Women at the Heart of Medieval Power

As queens of England from 1272-1358, Eleanor of Castile, Margaret of France and Isabella of France all headed their own households, whose size and splendour rivalled even the kingdom’s greatest lords. One of the primary ways these queens displayed this courtly magnificence was through the provision of lavish food and drink, which graced their own tables, as well as those of their ménages and guests. In this talk Harry will showcase his current research using the accounts produced within these households. He will explore what these records reveal about the kinds of food and drink consumed by these queens and their households, how eating and feasting helped magnify their personal magnificence, and the substantial amounts of cash this cost them.

What role did elite women play in times of conflict, unrest, and war in the medieval world? How have their actions been recorded, preserved, and transmitted to us by their contemporaries, and subsequently interpreted (and reinterpreted) by modern historians? This talk will explore these questions through the lens of twelfth-and thirteenth-century examples, drawing upon case studies from England and the Iberian Peninsula. Dr Del Val Vales will examine the different ways in which queens and elite women, whose roles were expected to be those of mediators or pacificators, either fulfilled or subverted these expectations. She will interrogate the various ways in which women participated in conflict and unrest, challenging the boundaries of what has traditionally been described as 'soft power' and reflecting upon the concept of ‘corporate monarchy’.