Preparing to rule: Female networks and generational transfers of power

Historians of the Central Middle Ages viewed women as peripheral or unsuited to rule, which reinforced ideas about their powers being restricted and increasingly curtailed. The same texts tended to elevate kingship as the ultimate expression of medieval power, but kings, too, were limited by certain rules. The vital roles that female rulers played,

exercising considerable political and diplomatic skills, have often been obscured. Yet, how were these skills developed, and by whom? This study explores the familial influence contributing to the authority of women preparing for medieval rulership to gain a wider understanding on the training of women within elite households.

Case studies will highlight networks of sisters, such as Blanche and Berengaria of Castile, and Marguerite of

France and her Provençal sisters and Melisende of Jerusalem and her three sisters in the Latin East. It will also explore female to female power transfers, for example, Beatrice of Lorraine and her daughter, Matilda of Tuscany. Examining the interactions between Eleanor of Aquitaine and her daughters and granddaughters will show how

women used marriages for lasting political strategies. In doing so, it will explore how women assumed power, how support from their natal family could assist in that process and how continued communications led to women training and aiding each other in their rulership. This will be achieved by comparing the modes of power and

influence, varying from intercession or land transfers to more 'soft' power such as patronage networks and utilising familial connections.