and when their courses were completed, bestir herself to procure them benefices—­an indication of the possession of influence outside her own home.  He goes on to say that when widowhood came to her, she refused to think of a second marriage, and almost rejoiced to be released from the bonds of matrimony, because she found herself free to practise her liberality.  But we must not lay too much stress on these latter utterances.  They come from a funeral oration composed after the good lady’s death, and addressed to her children, some of whom were nuns:  to whom therefore the conventional representation of the Church’s attitude towards marriage would be acceptable.  Butzbach describes the wife of a wealthy citizen of Deventer as entertaining daily six or seven of the poorer clergy at her table, besides the alms that she distributed continually before her own door.  To him she frequently gave food and clothes and money, with much sympathy.

It is noticeable how the charity is represented as proceeding from the wife and not from the husband.  A mediaeval moralist urges wives to make good their husbands’ deficiencies in this respect; and against the remark Ulrich Ellenbog, the father, notes that he had always left this burden to his wife.  The inference is probable that though the sphere of women was in many ways restricted, they were within their own dominion, the household, supreme—­more so perhaps than they are to-day.  Yet in spite of this domestic authority, I do not see how we can escape the conclusion that the real power rested with the husband, when we read such passages as this in the Utopia, where, speaking of punishment, More says:  ’Parents chastise their children, husbands their wives.’  Indeed, it was recognized as one of the primary duties of a husband, to see that his wife behaved properly.

What we have been saying may be well illustrated by the letter just alluded to from Antony Vrye ‘to his dear wife, Berta of Groningen’.  It was written ‘from Cologne in haste’; and as it appears in Vrye’s Epistolarum Compendium, it may be dated c. 1477.  ’Your letter was most welcome, and relieved me of anxiety about you all.  I rejoice to hear that the children are well and yourself; your mother too and the whole household.  You write that you are expecting me to return by 1 March, to relieve you of all your cares.  I wish indeed that I could; but besides our own private matters, there is some public business for me to discharge, and this will take time.  So be diligent to look after our affairs, and pray to God to keep you in health and free from fault:  my prolonged absence will make my return all the more joyful.  It is great pain to me to be absent from you so long, who art all my life and happiness.  But as I must, it falls to you to guard our honour and property, and to care for our family.  This, Jerome says, is the part of a prudent housewife, and to cherish her own chastity.  Bide then at home, most loving wife, and be not tempted by such amusements as delight the vulgar; but patiently and modestly await my return.  I too will be a faithful husband to you in everything.  Be a chaste and honoured mother to our boy and little girls; and cherish your mother in return for the singular kindness she has showed us.’