Queenship and Political Power in Medieval and Early Modern Spain

Abstract

Spanish scholars have studied the queens in their history from a purely anecdotal perspective, as we can see from recent biographies of Juana la Loca and Isabel Farnese. The present collection of essays, drawn mainly from contributions to conferences by scholars trained in the United States, is both a welcome departure from that tradition and a promising augury of new perspectives. The ten contributors (three are men) pay attention principally to the political context, but in doing so they explore a variety of other contiguous themes, such as art. Seven of the chapters deal with medieval queens, three with early modern ones. In her very useful introduction, the editor relates the chapters to each other, sets out some general considerations, and proposes a few arguments. Some of the considerations probably need to be looked at again. She states that ‘unlike northern queens, Spanish royal women were more likely to be active’ (p. xiv), which is not really a valid contrast, as those who are familiar with the very active royal ladies of the northern lands can testify. One might also demur at the comment that in Spain the ‘political culture did not explicitly prohibit queens’ (same page), when Spain was one of the areas in Europe where the political and property rights of women were most guaranteed to give them a political role, so that there was absolutely no prejudice against female rulers, nor against female succession to noble titles. But so many themes are broached in these pages that it would be unfair to express dissent with points of view. The chapters have much to offer within the limits of what they set out to do. Theresa Earenfight's chapter on how queens had to function as rulers when their husbands were away, is brilliant. The contribution by Jorge Lozano on the empress Isabel is a superb presentation of a much neglected lady. My special interest in the period permits me, perhaps, to express disappointment at Peggy Liss's essay on Isabella the Catholic. She suggests that the queen consciously created a publicity image for herself, but then offers no concrete evidence for it. She also states that by 1480 the queen had identified herself with a ‘messianic mission’ (p. 133), but gives no corroborating evidence for what is certainly an interesting possibility. The many facets of womanly power in politics are dealt with perceptively and with due scholarship, in a volume that repays careful reading and has a great deal of interesting information to offer.