Abstract

This contribution examines the biographies of two late medieval aristocratic women from the same lineage, Sança Ximenis d’Arenós and her granddaughter, Sança Ximenis de Cabrera. Under the lens of their respective socioeconomic fluency, their social networks, and their gender, this text shows how these two noblewomen sustained their ageing process, and what material strategies and symbolic connections they created in order to live the best they could during the last stages of their lives. Their experience of ageing had significant parallelisms, as they both got to be about 80 years old, but also had remarkable contrasts in terms of economic agency and care assistance. These biographies serve as a starting point for a reflection on female ageing, shedding light on the attitudes and mentalities towards elderly women in medieval society