The age of blood and iron passes away, and with it must pass away the type of woman we have seen in the pages of this book. In our haste we might say that the passing age had not been one favorable to the development of feminine character, and that the new age will give the world women not only more cultivated and morally better, but also greater and of more potent influence upon the life of the world; and yet we must not forget that the very conditions of the Middle Ages most oppressive to women in general did of necessity bring to the fore women of strong character. A feudal chatelaine, if she were a Mahaut d'Artois, could rule, could make her mark in history; a queen of France, in an age when physical strength seemed essential in warfare, could subdue her enemies and make herself a great queen, if she were a Blanche de Castille. Under the new order, however, woman's activities and talents will be directed into channels more appropriate to her sex; in literature, in art, in social life, in diplomacy, woman will now play her part, more quietly, perhaps, but not with less far-reaching influence on the history of France than if she actually controlled the armies of France. The really great women from this time forth will be found not on the throne but in the salon. In writing of Catherine de' Medici we should have to tell a great deal of the history of France, in writing of Anne d'Autriche, less; in writing of Madame de Maintenon, still less; but the life of such a woman as Blanche de Castille is the history of France, and in the life of such a woman as Jeanne d'Arc is the very spirit and soul of the nation. CONTENTS DEDICATION PREFACE I. IN THE DAYS OF THE CAPETIAN KINGS. II. FAMOUS LOVERS. III. WOMEN IN EARLY PROVENÇAL AND FRENCH LITERATURE. IV. WOMEN IN THE AGE OF SAINT LOUIS. V. BLANCHE DE CASTILLE AS REGENT OF FRANCE. VI. THE MOTHER AND THE WIFE OF A SAINT. VII. THE ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY AND LOVE. VIII. MARIE DE BRABANT AND MAHAUT D'ARTOIS. IX. JEANNE DE MONTFORT. X. AT THE COURT OF THE MAD KING. XI. CHRISTINE DE PISAN. XII. THE SAVIOR OF FRANCE. XIII. THE TRIUMPH AND MARTYRDOM OF JEANNE D'ARC. XIV. THE RISE OF THE MONARCHY. XV. ANNE DE BEAUJEU: THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE KINGDOM. List of Illustrations Odette de Champdivers and Charles, by Albrecht de Vriendt. Le droit du seigneur, by Lucien Mélingue. Domestic interior in France, twelfth century, by S. Baron. Ladies hunting, by Henri Génois. Blanche of Castille, mother of Saint Louis, by Moreau de Tours. Jeanne d'Arc, by Jean J. Scherrer. End of Project Gutenberg's Women of Mediæval France, by Pierce Butler