Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power 1100-1400 Gebunden

For decades medieval scholarship has been dominated by the paradigm that women who wielded power after c. 1100 were exceptions to the rule of female exclusion from governance and the public sphere. This collection makes a powerful case for a new paradigm. Building on the premise that elite women in positions of authority were expected accepted and routine these essays traverse the cities and kingdoms of France England Germany Portugal and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in order to illuminate women's roles in medieval power structures. Without losing sight of the predominance of patriar chy and misogyny contributors lay the groundwork for the acceptance of female public authority as normal in medieval society fostering a new framework for understanding medieval elite women and power.