Tag: Queenship in the Middle Ages

Eadgifu of England/Wessex
Articles

Making a difference in tenth-century politics: King Athelstan’s sisters and Frankish queenship

In the early years of the tenth century several Anglo-Saxon royal women, all daughters of King Edward the Elder of Wessex (899-924) and sisters (or half-sisters) of his son King Athelstan (924-39), were despatched across the Channel as brides for Frankish and Saxon rulers and aristocrats. This article addresses the fate of some of these women through an analysis of their political identities.

Carolingian Queen - ivory chess piece
Articles

Queenship, Nunneries and Royal Widowhood in Carolingian Europe

Fulk‟s letter therefore introduces us to some central aspects of Carolingian thinking about the appropriate behaviour of laywomen especially, and serves as a way into the principal themes of this article. In particular, it is noticeable that the archbishop highlighted his expectations of Richildis in two roles: her supposed misdemeanour was concerned specifically with a failure to meet her obligations as a widow and as a queen.