Noblewomen, aristocracy and power in the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm / Susan M. Johns.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johns, Susan M.

Series:

Gender in history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Great Britain--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500.

Women.

Aristocracy (Social class)--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Aristocracy (Social class).

Power (Social sciences)--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Power (Social sciences).

Women--Political activity--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Women--Political activity.

Normans.

History.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--History--Norman period, 1066-1154.

Nobility--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Nobility.

Normans--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xii, 276 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 2003.

Summary:

This is the first study of noblewomen in twelfth-century England and Normandy, and of the ways in which they exercised power. It draws on a rich mix of evidence to offer an important reconceptualisation of women's role in aristocratic society, and in doing so suggests new ways of looking at lordship and the ruling elite in the high middle ages.

The book considers a wide range of literary sources such as chronicles, charters, seals and governmental records to draw out a detailed picture of noblewomen in the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm. It asserts the importance of the life-cycle in determining the power of these aristocratic women, thereby demonstrating that the influence of gender on lordship was profound, complex and varied.

This work will be of importance to specialists in history and medieval studies, as well as those interested in the experience of women and those working on lordship and feudalism.

Contents:

Part I Literary sources

2 Power and portrayal 13

3 Patronage and power 30

Part II Noblewomen and power: the charter evidence

4 Countesses 53

5 Witnessing 81

6 Countergifts and affidation 107

7 Seals 122

8 Women of the lesser nobility 152

9 Royal inquests and the power of noblewomen: the Rotuli de Dominabus et Pueris et Puellis de XII Comitatibus of 1185 165

Appendix 1 Catalogue of seals from the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries 203

Appendix 2 Noblewomen in the Rotuli de Dominabus 231.

Notes:

Based on the author's doctoral dissertation (Ph. D. : University of Cardiff).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-268) and index.

ISBN:

0719063043

0719063051

OCLC:

52594536