Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan
Book cover

Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100–1400

Moving beyond the Exceptionalist Debate

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Editors:
  1. Heather J. Tanner

    1. Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA

    View editor publications

    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Reconceptualizes the categories, definitions, practice, and periodization of women’s exercise of power
  • Examines women in positions of both secular and religious authority
  • Offers a variety of case studies that cover women’s patronage of art and literature, the role of women in establishing dynasties, the impact of bureaucracy, and the influence of female religious communities, among other topics

Part of the book series: The New Middle Ages (TNMA)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Heather J. Tanner, Laura L. Gathagan, Lois L. Huneycutt
    Pages 1-18

  3. Power and Agency in Post-Conquest England: Elite Women and the Transformations of the Twelfth Century

    • RāGena C. DeAragon
    Pages 19-43

  4. The Most Perfect Knight’s Countess: Isabella de Clare, Her Daughters, and Women’s Exercise of Power and Influence, 1190–ca. 1250

    • Linda E. Mitchell
    Pages 45-65

  5. Beyond Good Queen Anne: Anne of Bohemia, Patronage, and Politics

    • Kristen L. Geaman
    Pages 67-89

  6. Emma of Ivry, c. 1008–1080

    • Charlotte Cartwright
    Pages 91-111

  7. From Mothers to Daughters: Literary Patronage as Political Work in Ponthieu

    • Kathy M. Krause
    Pages 113-133

  8. Pirate, Traitor, Wife: Jeanne of Belleville and the Categories of Fourteenth-Century French Noblewomen

    • Katrin E. Sjursen
    Pages 135-156

  9. Just Another Day in the Neighborhood: Collective Female Donation Practices at the Hospital of Saint John in Brussels

    • Tiffany A. Ziegler
    Pages 157-176

  10. A “Necessary Companion”: The Salian Consort’s Expected Role in Governance

    • Nina Verbanaz
    Pages 177-197

  11. Power in Pursuit of Religion: The Penitent Sisters of Speyer and Their Choice of Affiliation

    • Christopher M. Kurpiewski
    Pages 199-223

  12. Women of Antioch: Political Culture and Powerful Women in the Latin East

    • Erin L. Jordan
    Pages 225-246

  13. Unexceptional Women: Power, Authority, and Queenship in Early Portugal

    • Miriam Shadis
    Pages 247-270

  14. A Lifetime of Power: Beyond Binaries of Gender

    • Theresa Earenfight
    Pages 271-293

  15. Back Matter

    Pages 295-310
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

For decades, medieval scholarship has been dominated by the paradigm that women who wielded power after c. 1100 were exceptions to the “rule” of female exclusion from governance and the public sphere. This collection makes a powerful case for a new paradigm. Building on the premise that elite women in positions of authority were expected, accepted, and routine, these essays traverse the cities and kingdoms of France, England, Germany, Portugal, and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in order to illuminate women’s roles in medieval power structures. Without losing sight of the predominance of patriarchy and misogyny, contributors lay the groundwork for the acceptance of female public authority as normal in medieval society, fostering a new framework for understanding medieval elite women and power.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA

    Heather J. Tanner

About the editor

Heather J. Tanner is Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University, USA. She is the author of Families, Friends and Allies: Boulogne and Politics in Northern France and England c. 879–1160.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100–1400

  • Book Subtitle: Moving beyond the Exceptionalist Debate

  • Editors: Heather J. Tanner

  • Series Title: The New Middle Ages

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01346-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-01345-5Published: 24 January 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-01346-2Published: 09 January 2019

  • Series ISSN: 2945-5936

  • Series E-ISSN: 2945-5944

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVII, 310

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: History of Medieval Europe, History of Early Modern Europe, Women's Studies, Medieval Literature

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation