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Women generally use a distaff together with a spindle to spin wool, but they do have other uses. It was almost acceptable in the Middle Ages for a man to strike his wife, but the idea of a woman beating a man was considered very funny.
This is an illustration from the Luttrell Psalter, a medieval prayer book famed for its beautiful and sometimes eccentric illustrations. It was made for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell of Irnham between 1325-1335.
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