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> However, while women did take up medical roles, they could undoubtedly face animosity and suspicion as a result.

> ... without hindrance or disturbance from those people who might regard her with contempt or otherwise mistrust her medical knowledge.

> Unfortunately, we do not know any further details about the kinds of resistance Joan faced as a physician or the medical treatments she performed, or even if Henry ever granted her request.

I appreciate the historical evidence and what it means to us today. I disagree with the wild conjecture why she wrote this request.

I believe this request by Joan du Lee is more about making medicine a profession like carpetry, masonry and similar which were supported through masters, journeymen and guilds, than about hindrance based on sex.

Midwifes and doulas have been around for millennia in all cultures. In my limited knowledge, I am not aware of a culture where most of these roles are not females.

Midwifery is a narrow field, but there were lot of fully acknowledged "doctors". Our first evidence was for Peseshet (c. 2600 BC, Ancient Egypt), the "Lady Overseer of the Female Physicians", meaning that she was not only the doc but there was an entire "school" of female "docs".

There are of course also Enheduanna (c. 2300 BC, Sumer), Mesopotamian Healing Women (c. 2000 BC and earlier), and of course Agnodice, from the Greek tradition (c. 5th century BC and earlier).

> I believe this request by Joan du Lee is more about making medicine a profession like carpetry, masonry and similar which were supported through masters, journeymen and guilds, than about hindrance based on sex.

There's no translation[1] here, but the UK National Archives record contains what may be a less conjectural summary that suggests the request explicitly discusses her treatment:

> Lee requests letters under the great seal that she is able to go safely about the country without disturbance of the people who disdain her because of her practice. Her husband was killed in the king's first journey into Wales and she has since then gone barefoot and taken the penance of the fast called the fast of St Mary praying for the maintenance of the king's royal and glorious estate.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9335069

[1] Interestingly the language is Middle French, not Middle English.

> I am not aware of a culture where most of these roles are not females.

Literally Europe, in between the time when births moved to hospitals and before women became doctors. There were no "midwifes" nor "doulas" present during birth.

Also, literally whole communist block the whole time and also long after the communism felt. While midwifes and doulas just were not a thing. The nurses are all women, doctors used to be almost only men and now are mix of men and women.

> Europe, in between the time when births moved to hospitals and before women became doctors

Don't know about the rest of Europe, but in the UK midwives became an official profession in 1902 and have consistently almost all been women, whilst most births would have been at home until the introduction of the NHS in 1948.

My Mom was a midwife in London in the mid-20th century. She used to joke that she was a black belt...in midwifery. Apparently the belt colors had meaning then and still do other places (after a quick search it looks like Ghana still uses a black belt for midwives).
In the Soviet Union most doctors were women. Random citation: "In 1917, 17 percent of doctors were women, yet by 1940 61 percent were women. From the 1950s the figure fluctuated at around 65–70 percent (Ryan, 1989: 38)."
Most of them pediatricians and the first contact doctors. The gender split depended on the specialty.

The gynecologic and doctors doing childbirths were frequently men. Likewise, surgeons. And there was stereotype of them being better then women.

Midwives were a thing, though. There are records of pay scales given for medical professionals in Soviet Russia, including midwives.
My mom is a doctor, pediatrician, and she finished medical school end of 70s or beginning of 80s.

One of her coworkers went by the title "moaşa", the Romanian word for midwife.

Women become doctors long before 70s and 80ties. There being word for a midwife in that language does not imply practicing midwifes during communism. They have word for knight too and knights were not a thing either.
You are deliberately obtuse.
> There being word for a midwife in that language does not imply practicing midwifes

Of course not, they called them this way just to joke. Thanks to "democracy", eastern europe discovered equality between sexes and finaly the women were able to go to school. /s

You are very wrong w.r. to communist block. Women's participation in medicine (and other intellectual professions) was generally high, possibly higher than in the west.
The gender split depended on specialist. Pediatricians would be women much more often then surgeons. Gynecologists were frequently men, the more in-hospital you are, the more men you would encounter.

The eastern europe idea of what is "intellectual" or "important" was different then western one, leading to women having different jobs. Good half of what Americans consider "intellectual" was seen as administrative and boring. Economics is an example of women supposedly doing something more progressive, but in eastern europe it was being seen as easy school for future administrative workers that dont require "real" specialization.

> The gender split depended on specialist.

Sure, but it doesnt really relate to your original statement.

> The nurses are all women, doctors used to be almost only men and now are mix of men and women.

Which obviously has been corrected here already, but in case:

> In 1917, 17 percent of doctors were women, yet by 1940 61 percent were women. From the 1950s the figure fluctuated at around 65–70 percent

A side effect of the impacts of WW2 and the loss of men I am led to believe and that occurred in many areas of society.

> Pediatricians would be women much more often then surgeons.

Sure, maybe. Maybe not. Last I looked, both are doctors.

I probably need to do more research but how did women of noble bearing deal with illness and childbirth? I would suppose midwives amd women with knowledge of "medicine" could exist to serve those high level clientele.
> Also, literally whole communist block the whole time and also long after the communism felt.

Yeah, right. They were living in trees and eating fruits. /s

Are you trying to say that women historically haven't had any obstacles to becoming doctors? Just because you can point to a handful of exceptions doesn't mean that discrimination doesn't exist. I don't know as much about the Middle Ages but read some Galen or pretty much any Greek author and tell me with a straight face that any of these people would have no problems with women being doctors.
Just because you can show fewer women than men do a thing doesn't mean that it's caused by discrimination. Do you think men are discriminated by salons, massage parlors, or preschool teacher positions? It's sexism right?
From the second paragraph of the fine article:

“Women were not allowed to go to university to study medicine and so could not qualify as licensed physicians.”

which would appear to be somewhat different to the expression of personal preferences.