Late medieval queens required considerable economic and financial resources, to enable them to dispense patronage, exercise power and influence, and establish and maintain political and social networks. This book examines the nature and usage of these resources, via an in-depth study of the reigns of three queens consort from the second half of the fifteenth century in England – Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York – considering how the queens were supported in material terms, and their impact on the economic landscape of the period. It surveys in detail the economic assets available to these queens, including dower lands, monetary and non-monetary grants, and queens’ gold, before moving on to a discussion of two major entities – households and affinities – which they needed to maintain. It both sheds light on individual queens and on broader questions of authority and agency in late-medieval English queenship.

Table des matières :

Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Simplified Genealogy
Abbreviations & Notes
Introduction

1. The Queen’s Resources

Part I Lands and Estates: A Major Source of Revenue
2. Surveying the Queen’s Lands
3. Managing the Queen’s Lands

Part II Using the Queen’s Resources: The ‘Service’ Economy
4. The Queen’s Household
5. The Queen’s Affinity

Conclusion
Appendices
1 The Queens’ Lands and Holdings – A Composite List
2 The Queens’ Fee-farms – A Composite List
3 Extant Manorial Documents Consulted
Bibliography
Index

Informations pratiques :

Michele L. C. Seah, Financing Queenship in Late Fifteenth Century England, Woodbridge, The Boydelle Press, 2025 ; 1 vol., 298 p. (Gender in the Middle Ages, 95). ISBN : 978-1-83765-046-0. Prix : GBP 85,00.

Source : Boydell and Brewer