Why read Power, Piety, and Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship?

Book cover of Power, Piety, and Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship: Maria de Luna

Book description

Based on an exhaustive and varied study of predominantly unpublished archival material as well as a variety of literary and non-literary sources, this book investigates the relation between patronage, piety and politics in the life and career of one Late Medieval Spain's most intriguing female personalities, Maria De Luna.

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Why read it?

1 author picked Power, Piety, and Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Zita Eva Rohr

Author

This book appeared just as I was on the point of completing my doctoral thesis. It helped me to understand the importance of examining a queen and/or elite premodern woman’s networks—familial, political, diplomatic, friendship and how these networks underpinned her use of both soft and indeed hard power. When the document trail goes cold in the archives, looking more closely at female networks and how they played out is a great way of overcoming gaps and erasures—both deliberate and accidental. It remains a durable and very influential study and a bonus for non-Ibericists as it is in English.

From Zita's list on The best books about premodern women of power and influence: unexceptional but plenty to see.