Jennifer C. Ward 
English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages [PDF ebook] 

This vivid and pioneering study illuminates the different roles played in late medieval society by noblewomen – the most substantial group of women to survive as individuals in medieval documents. They emerge (despite limited political opportunities) as figures of consequence themselves in a landowning society through estate management in their husbands’ frequent absences, and through hospitality, patronage and affinity.