Spinster: The Job Title That Became an Insult

About this episode

This episode explores the historical significance of the term 'spinster' and the women who contributed to Tudor England's economy through their labor.

Before it was an insult, "spinster" was a job title. It meant a woman who spins thread. It appeared in tax rolls, court records, and legal documents. It was an occupation. And then the economy collapsed, the guilds shut women out, and the word became something else entirely. In this episode we're looking at the women who quite literally kept Tudor England running -- the spinners, weavers, and dyers whose labor underpinned the most important industry in the country. We're talking about the guild system that excluded them from legal protections while depending entirely on their work, the enclosure crisis that pulled the floor out from under their livelihoods, and the Statute of Artificers that gave magistrates the power to imprison women who weren't working hard enough. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Heather Teysko

Topics covered

• women's labor
• Tudor England
• guild system
• economic collapse
• spinster
• legal protections

Keywords

• spinster
• Tudor England
• women's labor
• guilds
• economic collapse
• Statute of Artificers
• enclosure crisis

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Spinster: The Job Title That Became an Insult

Places: Tudor England

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