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 |
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Moderator/Chair: | Anne J. Duggan, Department of History, King's College London |
Paper 1214-a | The Queen-Consort in Late Medieval Portugal (Language: English) Index terms: Administration, Gender Studies, Women's Studies |
Paper 1214-b | The Dowager Queen: Patrimony, Political Influence and Authority (Language: English) Index terms: Economics - General, Gender Studies, Women's Studies |
Paper 1214-c | Authority and Maternity in Late Medieval Castile (Language: English) 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. |