More Shopping OptionsThis is the first study of noblewomen in 12th-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 reconceptualization 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 12th-century Anglo-Norman realm. It asserts the importance of the lifecycle in determining the power of these aristocratic women, thereby demonstrating that the influence of gender on lordship was profound, complex and varied.
Susan M. Johns was Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Huddersfield 1994-97.
"This is a highly original and ambitious book which has no modern equivalent. Theoretically up-to-date and innovative, it reaches back into conventional historiography and offers new and exciting insights into the subject."--David Bates, University of Glasgow
Power and Portrayal * Patronage and Power * Noblewomen and Power: The Charter Evidence * Countesses * Witnessing * Countergifts and Affidation * Seals * Women of the Lesser Nobility * Royal Inquests and the Power of Noblewomen: The Rotuli De Dominabus Et Pueris Et Puellis De XII Comitatibus of 1185 * Appendix One: Catalogue of Seals from the 12th and Early 13th Centuries * Appendix Two: Noblewomen in the Rotuli De Dominabus
