Like fragments of a broken mirror, each of the stories in this first section is a mere shard, a glimpse of a life or lives.

They fit into a rough chronological and spatial frame embracing the late antique world and the birth of medieval Europe, but otherwise it is for the reader to make connections between them, and with other chapters. I have gathered them together from the few, disparate sources that survive, and they offer no seamless narrative of progress. Nevertheless, I cannot help feeling that the women so ephemerally portrayed here speak with a distinct voice that invites wonder and admiration.