Europe and England, 500-900 ADLeft map from Lynn Hunt, The Making of the West, Volume 1;

right map from Peter Hunter Blair, Roman Britain and Early England, 55 BC-AD 871.

Lady or lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval Europe

Effigy of Fredegund, St. Denis Cathedral, Paris, 12th century.

• Amalasuintha, regent of Ostrogothic Italy, 526-534; queen of Ostrogothic Italy, 534-535

• Son Athalaric, king of Ostrogothic Italy, 526-534

• Ally of Emperor Justinian, r. 527-565

• Frankish queens• Clothild, d. early 6th century

• Wife of Clovis, king of Gaul• Fredegund, d. 596

• Wife of Chilperic king of Neustria• Galswinth, d. circa 570

• Other wife of Chilperic and sister to Brunhild• Brunhild, d. 613

• Wife of Sigibert, king of Austrasia• Bathild, d. 680

• Wife of Clovis II, king of Neustria

Lady or lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval Europe

Lombard coin with names of Louis II and Angilberga, c. 870, Ancient Coin Search Engline.• Charlemagne, r. 768-814 (emperor 800-

814)

• Daughters of Desiderius, king of Lombardy, d. 786

• Adalperga, wife of Arichis, duke of Benevento c. 760

• Liutperga, wife of Tassilo, duke of Bavaria, c. 763

• Gerperga, wife of Charlemagne, c. 770 (repudiated in 771)

• Women as managers of family/royal household

• Women as representatives of royal power• Aethelflaed of Wessex, Lady of the

Mercians, d. early 10th century

• Anointing of queens• Judith, queen of Aethelwulf of Wessex, r.

839-858• Angilberga, queen of Louis II of Italy, r. 840-

875

• Women as feudal lords• Partible inheritance• Primogeniture

Lady or lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval Europe.

Emma (l) and Cnut (r) depicted in the Winchester New Minster register, or Book of Life, c. 1031. British Library.

• English queens• Emma, d. 1052

• Queen of Aethelred Unraed, 1002-1016

• Queen of Cnut, 1017-1035

• Matilda, d. 1083• Queen of William the Conqueror,

king of England

• Edith-Matilda, d. 1118• Queen of Henry I of England

Lady or lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval Europe

Manuscript image of Empress Matilda, 15th century, British Library.

• English queens• Empress Matilda (aka Maud),

d. 1170• First marriage to Emperor Henry

V of Germany• Second marriage to Geoffrey,

Count of Anjou• Mother of Henry II of England

• Matilda, d. 1152• Queen of King Stephen of

England

Lady or Lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval Europe

Effigy of Eleanor of Aquitaine, 13th century, Fontevrault Abbey, France.

• Eleanor of Aquitaine, d. 1204• Daughter of William X, duke of

Aquitaine• First marriage to Louis VII of France,

1137-1151• Daughters Marie, Countess of

Champagne; Alix, Countess of Blois• Second marriage to Henry II of

England, 1152-1189• Sons William, Henry the Younger,

Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey, and John

• Daughters Matilda, duchess of Saxony; Eleanor, queen of Castile; Joan, queen of Sicily

Left—map of 12th century France, from Elizabeth Hallam, Capetian France, 987-1328; right—map of Henry II’s lands, from Coffin and

Stacey, Western Civilization, Volume 1.

Lady or lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval Europe

Moralized Bible, depicting Blanche of Castile (l) and Louis VIII (r), c. 1235, J. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.

• French queens• Ingeborg of Denmark, d. 1236

• Queen of Philip II of France, 1193, 1213-1223

• Blanche of Castile, d. 1252• Queen of Louis VIII of France• Mother of Louis IX (aka St. Louis)

• Blanche of Bourbon, d. 1361• Queen of Pedro the Cruel of

Castile, 1353

Lady or lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval EuropeLeft—map of Italy, from Lynn Hunt, The Making of the West, Volume 1; right—Matilda (r)

and Henry IV (kneeling) at Canossa, 1077, Vita Matildis, 12th century, Vatican Library, Rome.

• Matilda of Tuscany, d. 1115• Aka Matilda of Canossa and

“la Gran Contessa”• Allied with Pope Gregory VII in

his conflict with Emperor Henry IV, 1077-1085

• Supplied military forces to defend Rome and Gregory VII

• Named “Imperial Vicar Vice-Queen of Italy” by Emperor Henry V, c. 1112

Lady or lord?: women, politics, and warfare in medieval EuropeLeft—map of medieval Spain, from Lynn Hunt, The Making of the West, Volume

1; right—wedding portrait of Ferdinand and Isabella, by anonymous, 1469, Convento de las Agustinas, Avila, Spain.

• Urraca of Leon-Castile, r. 1109-1126• Daughter of Alfonso VI of Leon-Castile• Wife of Raymond, Count of Burgundy, d.

1107• Son Alfonso Ramirez/Alfonso VII of Leon-

Castile, r. 1126-1157

• Wife of Alfonso I of Aragon-Navarre, 1109-1114

• Isabella I of Castile, r. 1474-1504• Daughter of Juan II of Castile• Wife of Ferdinand II of Aragon, r. 1479-

1516• Grandmother of Carlos I of Spain, r. 1517-

1556 (aka Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, r. 1519-1556)

• Patron of Columbus, 1492-1504