Fair enough, they seem to have less of a deeply entrenched patriarchal hierarchy than in the south. Pretty nice for the free people who were the majority.
We can’t forget though that these rights only extended to freemen/women and that the slaves/thrall had no rights. The highest women did enjoy more rights then in the south, but the lowest women were treated as sex slaves who would be expected to be (TW: SA) gangraped and die when there master did. Granted the Europeans in the south probably weren’t treating there serfs with much respect but I don’t think they were treated that poorly.
Fair enough, they seem to have less of a deeply entrenched patriarchal hierarchy than in the south. Pretty nice for the free people who were the majority.
We can’t forget though that these rights only extended to freemen/women and that the slaves/thrall had no rights. The highest women did enjoy more rights then in the south, but the lowest women were treated as sex slaves who would be expected to be (TW: SA) gangraped and die when there master did. Granted the Europeans in the south probably weren’t treating there serfs with much respect but I don’t think they were treated that poorly.