My research puts women at the forefront of medieval university history. Studies on institutions of higher education in the medieval period have tended to focus purely on the experience of scholars. When women do appear in university history, they are the objects of university men, whether in their textbooks and disputations, or in cases of abuse. My research moves beyond the objectification of women to show how they interacted with universities and scholars beyond working as sex workers or laundresses. With women at the heart of the research, we can finally understand their experience. By thinking of the networks that formed the university community, as opposed to institutions, we can see women contributing to and interacting with these worlds of learning in a variety of ways.

Each chapter explores the various motivations behind relations between women and scholars in Oxford, Paris and Bologna. Chapter 1 examines the personal relationships that developed between women and university men, as well as cases of abuse. Chapter 2 reveals how, as mothers, daughters, sisters and wives, female relatives played an essential part in supporting members of the intellectual sphere, and the impact these institutions had on their relationships and experiences. Chapter 3 considers how women in business were affected by the presence of the university and its scholars. Chapter 4 demonstrates the spectrum of female patronage taking place in Oxford and Paris, compared to the lack of female benefaction in Italy. Chapter 5 reflects on spiritual connections between women and university men through guidance, charity and heresy. And Chapter 6 concludes the thesis with an exploration of how educational opportunities for women were impacted by the development of universities.