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Celtic Hist. Newsletter: Celtic Women
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hist-@historicgames.com
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Jun 03, 2009 12:26 PDT
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The Celtic History Newsletter
Brought to you by
The Celtic Croft
http://www.kilts-n-stuff.com/
&
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Celtic Women
There is a certain amount of evidence that women in Celtic societies
enjoyed more freedom and power in comparison to their Greek, or Roman
sisters. While they were far from being treated as the equals of their
men, marriages seem to have been a bit closer to a partnership than in
other cultures. Julius Caesar reported that among the Gauls a husband
and wife would pool their wealth and the surviving partner inherited
everything upon the death of a spouse. In spite of this, Caesar also
reported than men had the power of life an death over their wives,
although in practice this may have been more a theoretical concept
than a reality. It has also been claimed that some early Celtic groups
a person's social status was inherited from the matriarchal line -the
status of a person's mother, rather than their father. However, the
evidence for this seems to be rather scant, although it is reasonable
to think that the female line was of more importance than in the rest
of the Classical world.
As in other cultures, the advantages experienced by the daughters of
the powerful, were balanced with the possibility of being used as
pawns in brokering political marriages. One, Dumnorix, (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumnorix ) a Gallic noble, is said to
have married the daughter of Orgetorix to gain an alliance with him,
as well as having married off his own female relatives to nobles from
other tribes.
A controversial note from Caesar claimed that some Celtic women
actually shared several husbands, but many scholars have dismissed
this claim as an exaggeration. However, certain Celtic noblewomen are
said to have scandalized the Romans with their alleged promiscuity
since in sexual relations Celtic women seem to have been more open and
independent than the Roman women. Argentocoxus, the wife of a
Caledonian Chieftain is said to have been challenged by the empress
Julia Augusta and responded "We consort openly with the best men,
whereas you let yourselves be debauched in secret with the vilest".
Even though Celtic women seem to have been on the battlefields, there
seems to be little evidence that they carried arms in battle, in spite
of a common modern belief to the contrary. The idea of Boudica (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica ) leading a rebellion against the
Romans may be an exception. But even in her case some scholars have
suggested that her role may actually have been more symbolic than
actual. The rape of her daughters and her own flogging may have
supplied focus for the outrage already felt by her tribe against the
Roman invaders.
Thus, while Celtic women may have had some advantages compared to
other contemporary societies, we should be careful not to assume they
were as "liberated" as some New Age writers would have us think.
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