Forgotten Queens in Medieval and Early Modern Europe

Valerie Schutte earned her Ph.D. in History from the University of Akron. She is author of Mary I and the Art of Book Dedications: Royal Women, Power, and Persuasion and has edited several collections on early modern kings and queens.Estelle Paranque is a Lecturer in Early Modern History at the New College of the Humanities and author of Elizabeth I of England Through Valois Eyes: Power, Representation, and Diplomacy in the Reign of the Queen (1558-1588).

• Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: The Power of the Mythological Past: Reader Response to Queen Gwendolen and the Thirty-Three Daughters of King Diocletian in English Histories; Chapter 3: Berengaria of Navarre and Joanna of Sicily as Crusading Queens: Manipulation, Reputation, and Agency; Chapter 4: Becoming Anglo-Norman: The Women of the House of Wessex in the Century after the Norman Conquest; Chapter 5: Power, Patronage, and Politics: Maria of Navarre as Queen of the Crown of Aragon (1338-1347); Chapter 6: Beyond Patronage: Richard Jonas’s The Byrth of Mankynde as Counsel to Queen Katherine Howard; Chapter 7: Katerina Jagellonica and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow: Power, Piety, and Patronage; Chapter 8: Elisabeth of Austria and Marie-Elisabeth of France: Represented and Remembered; Chapter 9: Queen Catherine of Braganza’s Relationship with her Catholic Household in Restoration England; Chapter 10: Queenly Afterimages: The Visual and Historical Legacy of Marie Leszczinska; Chapter 11: The Eagle Eye of the Habsburg Family on the Kingdom of Naples: Lights and Shadows of Queen Maria Carolina at Court

'What does it mean to be a "forgotten" medieval or early modern queen? Combining historical, literary, and material culture scholarship, these essays offer a counterargument to the long-held assumption that just because contemporary and modern sources do not explicitly discuss a queen, that means she did nothing. These "forgotten" queens commissioned influential portraits, acted behind the scenes in religious, political, and diplomatic conflicts, and were visible patrons of arts and literature, and this collection particularly shines in its disciplinary scope, illustrating the myriad ways in which queens could exercise power.'Kavita Mudan Finn, Simmons College, USA