Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy and Regent of the Netherlands

Margaret of Austria

Margaret’s Motto: Fortune, Infortune, Fortune pretty much sums up her extraordinary life.

The Meek And Mighty Bride: Representations of Esther, Old Testament Queen of Persia, on Fifteenth-Century Italian Marriage Furniture

Florentine 15th c. wedding chest

Cassone and spalliere panels depicting the Old Testament Book of Esther were produced by a number of Florentine artists during the fifteenth century.

The ‘second Jezebel’: representations of the sixth-century Queen Brunhild

The murder of Brunhilda, from De Casibus Virorum Illustrium, attributed to Maître François, Paris, c. 1475

The sixth century Merovingian queen Brunhild is a figure of extremes, lauded by Pope Gregory the Great as ‘most excellent daughter’ and later defiled as ‘the enemy of
Christianity’.

BOOKS: Great Reads about Medieval Queens!

Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England

Queens Consort: England’s Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York Author: Lisa Hilton Publisher: Pegasus (August 3, 2010) Summary England’s medieval queens were elemental in shaping the history of the nation. In an age where all politics were family politics, dynastic marriages placed English queens at the very center of power—the king’s bed. […]

Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal

Detail of a miniature of the marriage of John, king of Portugal to Philippa of Lancaster

As far as possible, Philippa and Joao went everywhere together. They put forth the image of a loving and happy family. They agreed to name their first born child a Portuguese name if it were a boy and an English name if it was a girl and then alternate names, irrespective of sex.

The last Serbian queen: Helena Palaiologina (1431- 1473)

helena-palaiologina

Serbo-Byzantine marriages had occurred many times in the past years, when the Empire was still vast and powerful.

Christmas Books: Great Medieval Fiction Reads for the Christmas Holidays!

Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders

Some medieval stocking stuffers for the historians on your Christmas list!

Æthelflæd, Lady of Mercia

Æthelflæd_-_MS_Royal_14_B_VI

Of all the medieval women I have researched and written about, Aethelflaed is by far my favorite. She was the daughter of Alfred the Great and was instrumental in carrying out his vision for a united Britain.

Eleanor, Queen of France and England and Duchess of Aquitaine

Tombs of Eleanor and Henry II - photo by ElanorGamgee/WikiCommons

There never has been another Queen like her.

Queenship in Medieval Europe, by Theresa Earenfight

queenship in medieval europe

Read an excerpt from Queenship in Medieval Europe and save 20% when you order it with these special promotional codes!

‘Al ful of fresshe floures whyte and reede’: The Jewellery of Margaret of York and Its Meaning

Margaret of York

The collier shown in the Louvre portrait appears to be made of gold and enamel, and is almost exclusively set with pearls.

Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England

Philippa_of_Hainault

These two young people met and became friends. This was an extraordinary beginning to a royal marriage.

Viking Age Queens: The example of Oseberg

The Oseberg ship at the archeological site.

The Oseberg ship burial is a Viking Age burial mound containing a double female inhumation, which is located in the Oslofjord area in Norway.

The Queen and her consort : succession, politics and partnership in the kingdom of Navarre, 1274-1512

Joan:Juana II of Navarre

This thesis draws attention to an exceptional group of sovereigns and demonstrates the important role that these women and their spouses played in the political history of Western Europe during the Late Middle Ages. It also highlights the particular challenges of female rule and offers new modes of analysis by focusing on unique areas of investigation which have not been previously examined

Sayyida Hurra: The Isma’ili Sulayhid Queen of Yemen Farhad Daftary

arwa_bint_ahmed

This article explores the career of queen Sayyida Hurra, she was the political and religious leader of Sulayhid Yemen, which was an extremely rare occurrence and privilege for a woman in Fatimid times

Margaret Plantagenet, Queen of Scotland

Margaret Plantagenet, Queen of Scotland

The English Princess Margaret Plantagenet married King Alexander III of Scotland in December of 1251. This was to be the third youngest marriage of monarchs in British history.

Queen Guinevere. A queen through time

Queen-Guinevere

According to Hopkins, “[Arthur’s] queen, Guinevere, is more elusive, less written about [than Arthur and his knights], and yet has been for centuries a central character playing a critical role in the rise and fall of the Round Table” (6). He goes on by characterizing her as “a key figure in the life of Camelot, this remarkable woman is seen variably as scholar, seductress, warrior, and dignified gentle beauty by the countless artists and writers who have depicted her. Who, then, was Guinevere?” (10) The purpose of this essay is to answer this question by looking at different texts and novels referring to the Queen.

Marie of Guise, Queen of Scotland

Mary of Guise

Marie of Guise was born on November 20, 1515 in the castle of Bar-le-Duc in northeast France.

Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scotland

Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scotland

At the time of James’ visit to court, Madeleine was sixteen and back at court. It seems the two fell in love with each other.

“A model of wisdom and exemplar of modesty without parallel in our time”: how Matilda of Flanders was represented in two twelfth-century histories

Matilda of Flanders, queen consort of England and wife of William the Conqueror, by Carle Elshoecht (1850). Luxembourg Garden, Paris. Photo by Tosca

My thesis investigates the different ways in which two twelfth-century historians, William of Malmesbury and Orderic Vitalis, represented Matilda.

Queen-making and Queenship in early medieval England and Francia

Louis II le Bègue recevant les Regalia. Fol. 163 Grandes chroniques de France.

The present work is not simply a discussion of early medieval queen-making rites, for this would only have necessitated a study of the ninth to the eleventh centuries, but queen-making reciprocated with ideas of queenship just as king-making was inextricably bound up with ideas of kingship.

The Queen of Sicily’s Paris Shopping List, 1277

Charles I of Anjou and Margaret of Burgundy

Sarah-Grace Heller examines a letter sent by Charles I of Anjou, King of Sicily to one of his agents in Paris, where he provides a detailed order of textiles and clothing that he needed to have purchased.

Book Review: Shadow on the Crown

Shadow on the Crown

A review of Patricia Bracewell’s book: Shadow on the Crown.

Queen’s Gold and Intercession: The Case of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine 4

This essay will consider basic questions about queen’s gold and intercession. First it will address the mechanics of the levy and collection of queen’s gold, beginning with fundamentals such as the nature of the levy and who paid. An investigation into the origins of queen’s gold will follow.

Matilda of Boulogne, Queen of England

The Empress Matilda hears the plea of Matilda of Boulogne, wife of Stephen of Blois who had usurped England's throne and whom the Empress' forces had captured.

Matilda and Stephen were the model medieval couple.

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