Queenship in the Mediterranean ― Negotiating the Role of the Queen in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras

Drawing on innovative research in the rapidly growing field of Mediterranean studies, this groundbreaking collection explores the key roles that Mediterranean queens played as wives, as mothers, and above all as political actors. Taken together, they form a varied and comprehensive account of the ways in which these royal women negotiated their positions within the context of the court, how they responded to widowhood and other challenging circumstances, and reactions to queens who exercised political power in ways considered to be beyond their accepted roles. Ranging from Byzantine empresses to the consorts of Moroccan sultans to queens regnant and consort in both the Italian and Iberian peninsulas, these remarkable studies offer a bracing new perspective on the concepts and practice of queenship more generally in the medieval and Early Modern eras.

Elena Woodacre is Lecturer in Early Modern European History at the University of Winchester, UK. A specialist in medieval and Early Modern queenship, she completed her PhD at Bath Spa University, UK. Her recent monograph, The Queens of Navarre 1274-1512; Succession, Politics and Partnership (2013), is based on her research on the queens regnant of Navarre, focusing particularly on issues of female succession, matrimonial diplomacy, and the power sharing dynamic between the queens and their kings consort. In addition to presenting her research at several international conferences in recent years, Elena is the lead organizer of the Kings and Queens conference series and the founder of the Royal Studies Network (www.royalstudiesnetwork.org). She also served as the French and Spanish editor for the Female Biography Project.