effective in reality as planned. Under Richard II parliament again rallied to condemn Alice for her manipulation of the ageing king and misuse of royal power. In this court Alice was tried as a femme sole  as she was believed to be unmarried and as such was not granted the protection offered to married women (a wife could not be tried as an individual as she was the property of her husband, along with all her worldly goods). This fact was not unbeknownst to Alice. It is unclear when she married for a second time but following her conviction William Wyndsore petitioned the result of the court on the basis of an unfair trial (Ormrod). Perrers had secretly married Wyndsore, Lieutenant of Ireland. A risky move, as it ostensibly painted Alice as a disloyal mistress betraying the love and kindness of the late king. Then again, Alice anticipated the danger of being an unmarried woman at the court of her lover’s son, now king, surrounded by enemies and wannabes. After constant petitioning, Wyndsore secured a substantial portion of his wife’s lands. Without this marriage Alice would have been left with nothing. It is this alliance that prevented her from total ruin in the end, although she suffered great losses at the hands of a vengeful consortium of men masquerading as a parliament.  The image these courts aimed to paint of Alice as a universally hated seductress and gold digger, responsible for the depletion of royal treasury is contradicted by the circumstances of the bloody Peasant’s Revolt close by to Alice’s homestead. Alice’s properties were not attacked unlike many of those similarly convicted by the Good Parliament and Alice herself was never threatened with violence unlike her counterpart Richard Lyons who was killed in the street by leader Wat Tyler.  The artistic licence taken with Alice’s reputation by her contemporaries reached levels of absurdity when it was rumoured she thieved the rings off a dying Edward’s fingers when left alone with him on his deathbed. This can be easily disproved by the apparent fact that no king would be left alone on his deathbed, unguarded especially  by such a loyal and loving family as Edward’s had proved to be. Walsingham has proven to be more of a dramatist than a chronicler as Alice supposedly; ‘artfully removed from the royal hands the rings, which the king wore on his fingers to display his royalty… so, in this way bidding the king farewell’ Yet, no such rings existed and no such action was taken. Alice was no thief in the night and had more foresight than to act on whim.  Undeterred by vicious hearsay, legal constraints and feudal expectations, Alice fought fiercely against the forces determined to dismantle the empire she had worked decades to build. She bore losses to the wealth and honour of her children by the king, her own capital and reputation but died having lived an astoundingly affluent life. The resulting legacy is one of tenacity, wisdom and cunning tragically tinged by misogynistic rumour, false accusation and outright attacks on her wealth and character both in her lifetime and years after. Conclusion The aim of this article has not been to perceive Alice Perrers through rose-tinted glasses or to resituate her as a heroine or tragic victim of her time or the androcentric narrative of mediaeval history. Feminist history does not seek to put women on a pedestal. Rather, by employing the facts and information available, we can evaluate women like Alice in a manner akin to the treatment men have traditionally received, with a degree of empathy, respect and even sympathy for the times in which they lived. Alice did not live as a victim and should not be remembered as one, although the men who envied her success threw everything they had at her to take it. While Phillipa led a life of piety and ‘womanly’ obedience, Alice defied these constraints of femininity yet neither better or worse than the other. Both experienced loss, affluence, and even a degree of power. Both have been subject to the gendered bias of their contemporaries and historiography that followed. There is one question left to ask in light of this. If Alice manipulated Edward III, used him for her own gain, rinsed him for all he was worth and lied and cheated to protect herself, in a time where women had so few rights or protection, would that be so bad?  Bibliography  Biddulph, Steve, 2015, Raising Boys , Thorsons. Bothwell, James, 1998, ‘The management of position: Alice Perrers, Edward III, and the creation of a landed estates, 1362–1377’, Journal of Medieval History,  Volume 24, Issue 1, Pages 31-51. Dawson, Ian, 1993, The Tudor Century 1485–1603, Nelson. Given-Wilson, C., 2004, Perrers [other married name Windsor], Alice  (d. 1401/02) , ODNB. 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