The Royal Women of Medieval Europe

Paper Summary:

This paper considers the role of royal medieval women, including their political and religious influence. The author presents a country by country analysis of royal families in medieval Europe, explaining the traditions of succession in each of these countries, and whether or not women could ascend to the throne in these kingdoms. The author concludes that women had political weight during this time. They contributed, even if sometimes indirectly, to the evolution of the states where they lived and they made themselves a place in history.

From the Paper:

"The queens of medieval Western Europe were present in almost each and every state, from the Scandinavian kingdoms to Spain and from England to Hungary. Their power was sometimes only in name, other times they had the real attributes of the kings. They got involved in political battles and plots, being (in some of the cases) real partners of their kings and having specific duties or true rulers, in name and in fact, of their empire. The medieval Byzantium is a stage for powerful empresses, from Theodora, in the sixth century and Irene, in the eighth to Anne of Savoy, in the fourteenth century. The first two empresses played an important part in the iconoclastic debate, their role being grounded in the "interstices of Byzantine society, in myths, in liturgical practices and religious beliefs and the symbols surrounding them, which they could draw upon" . Acting on two contemporary "stages" - the religious influence and the direct ruling, the empresses of the Eastern Roman Empire constituted exceptional figures, influencing and directing the politics of their times."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Clover, Carol J., "Regardless of Sex: Men, Women and Power in Early Northern Europe", Speculum, 68 (2), 1993, pp. 363-387
• Crawford, Katherine, "Catherine de Medicis and the Performance of the Political Motherhood", Sixteenth Century Journal, 31 (3), 2000, pp. 643-673
• Dugan, Anne (ed.), "Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe. Proceedings of a Conference Held in King's College, London, April 1995", Rochester, NY: Boydell, 1997
• Harris, Barbara J., "Property, Power and Personal Relations: Elite Mothers and Sons in Yorkist and Early Tudor England", Signs, 15 (3), 1990, pp. 606-632
• Herrin, Judith, "The Imperial Feminine in Byzantium", Past and Present, no. 169, Nov. 1993, pp. 3-35

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