England in the Middle Ages England in the Middle Ages England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the economy was in tatters and many of the towns abandoned. After several centuries of Germanic immigration, new identities and cultures began to emerge, developing into kingdoms that competed for power. A rich artistic culture flourished under the Anglo-Saxons, producing epic poems such as "Beowulf" and sophisticated metalwork. The Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity
Midwifery in the Middle Ages "the one sacrament in the Middle Ages that could be performed by anyone - cleric or lay person, man or woman." Such ecclesiastical and secular regulatory introductions, Greilsammer writes, led to a "reduction in the status and role of the midwives" that "was part of a more general degradation of attitudes toward women, and women in command of some knowledge and power in particular." Greilsammer notes that this change in perception can "be placed in its urban context and related to the general decline in women’s employment throughout Europe at the end of the Middle Ages." Such developments forced many