The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread to discuss the medieval history of women.

Medieval Women


Eleanor of Aquitaine

"The Medieval Times encompass one of the most exciting periods in the History of England and Europe.

The names of famous Kings scatter the Medieval History books and other historical documents.

But behind every famous King of the Middle Ages was a famous woman - the Medieval Queens or Princesses. Who were the women who were the wives of these famous English Kings of the Medieval times? Which famous Medieval women married men such as William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, King Henry II and King Edward III?

Who were the Medieval women who ruled during the Hundred Years War between England and France? What were the names of the Medieval women who helped to rule the Royal Houses of Lancaster and York during the Wars of the Roses?

These Medieval Women who included many Queens and Princesses and mistresses who shared the most powerful positions with their husbands and lovers.

Many Medieval women held extremely important influence over their sons.

The Medieval women of the Middle Ages had to be strong their lives cover the vicious Medieval periods from 1066 - 1485. Learn about the mystics and the mistresses, the wealthy and the poor women of the Middle Ages."

Remainder of article:


Source: Medieval Life and Times

Please make sure when adding books that you are recommending that you add both the book's cover and the photo or link to the author. This helps populate the site properly.

This is a post from Wyatt where he discusses the above:

Hello all! Good to see female history championed here. I apologize if it has been mentioned earlier, but due to my inability to sift through all the topics of conversation, But I thought I might add a small direction for those interested:

Medieval scholarship on females and their contribution to the world around them in their own time and beyond is something I think especially prudent to understanding women's historical trajectory and prospective. Throughout history, and modern day, food has been a rather sensational topic in regards to females, but perhaps more fictionalized is the lack to receive food.

Fasting has/does hold many significant and personal outlets for women to control self, circumstance, and in a way, environment. By the scholar Caroline Walker Bynum, "Holy Fast and Holy Feast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women" is a wonderful read, and in accompaniment, Rudolph Bell's "Holy Anorexia" offers a more quantitive perspective on the issue of fasting for religious and personal reasons.
In both works medieval women control the many facets of their lives.

The author's aforementioned illuminate lives of medieval women rather lost and therefore inexistent to a twenty-first readership. If anyone would like recommendations of works regarding medieval women's experiences or would merely like to discuss their experiences, I would be happy to share my small, grossly inadequate findings.

Cheers! Happy Reading

by Caroline Walker Bynum (no photo)

by Rudolph M. Bell (no photo)

January 30th, 1121

1121 Coronation of Adeliza of Louvain


Adeliza of Louvain

Adeliza of Louvain (also called Adela and Aleidis; 1103/1105 to April 23, 1151) was queen consort of the Kingdom of England from 1121 to 1135.

She was the second wife of Henry I. After her husband's death, Adeliza gave shelter to her step-daughter, Empress Matilda, during the civil war between Matilda and Stephen of Blois for the throne of England.

The daughter of Count Godfrey I of Leuven, she married the much older Henry I shortly after the death of his only legitimate heir.

After Henry's death, she married William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, who had been a chief adviser to the king. Seven of their children survived to adulthood.

Although she had remained married to Henry for nearly 15 years, they were unable to produce an heir.

Her grandson, William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel was one of the 25 guarantors of the Magna Carta. She was a patron of the church and spent her final years at Affligem Abbey in Flanders, where she died at the approximate age of 46 or 48 years old.

Lady of the English
Historical Fiction

by Elizabeth Chadwick

Synopsis:

Two very different women are linked by destiny and the struggle for the English crown. Matilda, daughter of Henry I, is determined to win back her crown from Stephen, the usurper king. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to William D'Albini, a warrior of the opposition. Both women are strong and prepared to stand firm for what they know is right. But in a world where a man's word is law, how can Adeliza obey her husband while supporting Matilda, the rightful queen? And for Matilda pride comes before a fall ...What price for a crown? What does it cost to be 'Lady of the English'?

More:


Source: New World Encyclopedia

I would mention Margaret of Anjou in the context that unfortunately we lack a really good, comprehensive and up-to-date biography of this fascinating woman.

There are some books around now that contain some information that's more up-to-date about her - this book being an example well worth reading:

Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou and the Wars of the Roses: A Source Book

But alas nothing purely on Margaret that goes into great depth across a wide range of primary sources.

I have been making a study of her and her life over the past year, which has highlighted the absence of anything really good all the more.

This is is despite the fact that she must surely count as one of the most incredible women in British history. She kept the Lancastrian cause alive for a good 16 years after it would likely have failed without her.

Alas, Paul, what about Shakespeare and his sources?
Regards,
Andrea

Shakespeare's sources were, unfortunately, mainly Edward Hall. Mr Hall being considered today as notoriously unreliable for C15th history. (Hall was writing in Henry VIIIs time, so his history was written long after all the people directly involved in the war of the roses were long dead).

That scene in Shakespeare where Margaret executes Richard of York and his son .... never happened. Margaret was not present at the battle of Wakefield (she was actually in Scotland at the time, so she had nothing directly to do with Richard's death). Richard and his son were probably simply killed in the battle. It is less likely that either of them survived and were taken prisoner only to be executed later. Although the Lancastrian soldiers did capture and execute at least a few Yorkist lords (against the orders of the Lancastrian commanders - who wanted to ransom them). The soldiers killed them because the guys they captured (such as Salisbury, who was Warwick's father) were hated by the common folk for their harsh treatment of the lower classes.

There are a lot of primary contemporary sources and chroniclers that are better than Hall (even the Yorkist ones are less critical of Margaret in certain respects than Hall) but there is no modern history that draws on all of these to create a complete and up-to-date biography (as far as I am aware). So unfortunately many people still think of Margaret through the lens of things like Shakespeare's plays or Paul Murray Woods hostile (and in my opinion rather biased) depiction of Margaret which dates all the way back to the mid-C20th.

Helen Maurer has probably done the best work on Margaret since the millennium in my view. But she has mainly focused only on Margaret's letters - an important analysis in itself. But I'd like to see something more comprehensive that builds on that and makes use of other primary sources as well.

Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life

by Alison Weir

Synopsis:

Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and the mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. Although she lived in an age in which women were regarded as little more than chattel, Eleanor managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husbands and sons. In this beautifully written new biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of this truly exceptional woman, and provides new insights into her intimate life.

Born in 1122 into the sophisticated and cultured court of Poitiers, Eleanor came of age in a world of luxury, intrigue, bloody combat, and unbridled ambition. At only fifteen, she inherited one of the great fortunes of Europe--the prize duchy of Aquitaine--yet her father had been shrewd enough to realize that her future security lay in a powerful marriage. Consequently the sensual Duchess submitted to a union with the handsome but sexually withholding Louis VII, the teenage king of France. The marriage endured for fifteen fraught years, until Eleanor finally succeeded in having it annulled--only to enter an even stormier match with the aggressively virile, hot-tempered Henry of Anjou, who would soon ascend to the English throne as Henry II.

Eleanor comes to life as a complex, boldly original woman who transcended the mores of society. Eventually, after enduring Henry's flagrant infidelities, she showed herself a formidable and dangerous enemy of the King's interests by plotting to overthrow him with their sons, Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey. A tireless political fighter and a born survivor, the humbled Queen emerged from sixteen years of imprisonment, age sixty-seven, to rule England with wisdom and panache during the absence of her son King Richard the Lion Heart, while he fought in the ruinous Third Crusade

Medieval Women Mystics: Gertrude the Great, Angela of Foligno, Birgitta of Sweden, Julian of Norwich

by Elizabeth Ruth Obbard

Synopsis:

This book is an excellent introduction to some of the most fascinating women writers of the high Middle ages.

Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York

by Lisa Hilton

Synopsis:

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. From Matilda of Flanders, William the Conqueror's queen, to Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor consort, England's queens fashioned the nature of monarchy and influenced the direction of the state. Occupying a unique position in the mercurial, often violent world of medieval politics, these queens had to negotiate a role that combined tremendous influence with terrifying vulnerability.

Lisa Hilton's illuminating new book explores the lives of the twenty women who were crowned queen between 1066 and 1503. War, adultery, witchcraft, child abuse, murder—and occasionally even love—formed English queenship, but so too did patronage, learning, and fashion. Lovers of history will enjoy a dramatic narrative that presents an exceptional group of women whose personal ambitions, triumphs, and failures helped to give birth to the modern state.

Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess

by Alison Weir

Synopsis:

In her remarkable new book, Alison Weir recounts one of the greatest love stories of medieval England. It is the extraordinary tale of an exceptional woman, Katherine Swynford, who became first the mistress and later the wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.

Katherine Swynford’s charismatic lover was one of the most powerful princes of the 14th century, the effective ruler of England behind the throne of his father Edward III in his declining years, and during the minority of his nephew, Richard II. Katherine herself was enigmatic and intriguing, renowned for her beauty, and regarded by some as dangerous. Her existence was played out against the backdrop of court life at the height of the age of chivalry and she knew most of the great figures of the time — including her brother-in-law, Geoffrey Chaucer. She lived through much of the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, and the Peasants’ Revolt. She knew loss, adversity, and heartbreak, and she survived them all triumphantly. Although Katherine’s story provides unique insights into the life of a medieval woman, she was far from typical in that age. She was an important person in her own right, a woman who had remarkable opportunities, made her own choices, flouted convention, and took control of her own destiny — even of her own public image.

Weir brilliantly retrieves Katherine Swynford from the footnotes of history and gives her life and breath again. Perhaps the most dynastically important woman within the English monarchy, she was the mother of the Beauforts and through them the ancestress of the Yorkist kings, the Tudors, the Stuarts, and every other sovereign since — a legacy that has shaped the history of Britain.

Thanks, Michele! What a great list of books to feature during Women's Month!

Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World

by Alison Weir

Synopsis:

Many are familiar with the story of the much-married King Henry VIII of England and the celebrated reign of his daughter, Elizabeth I. But it is often forgotten that the life of the first Tudor queen, Elizabeth of York, Henry’s mother and Elizabeth’s grandmother, spanned one of England’s most dramatic and perilous periods. Now New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir presents the first modern biography of this extraordinary woman, whose very existence united the realm and ensured the survival of the Plantagenet bloodline.

Her birth was greeted with as much pomp and ceremony as that of a male heir. The first child of King Edward IV, Elizabeth enjoyed all the glittering trappings of royalty. But after the death of her father; the disappearance and probable murder of her brothers—the Princes in the Tower; and the usurpation of the throne by her calculating uncle Richard III, Elizabeth found her world turned upside-down: She and her siblings were declared bastards.

As Richard’s wife, Anne Neville, was dying, there were murmurs that the king sought to marry his niece Elizabeth, knowing that most people believed her to be England’s rightful queen. Weir addresses Elizabeth’s possible role in this and her covert support for Henry Tudor, the exiled pretender who defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and was crowned Henry VII, first sovereign of the House of Tudor. Elizabeth’s subsequent marriage to Henry united the houses of York and Lancaster and signaled the end of the Wars of the Roses. For centuries historians have asserted that, as queen, she was kept under Henry’s firm grasp, but Weir shows that Elizabeth proved to be a model consort—pious and generous—who enjoyed the confidence of her husband, exerted a tangible and beneficial influence, and was revered by her son, the future King Henry VIII.

Oh, Michele, it amazes me what Alison Weir is able to do with the few historical records surrounding this much-neglected English queen ... she’s done several biographies that showcase her talent. This volume is one of her best.
Regards,
Andrea
Alison Weir
by Alison Weir

Women in the Middle Ages

by Frances Gies

Synopsis:

Women in the Middle Ages corrects the omissions of traditional history by focusing on the lives, expectations, and accomplishments of medieval women. The Gieses' lively text, illuminated by the illustrations from medieval manuscripts, art, and architecture, depicts the Middle Ages as a vibrant time in which women were powerful agents of change.

The first part of the book gives the historical and cultural background for the lives of the women discussed. The authors offer a succinct but penetrating review of the religious, scientific, and philosophical attitude that defined women's place in the medieval world.

The seven women represent different classes, countries, and centuries: Hildegarde of Bingen, twelfth-century German nun and gifted mystic; Blanche of Castile, queen of France; Eleanor de Montfort, real-life inspiration for the thirteenth-century romantic tales; Agnes li Patiniere, a Flemish textile worker; Alice Beynt, an English peasant woman; Margherita Datini, wife of an Italian merchant; and Margaret Paston, partner of her husband and sons in the conflict of pre-Tudor England.

Queen Emma and Queen Edith: Queenship and Women's Power in Eleventh-century England

by Pauline Stafford ( no photo)

Synopsis:

Through detailed study of these women the author demonstrates the integral place of royal queens in the rule of the English kingdom and in the process of unification by which England was made.