PREFACE
This book, Medieval and Reformation Reigning Queens of England, is a factual narrative on lives of Norman, Plantagenet and Tudor reigning queens from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.
Among the thirty-two biographies summarized here are the four royal women who ruled, or tried to rule in her own right: these queens regnant are Empress Matilda, Lady Jane Gray, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I. They each received the same level of attention in the author’s previous work, Lives of England’s Monarchs (2005), as was given to their male counterparts. The major events in the lives of these reigning queens are readily available from the previous companion work, and in many other sources; thus, the lives of reigning queens are only briefly reviewed in the present study.
Here, major emphasis is given to queens consort, the wives of England’s ruling kings. Histories of England usually consider it sufficient to credit these great ladies with little more than facts that they were mothers of a rising heir apparent. Aside from producing an heir to the throne—or failing to do so—the queens consort are notable more for neglect than recognition of the roles each consecutively played in the pageant of England. The queens consort chronicled here are those of the Norman, Plantagenet and Tudor Dynasties: namely, Norman queens consort, Matilda of Flanders, Matilda of Scotland, Matilda of Boulogne; Plantagenet queens consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Berengaria of Navarre, Joan of Gloucester, Isabelle of Angoulême. Eleanor of Provence, Eleanor of Castile, Marguerite of France, Isabella of France, Philippa of Hainault, Anne of Bohemia, Isabella of Valois, Joanna of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of ...
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...on is needed to clarify important events, lengthy footnotes called “Digressions” are inserted. Like any footnote, they can be ignored without fatal detriment to the narrative it follows.
An Appendix entitled “Royal Lines of Descent” summarizes lineages for ruling monarchs in the seven English dynasties that have ruled England from Saxon to Modern Time. The appropriate part of this table is repeated in the introduction to each dynasty as it is introduced in the text; the seven lineages are 1. Saxon—Wessex Earl-King Dynasty (802-1066); 2. Norman Dynasty (1066-1154); 3. Plantagenet Dynasty (1066-1485); 4. Tudor Dynasty (1485-1603); 5. Stuart Dynasty (1603-1714); 6. Hanover Dynasty (1714-1901); 7. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha—Windsor Dynasty (1901—present). Queens of the Stuart, Hanover and Windsor dynastic lines are subjects for a work-in-progress volume to follow.
"History of the Monarchy." Kings and Queens of England. 21 Mar. 2002. Online. Available. <http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page10.asp.26> Mar. 2002
Isaacs, Lynn. “ Queen Isabella I of Spain.” Prof. Pavlac’s Women’s History Site. King’s College, 31 May 2008. Web. 1 May 2014.
Doran, Susan, et al. "Elizabeth I." World History in Context. Gale, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Master, John. "Mary I Queen of England." Tudor History. N.p., 06 Feb 2012. Web. 2 Dec 2013. .
Upon the death of her sister--in November of 1558--Elizabeth ascended to the thrown of England. Until Mary’s rule, no woman--apart from the unrecognized rule of Matilda, daughter of Henry I--had ruled England of her own right1. Much like her sister, Elizabeth began her rule widely accepted and welcomed2. There were, however, still many who felt that women were unable to rule, being that women were said to be the weaker sex. John Knox argued that, “God by the order of his creation hath spoiled women of authority and dominion, [and] also that man hath seen, proved and pronounced just causes why that it so should be.”3 Women had always been no more then property, first to their fathers and then their husbands. If a women were to be the anointed queen of a realm of her own right and then marry, whom was beholden to whom? A woman was to do as instructed by her husband in all things, yet a sovereign was to be under the command of God only.
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a sickly son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
Eakins, Lara. “Elizabeth I Queen of England.” Tudorhistory.org. Lara E. Eakins. 2014. Web. 30 April 2014.
The personal and court life of a public royal figure was not as glorious as one may
The Book Catherine of Aragon written by Garrett Mattingly is about the life of Catherine of Aragon, the princess of Spain during the late 1400’s and early 1500’s. The book begins with Catherine’s life as a small child, before she became Queen. The first section of the book talks of Catherine’s upbringing as a princess and includes details on the duties of her and her siblings. A good example of this is described on page 17 as it shows how Catherine and her sisters had to be educated on their bloodline, heraldry and genealogy as well as dancing, cooking, and horsemanship which were the interests of her class) .
Sara Mendelson and Patricia Crawford, Women in Early Modern England 1550-1720 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 37-9 Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/journals/parergon/v019/19.1.crawford.pdf
Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the “Iron Queen”, was a remarkable woman of her time, she ruled with great power and longevity. She was one of the greatest feminist of time. Coming to the throne in 1558, she took the place of her father, Henry VIII. She was given one of the most difficult jobs fit for a man or King, ruling England. At the time women were second class citizens, they could not vote nor own properties and such. Surprising England with her intelligence and fierce rulings, she changed herself to make better decisions. She proved through her rulings, to everyone that females were strong and could rule just as well as a king. She refused to marry, giving a feeling of “I don’t need a man for anything.” The Queen was responsible for giving females a voice in literature and it is shown through Shakespeare’s writings.
The title of The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England is misleading. The descriptions of the “warrior queens” and the language used to describe them is overwhelmingly negative, when queens are talked about at all. Through the 245 years of Plantagenet rule, to the author, Dan Jones, only three queens warranted more description than their place of origin, children, and death. Even as he did mention the three, Empress Matilda, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Queen Isabella of France, they were given mere paragraphs in the greater chapters of kings. These powerful woman faced a patriarchal society that trapped them and now they are trapped by the musings of an author who ignored them.
The second daughter of King Henry VIII was very well known throughout the ages of 1533-1603. Although she has gone through difficult experiences during her lifetime and despite the obstacles that have come along her way, she still manages to maintain a strong character, which changes the course of history for all time. Queen Elizabeth I shows characteristics of strength, and solidarity to become the world’s leading superpower for generations that inspire her country.
Greaves, Richard L. “Tudor, House of.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 6 Feb.
Queen Elizabeth the first was one of the first woman monarchs to rule alone in the history of Europe. Her character, the way she ruled, and even her gender transformed her country’s go...