Medieval Women, Material Culture, and Power

Medieval Women, Material Culture, and Power

Matilda Plantagenet and her Sisters

This book argues that the impressive range of belongings that can be connected to Duchess Matilda Plantagenet—textiles, illuminated manuscripts, coins, chronicles, charters, and literary texts—allows us to perceive elite women’s performance of power, even when they are largely absent from the official documentary record. It is especially through the visual record of material culture that we can hear female voices, allowing us to forge an alternative way toward rethinking assumptions about power for sparsely-documented elite women.
  • Front Cover
  • Half-title
  • Series information
  • Title page
  • Copyright information
  • Table of contents
  • List of figures
  • List of figures
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. Staging the Bride and her Treasure
    • From England to Saxony
    • Entering Palermo Resplendent with Regal Garments
    • Celebrating Royal Nuptials in Iberia
  • Chapter 2. Small Items Making Big Impressions: Coins and Seals
    • To Wield the Sceptre: Coins and Co-Rule
    • Making Impressions: The Sway of Seals
  • Chapter 3. Devotion and Dynasty on Parchment
    • Spiritual Self-Empowerment: Following in the Footsteps of the Three Marys
    • Liturgical Display of Self: Matilda Empowering the Dynasty
  • Chapter 4. Trappings Vested with Power
    • What Remains: A Documented Textile Gift
    • Woven Words: The Power of Threads
    • Last Will: Three Hangings
    • Empowering Textiles
  • Epilogue
  • Select Bibliography
    • Abbreviations
    • Primary Sources
    • Secondary Sources
  • Index

Matèrias