Modern popular culture and even some scholarship exaggerates the degree to which women were forcibly excluded from intellectual life in medieval Europe.

Some time ago, I was perusing some late-medieval illuminated manuscripts and came across a picture presenting a philosophy class at the university of Paris. The scene showed the professor on a podium, addressing about two dozen students at bench desks. About half the students were women.

There are people for whom GoT is their window into the past, specifically the Middle Ages. This is about as true as King Arthur’s Round Table. Sure, people fought with swords and rode horses, but most of the rest is pure bunk (although admittedly enjoyable!) Dragons. magic, etc.