Medieval Heroines in History and Legend

I received a gift from Offspring #1 - a collection of lectures on compact disk about Medieval Heroines in History and Legend. The speaker is Bonnie Wheeler, a professor of medieval history at Southern Methodist University. I've spent the last couple weeks listening to her set of 24 thirty minutes lectures. She is a lively and engaging speaker. The first heroine is Heloise - a 12th century philosopher who marries and submits herself to another philosopher named Abelard. When I first started hearing about her submissive relationship to Abelard, I wondered what exactly made her a heroine. How does putting his needs first and concentrating solely on his career, basically acting like a misogynist's view of the ideal woman, make her a historical figure? The story of their love is an amazing one and forced me to question the definition of feminist again. Hildegard of Bingen (see picture), Sibyl of the Rhine is the second medieval heroine, also in the 12th century. This woman, a prophet, is famous for her musical composition and her religious leadership. I'd like to hear some of her music someday. She is described as the Mozart of chanting. The third heroine is Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France, later Queen of England, and a political leader of the 12th century. She had many children, some of who grew up to be Kings. She went on Crusade to the Middle East. She dedicated her life to her children and the politics of the time. The last and most familiar heroine was from the 14th century, the legendary Joan of Arc. Joan heard voices and fought for her King and her country on direct and specific advice from heaven. The virgin warrior was illiterate yet a brilliant military leader who succeeded where others failed. She was burned at the stake after being tortured and I cannot think of a death that could be more horrible. Bonnie Wheeler goes into detail into the culture of the time. The definition of a good mother in the 12th century is very different from the one we have now. The rights the women of the 12th century enjoyed - the right to an education, the right to political voice, and the right to inherit land, property, and title, were oppressed by the time of the 14th century and those same rights were never to return until the 19th century. I'm not entirely sure all women's rights are restored yet. Listening to these compact disks was a challenge. I was forced to pay attention and to concentrate. I had to keep running to Wikipedia to answer questions about certain topics that were discussed. According to Offspring #1, the Teaching Company who produces these lectures takes only the best university experts from each topic offered. Let me know if you want to borrow this series of lectures because unlike almost all the other books I read, this one isn't from the library.