Why didn't women fill in the role of a knight?

Question: Why didn't women fill in the role of a knight!?
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Warfare has generally been considered a man's business throughout history!. However, there have always been women who have sometimes taken on military roles, and in the medieval era women sometimes had to defend their property against attack, or even lead armies!. In england,
Aethelflaed of Mercia, the daughter of Alfred the Great, fought the Danes in the early 10th century, she died in battle in 919!.

In 1265, Abbess Odette de Pougay, a leader of the Abbey of Notre-Dame-AuxNonnains, challenged the right iof Pople Urban IV to build a church on the site where his father's shoemkaer's shop ha donce stood!. The abbess said the property belonged to her abbye!. Pope Urban IV proceeded with the project despite the abbess's objections, and she responded with an armed party that drove the pope's work crews from the site!. Two years later, he tried again, and once more odette led armed men to remove the pope's men from her land!. The pope, outraged, excomunicated Odette, but she was resolute, and the pope's church was not built until after her death!.

In fifteenth-century France, Abbess Renee de bourbon had set about cleaning up and reforming the religious instituitons of her domaians, when she confronted the monastery of Fontevrault, a fortress occupied by warrior monks and nuns!. Abbess Renee spent almost twelve years attempting to rest control of Fontevrault and finally resorted to overwhelming force!. She raised a large army in Paris in 1477 and attacked the renegade monastery!. She prevailed!. The defenders quickly abandoned their fight,and she forcee each monk and nun who wished to remain at Fontevrault to sign a personal oath of loyalty to her!.'

Warrior nuns posed such a problem in the fifteenth century that a law in Bologna forbade citizens to loiter around convents, not for the protection of the nuns but for the safety of the citizenry!. the convents became so powerful that various popes established decrees against women engaged in martial combat in an attempt to weaken the power of the sisterhood!. The papal ban against women wearing armor proved to be the technicality on which Joan of Arc was sentenced to be burned to death in Rouen in 1431

Women defenders appear in the histories and epics of nearly every Western country, and every siege battle produced its exemplary women warriors!. In France alone the historians record the heroines of Marseilles, Saint Riquieer, Peronne, Meta, Montelimar, Poitiers, la Rochelle, Sancree, Livorn, Saint Lo, Aubigny, Cahors, Lille, Vitre, Autun, Ontauban, Montpellier, Lamotte, Dole, and Saint-jean-du-losne!.

Matilda of Tuscany first experienced battle by her mother's side!. Born in 1946, Matilda inherited through her father the plains of Lombard and part of Liguira and Umbria, an immense area of northern and central Italy!.

The knight Arduion Della Paluda taught her riding as well as weilding a spear or lance while on horseback!. he instructed her in the use of the sword, pike and battle-axe while fighting on foot!. Therefore, by the time she first appeared on the battlefield with her mother at the age of fifteen, she was accustomed to the weight of her weapons and armament!.

In 1066 under the guidance of General ARduino, her martial arts instructor, Matilda directed four hundred archers at the battle of Aquino, where her stepfather, Godfrey of Lorraine, defeated the Normans!. During the next several yeears she was reported at many battle sites, leading troops, commanding sieges, and devising battle plans!.

Wives often had to defend the family property while their husbands were away!. In the 15th century, Margaret Paston was looking after the family home in Cromer, in Norfolk, which was under disputed ownership by another family!. While her husband John was away, she was organising the defenses of the house!. She wrote to him:

"Right worshipful husband, I recommend myself to you, and pray you to get some crossbows and arrows!. Your house here is so low that no man can shoot out with a long bow, though we have never had such need!. also i would ask you to get two or three short poll-axes to defend the doors with and as many padded jackets!.!.!. Patridge and his frineds are sore afraid that you will enter again on them!. They have greatly defended the house, so I'm told!. They have made bars to bar the door and they have made loopholes on every side to shoot out at with bows and handguns!.!.!."Www@QuestionHome@Com

some did, Joan of arc for example, some myths even portray Morgan la Fey as a great warrior, and military genius!. Although I think on a whole knights were to protect virtue, and what of course was more virtuous than the medieval lady!? They couldn't very well be considered genteel, and virtuous if the go about bashing peoples heads in with great metal mallets!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Medieval women were mostly breeding knights and other men who had a short life span!. A woman need to birth 8 children to have a reasonable expectation that 2 would survive long enough to produce children!.Www@QuestionHome@Com