Queenship in Medieval Europe

Theresa Earenfight is Professor Emerita of History at Seattle University, USA. She is the author of Catherine of Aragon: Infanta of Spain, Queen of England (2021) and The King's Other Body: María of Castile and the Crown of Aragon (2009). She is also the editor of Elite and Royal Households in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (2018), Women and Wealth in Late Medieval Europe (2010) and Queenship and Political Power in Medieval and Early Modern Spain (2005).

Preface to the Second Edition Figures: Maps, Dynasties List of Images Introduction · Notes on Sources · A Note on Place Names, Translations, and Proper Names PART I: What Does It Mean To Be a Queen or an Empress? Introduction to Part I Ch. 1 Definitions, Context, Geographies · Complex Layers of Identity: Eleanor of Aquitaine · What Is a Queen? An Empress? · What Does It Mean to Be a Queen? · What Does It Mean to Be a European Queen? · What Is Distinctive About Medieval Queenship? Ch. 2 Methods: Studying Queens · Overshadowed and Overlooked: Blanca of Navarre · Historiography of Queenship · Feminists Rewrite History: Women Studies and Its Allies, Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies · Working with Textual Sources · A Woman Writing about Queens: Christine de Pizan and Medieval Political Theory PART II: Becoming a Queen: Marriage, Sexuality, Maternity Ch. 3 Legitimizing Marriage · Marriage as the Foundation of Monarchy in Medieval Europe · Marriage Law in Late Antique and Early Medieval Queenship · Polygamy and Polyamory: Wives, Bed-Companions, and Concubines · The Question of Divorce: Theutberga, Waldrada, and Lothar · Keeping It in the Family: Consanguinity and Incest · Public Legitimization of the Marriage: A Queen's Coronation Ch. 4 New Marital Status, New Royal Identity · Markers of a Queen's Personal Identity · Royal Objects of Exchange · Queens Exchange Ideas Across Borders Ch. 5 Sexuality, Power, and Queenship · Gender, a Precarious Balancing Act · Gender, Sexuality, and Medieval Queenship · The Interplay of Gender, Sexuality, Power, Authority, Influence, and Agency · A Case in Point: Isabelle of France Ch. 6 Maternity and Motherhood · Queenship and Motherhood · Medical Knowledge and the Experience of Pregnancy · The Social and Political Practice of Queens as Mothers · Queens Without Children Ch. 7 Queens, Marriage, and the Formation of European Dynasties · Capetian France, 987-1328 · Anglo-Norman and Plantagenet England: 1002-1337 · France: Valois Queens · England: Plantagenet, Lancastrian, and York Queens · Scotland · Christian Iberia PART III: Queenship in Practice Ch. 8 Empresses, Queens, and the Power of Sanctity · Eastern European Empresses as Models of Christian Queenship · Queenship and Religious Conversion · Balancing Carnal Marriage and Pious Spirituality · Memorializing Christian Queenship and Dynasty Ch. 9 The Queen's Household · The Organization of the Household · Public and Private Spaces and Places in the Royal Household · Women (and a Few Men) in the Queen's Household · Funding a Household: The Queen's Finances Ch. 10 Empresses · The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire · The Holy Roman Empire Ch. 11 Sovereign Queens · Anglo-Saxon Britain · Plantagenet England · The Crusader-States · Iberia: Castile, León, and Portugal · The Mediterranean: Sicily and Naples · Eastern and Northern Europe: Hungary, Poland, and Scandinavia Ch. 12 Queens-Consort: Official and Unofficial Co-Rulership · Official Authority: Regents · Official Authority: Queens-lieutenant in the Crown of Aragon · Unofficial Shared Rulership: Diplomats, Advisors, Intercessors Ch. 13 Queens-Dowager and the Art of Memorializing a Queen · Queens-Dowager · Commemorating Queens Conclusions: Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead Notes Works Cited