"Ferdinand the Catholic Would Not Have Won Battles Without Isabella"

It is important to make history about women who are unknown, such as merchants and peasants," says Angela Vicario. Therefore, in 'Ibéricas' (Planeta), besides conducting rigorous historical work on the Middle Ages, she rescues women from all social classes and the three cultures, highlighting their importance in shaping the medieval period in the Iberian Peninsula. Vicario, who charmingly defines herself as a neo-medieval lady, is more interested in the history of mentalities than political history, as it tells us "how they felt, how they thought, and how they saw the world, which was very different from how we see it today."

–Which woman from the Middle Ages would you have a Sunday aperitif with?

–With Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, who lived in Córdoba at the end of the caliphate. She was very bold, intelligent, and composed quick verses, similar to modern rap battles, but with Andalusian gentlemen.

–That era has always been portrayed as a dark time.

–Yes, and it frustrates me because we have evidence to the contrary: if we enter a Gothic cathedral, we see enormous, colorful stained glass windows through which light enters. So, how can an era be dark when it considered its God as light and color, and had the technical and creative skill to build structures that have lasted for centuries?

–Women, besides handling domestic matters, worked alongside men.

–In fact, there are cases of women working in shipyards, ports, or construction doing exactly the same work, but earning much less because they were not considered equal. It is true that, by the end of the Middle Ages, many built real textile empires, as it was acceptable for them to trade, given that sewing was closely associated with women.

–They were also warriors, as they had to defend their village or castle in the absence of men.

–Always. All noblewomen had military training: although they did not learn to wield a sword, they knew perfectly well how to defend a castle, as they were responsible for ensuring there were always enough provisions to withstand a siege. Some, very few, were also on the battlefield, but mostly they attacked assailants: as a woman, you know that not only will you be robbed, but you will also be subject to sexual violence, so you are not interested in staying at home praying they don't enter, but rather throwing stones from the wall.

–And there were women patrons.

–Because it was their way of accessing power, a soft power not exercised with the sword. It was also typical to found female monasteries, as Flammola did in the 9th century in Burgos, because by doing so, you financed the lives of those women, financed religious objects. With that, you not only earned heaven but also had a place of power on earth, where you could retire when older or where your daughters who did not want to marry could go and have a comfortable life.

–Therefore, women were not passive beings.

–Women were not relegated to the home. That idea comes from industrialization and, with it, those homes where the husband goes to work in the factory and the woman stays at home; even so, many worked. Before, however, all hands and minds were needed to advance society. Moreover, the Middle Ages was a harsh time where the threat of war was more or less permanent, especially in border areas, and everyone had to be prepared.

–Until the Late Middle Ages arrived.

–Yes, because following the Black Death and all the social and economic changes, women began to be seen as inferior, weak beings, when for almost the entirety of the Middle Ages that was not the general conception. Peasants knew their women were worth as much as they were in work, and most kings trusted their wives' advice: Ferdinand the Catholic would not have won the battles he did if it hadn't been for Isabella, because he was not particularly skilled at fighting.

–But there were those who raised their voices, like Teresa de Cartagena.

–She was clear: women were not more foolish, they just did not have the same access to education as men, and denying women's intelligence was denying God's work, it was almost heresy. That was revolutionary because, although Christine de Pizan had hinted at it, no one had said it before in the Iberian Peninsula.