ABSTRACT
While royal women in England could achieve positions of power and authority, they were also exploited as pawns in national and international political alliances. While early modern women of all social classes often had little choice regarding their spouses, the marital prospects of daughters of kings were especially restricted; young royal women could expect their marriages to be arranged for political advantage, and they could also expect to be sent to a foreign country to marry someone they had never met. Yet a number of these women also found ways to gain autonomy, such as by marrying the first time to please the king, and the second to please themselves. Some daughters, nieces, and cousins of monarchs also became embroiled in complicated political situations, leading to imprisonment and even execution, while others managed to create powerful and productive lives. Others were not of royal background, but were English women who became queens because they won the affection of the king; however much autonomy they strived for, these women’s lives ended tragically. But many royal women exerted considerable power and influence as wives of kings, or more importantly, queens in their own right.
