Georgieva, Teodora2025-07-312025-07-3120242535-0951https://doi.uni-plovdiv.bg/handle/store/681This study aims to present the social demands on women, the moral considerations that deter mined their participation in the economy and the production process in the Middle Ages. The starting point for the refl ections on this topic are two diff erent types of evidence. The fi rst description is contained in the Byzantine agricultural handbook "Geoponica" (Γεωπονικά), compiled in the 10th century. The second source of information is a fourteenth-century fresco from the Zemen monastery of ‚‘St. John the Theologian“. Despite the diversity of the two accounts, they appear to have a similar discourse, and that is about women and their role in the economic life of the medieval Balkans. As a consequence of the strict notions of the role of women, restrictions on the participation of female in agricultural activities have arisen. ‚‘Geoponica“ alludes to ritual purity, especially in relation to nutrition and agriculture, and the risk of women ‚‘contaminating“ the produce. This means that medieval society had a mar ginal attitude towards women. The fresco from Zemen monastery also suggest the idea of women‘s place. The traditional understanding of a woman‘s role extended mainly to the home – one of her main activities being spinning and weaving, which were loaded with positive symbolic connotations, in contrast to blacksmithing. Despite the demands of medieval society, evidence from the ‚‘Geoponicа“ and the Zemen monastery mural show that women (albeit with a secondary role) participated in various socio-economic activities, including agriculture and craft production (blacksmithing). But this participation was accompanied by a moral and social norm.otherMiddle AgesBalkan societywomenagrarian activitycraftsmanshipArticle