A Literary Salon in Paris
“In our era when the voice of women is challenged across all
Continents, the Celtic world, where women led major roles in politics,
trade science, agriculture, culture, religion, art and participated actively
in the life of cities, bears great significance.
In her book Hidden Women, Jacqueline Widmar Stewart
offers archaeological evidence, photos of sites and extracts of ancient
texts (even though biased as written by victors ) to help us
gain insight into the lives of women in pre-Roman Celtic Europe –
Burgundians, Franks, Galls, Basques, Veneti, Parisii. . .
To impose a new order, the Roman empire destroyed Celtic culture,
burnt scriptures, works of arts, towns and monuments and more
significantly, established segregation between sexes, weakened families,
and subjugated women. From being equal partners of men, with the
advent of Christianity, women came to be regarded as evil, temptresses,
witches, usurpers of masculine power, creatures to be tamed and
relegated to only certain functions.”
Maria Adle, Founder and President, Ivy Plus European Leaders
