Servants of the dynasty : palace women in world history / edited by Anne Walthall.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Walthall, Anne.

Series:

California world history library ; 7.

The California world history library ; 7

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Courtesans--History.

Courtesans.

Courts and courtiers--History.

Courts and courtiers.

Ladies-in-waiting--History.

Ladies-in-waiting.

Favorites, Royal--History.

Favorites, Royal.

Harems--History.

Harems.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (398 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Mothers, wives, concubines, entertainers, attendants, officials, maids, drudges. By offering the first comparative view of the women who lived, worked, and served in royal courts around the globe, this work opens a new perspective on the monarchies that have dominated much of human history. Written by leading historians, anthropologists, and archeologists, these lively essays take us from Mayan states to twentieth-century Benin in Nigeria, to the palace of Japanese Shoguns, the Chinese Imperial courts, eighteenth-century Versailles, Mughal India, and beyond. Together they investigate how women's roles differed, how their roles changed over time, and how their histories can illuminate the structures of power and societies in which they lived. This work also furthers our understanding of how royal courts, created to project the authority of male rulers, maintained themselves through the reproductive and productive powers of women.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

TABLES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCING PALACE WOMEN

1. WOMEN AND THE PERFORMANCE OF POWER IN EARLY MODERN SOUTHEAST ASIA

2. WOMEN IN CLASSIC MAYA ROYAL COURTS

3. WOMEN AND POWER AT THE BYZANTINE COURT

4. BEYOND HAREM WALLS

5. MUGHAL PALACE WOMEN

6. POLITICS IN AN AFRICAN ROYAL HAREM

7. QING IMPERIAL WOMEN

8. THE ROYAL WOMEN OF IVAN IV'S FAMILY 8 AND THE MEANING OF FORCED TONSURE

9. SERVANTS OF THE INNER QUARTERS

10. WOMEN OF VERSAILLES, 1682-1789

11. CONCUBINES AND CLOTH

12. WOMEN, ROYALTY, AND INDIGO DYEING IN NORTHERN NIGERIA, CIRCA 1500-1807

13. GENDER AND ENTERTAINMENT AT THE SONG COURT

14. THE VANISHED WOMEN OF KOREA

THE PERILS OF THE SENTIMENTAL FAMILY FOR ROYALTY IN POSTREVOLUTIONARY FRANCE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CONTRIBUTORS

INDEX

Notes:

"An Ahmanson Foundation book in the humanities"--P. [4] of cover.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-358) and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786611752651

9781281752659

1281752657

9780520941519

0520941519

9781435684751

1435684753

OCLC:

476183647