16Hit 1600
Information and IdeasMediumSupporting a claim about medieval women brewers

Information and Ideas practice question

A historian argues that in fourteenth-century English villages, brewing was predominantly women's work, cited in the records under their own names. Which quotation from the historian's sources most strongly supports the claim? ____

Which quotation from the work most effectively illustrates the claim?

  1. A. "Of the forty-three brewers fined for short measures that year, the court rolls name thirty-one as wives or widows trading in their own right."Correct
  2. B. "The abbey purchased barley from seven villages along the river."
  3. C. "Ale in the period spoiled within days and was brewed close to where it was drunk."
  4. D. "The town's charter required brewers to display a pole above their doors."

Answer: A. "Of the forty-three brewers fined for short measures that year, the court rolls name thirty-one as wives or widows trading in their own right."

The claim is that women dominated village brewing; a court record naming women as 31 of 43 brewers is direct documentary evidence.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. "The abbey purchased barley from seven villages along the river."
Barley purchases reveal supply chains, not who did the brewing.
C. "Ale in the period spoiled within days and was brewed close to where it was drunk."
Spoilage explains why brewing was local, not who brewed.
D. "The town's charter required brewers to display a pole above their doors."
The ale-pole rule applied to all brewers regardless of sex.

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