"I'll take care of us" proceeds to force the wife to take care of his every need

Nonsense. We'll just hire a maid, a cook, a stable-hand, a small battalion of guards, and a priest to propagandize them all into thinking this is normal and good.

You just sit around making babies and I'll be out hunting, soldiering, raping, and looting my way through the adjacent neighborhood.

If these women of the past were so happy being under the thumb on their husbands, why did they keep on rebelling, eventually even willing to put their lives on the line to gain freedom?

Obviously, this never happened. Happiness during the late Medieval Era was extremely high, because everyone was perfectly aligned with their gender and social roles. It was a utopia that was only ruined by the damned liberalism of the Enlightenment Era.