This collection takes the view that authors like Chaucer and Christine de Pizan, often presented as unique, iconic promoters of a debate thought to have occurred primarily in England and France in the late medieval years, should in reality be considered participants in a larger conversation that served diverse political, social, and economic interests and took varied, culturally-determined forms; that greater frame and its contents are the emphasis of this volume. By exploring previously ignored areas, many present fresh material and produce reconceptualizations that use new methodologies.