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IMC 2003: Sessions

Session 1214: Female Power and Authority in Action: Late Medieval Queenship

Wednesday 16 July 2003, 14.15-15.45

Organisers:Ana Maria S. A. Rodrigues, Universidade de Lisboa
Manuela Santos Silva, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa
Moderator/Chair:Anne J. Duggan, Department of History, King's College London
Paper 1214-aThe Queen-Consort in Late Medieval Portugal
(Language: English)
Ana Maria S. A. Rodrigues, Universidade de Lisboa
Index terms: Administration, Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 1214-bThe Dowager Queen: Patrimony, Political Influence and Authority
(Language: English)
Manuela Santos Silva, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa
Index terms: Economics - General, Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 1214-cAuthority and Maternity in Late Medieval Castile
(Language: English)
Bethany Aram, Institute of International Studies, Sevilla
Index terms: Gender Studies, Politics and Diplomacy, Women's Studies
Abstract

This session aims to contribute to the study of women and sovereignty through the analysis of late medieval queenship in the Iberian peninsula. As the kings' consorts, these women had their own households, estates and incomes, and their own powers of patronage through which they could take independent action and intervene in the political events of the time. As regents, they acted as protectors of their children and ruled among the outburst of factions. But, in a few cases, they did inherit and exercise supreme power in their own right, thus creating a conflict with the requirements of gender roles. All these three situations will be considered in an attempt to re-evaluate the status and functions of late medieval queens.