Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on queens dowager and consort; even though for many queens regnant there is still much work to be done, several queens consort and dowager have fared much worse in their historiographical treatment, or lack thereof. It offers a new and/or deeper understanding of the methods of power and patronage that were utilized by women who were not queens in their own right, many of whom have become mythologized into what (mostly male) historians have wanted them to be. The book reveals similarities and differences in how queenship was perceived, acted out, and represented in legal, cultural, and political arenas across time and space, through the lens of queens who left little or no mark in history. It demonstrates how queens wielded political authority, whether through the traditional role as queen consort or untraditional roles, such as going on crusade.