The lord controlled every aspect of the serf's life and this extended to a man's wife and daughters. The feudal system dictated that the land belonged to the lord, who rented it to his tenants – the serfs – who were bound to that land. Throughout the Middle Ages, lower-class women were bakers, brewers, milkmaids, barmaids, artisans, weavers and, primarily, tenant farmers who worked alongside their husbands and children in the fields. In spite of the 'official' view of women as second-class citizens found in these sources – especially sermons and other ecclesiastical works – household records, legal documents, guild records, and other documents show that women throughout most of the Middle Ages made a living in the same trades as men, frequently took over a business following their husband's death, and were valued merchants, artists, and artisans.
Power goes on to point out that these two sources – the one celibate and the other regarding women as an 'ornamental asset' – were the least qualified to write on women. In the early Middle Ages, what passed for contemporary opinion came from two sources – the Church and the aristocracy. The expressed opinion of any age depends on the persons and the classes who happen to articulate it and for this reason alone it often represents the views of a small but vocal minority. In considering the characteristic medieval ideas about woman, it is important to know not only what the ideas themselves were but also what were the sources from which they spring. Women were therefore always linked to Eve while, at the same time, they were elevated by association with Mary. Women were certainly seen in a better light than they had been previously but this did not mean the clergy, aristocracy, or males in general were interested in seeing them elevated above their supposed God-given place as made clear in the Bible in such passages as I Corinthians 11:3 where it states that man is the head of the woman or I Timothy 2:11-15 which makes clear that women are subordinate to men and Eve was the first sinner.
Even so, women were still collectively demonized even at the height of the cult's popularity for failing to mirror the Virgin Mary's perfection.
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