IMC 2012: Sessions
Session 529: From Infamous Queens to Spectacular Countesses: Ruling Women in Medieval Italy (9th - 12th Centuries)
Tuesday 10 July 2012, 09.00-10.30
| Sponsor: | St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews |
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| Organiser: | Roberta Cimino, Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews / Università di Bologna |
| Moderator/Chair: | Edward Coleman, Department of History, |
| Paper 529-a | 'Dilectissima coniunx et consors regni': Expressions of Queenship in Italian Diplomas (9th – 10th Centuries) (Language: English) Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Politics and Diplomacy, Women's Studies |
| Paper 529-b | Before Matilde: Beatrice of Lorena 'Dux et Marchio Tusciae' (Language: English) Index terms: Politics and Diplomacy, Women's Studies |
| Paper 529-c | How the Grand Countess Matilda of Tuscany Replaced the Rules of the Salian King Henry IV with Her Own (Language: English) Index terms: Politics and Diplomacy, Women's Studies |
| Abstract | This session aims to analyze women's influence in Italian politics from the dissolution of the Carolingian empire to the birth of Italian communes. Each of the papers explores an example of the way in which royal and noble women were capable of exercising power in different political contexts. 9th and 10th-century royal charters demonstrate that Italian queens successfully contributed to the shaping of royal family politics. During the 11th century, the marchioness Beatrice of Lorena, after the death of her first husband Boniface of Canossa, was left in control of the March of Tuscany. Her daughter Matilda inherited her family's possessions which she kept under her firm control until her death in 1115. |