### q2 Early Medieval English women had some legal protections > We shouldn't pretend that the Early Medieval period was a feminist utopia by any means; laws are still consistently couched heavily in language which places women as subordinate to men, but there are perhaps more protections than we might think. The 7th Century laws of Ine of Wessex established a level of communal support for widows and single mothers, for example: - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fgeyc8evn2nmpvjqcpj2av8y) - [[Scandinavian Invaders & Gender Equality in the Western World#q2 Early Medieval English women had some legal protections|View in Vault]]