Yolande of Aragon (1381–1442) Family and Power

Queenship, Gender, and Reputation in the Medieval and Early Modern West, 1060-1600

“…36 Those studying the coronation rituals have discovered that a queen's coronation served to legitimize her children as heirs to the throne, creating a direct connection between the offi ce of queenship and motherhood. 37 Historians xxiv INTRODUCTION have pointed out that a queen's position became secure only when she produced a male heir, and she could use this power to her advantage.…”

“…64 Similarly, Zita Rohr applies Earenfi ght's thinking regarding the Iberian model of queenship to the fi fteenth-century case study of Yolande of Aragon, a daughter of the house of Aragon, who deployed and modifi ed Iberian queenship norms to her situation in late medieval France and her marital house's interests the kingdoms of Naples-Sicily-Provence. 65 Elena Woodacre's study has added a new paradigm through which to evaluate monarchy as a power sharing institution, by introducing a group of queens, the queens regnant of Navarre, or queens who inherited a throne rather than acting as a placeholder for a husband or son, into the historiography of queenship studies. Until Woodacre's work, these queens received very little attention, the most popular study of queens regnant focusing on the early modern period and queens such as Isabella of Castile, Mary I, and Elizabeth I of England.…”

Medieval queenship

“…Today, queenship is a prominent thematic strand at conferences and queenship scholars advise doctoral students. Library shelves are lined with studies on individual queens as partners of the king, mothers, political actors, intercessors, and patrons in Iberia (Bianchini, 2012; Earenfight, ; Echevarria, ; Martin, ; North, ; Rodrigues, ; Santos Silva, ; Silleras‐Fernández, ; Woodacre, ), Germany (Fößel, ; Jasperse, ; Nash, ; Nelson, ; Scheck, ), France (Adams, ; Grant, ; Rohr, ), Italy (Casteen, ; Clear, ), England (Hicks, ; Laynesmith, ; Mudan‐Finn, ; Okerlund, ; Slater, ; Turner, ; Klein ), Scotland (Comba, ; Downey, ), Ireland (Edel, ; Preston‐Matto, ), Scandinavia (Etting, ; Larrington, ; Layher, ), the Byzantine Empire (Brubaker & Tobler, ; Herrin, ; James, ; Karagianni, ; Kotsis, , b; Kotsis, ; Martin, ), and central and eastern Europe (Adamska, ; Mikó ; Zajac, ).…”