Chapter 30 - Kristen L. Geaman and Theresa Earenfight
Neither Heir Nor Spare:
Childless Queens and the Practice of Monarchy in Pre-Modern Europe
Conventional wisdom holds that queens’ main purpose in a marriage was to produce sons or face dire consequences. Historical scholarship, while more measured and based in empirical evidence, has also prioritized the mothering aspect of queenship. Yet, childless queens generally were not repudiated by their husbands. Instead they remained visible embodiments of monarchy who performed other duties of queenship.
Nevertheless, monarchs were not likely to accept childlessness without a fight, which often included an arsenal of medical and spiritual remedies. If childlessness could not be overcome, monarchs would cope in other ways, such as devoting themselves to other (often maternal) duties, justifying their childlessness as a deliberate choice, or finding other heirs.
This piece investigates childless queens in medieval and early-modern Europe, with a focus on England, France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire. It covers diverse topics such as the medical history of childless queens, the history of spiritual remedies for royal infertility, and literature and art that touch on royal childlessness. In addition, it examines the personal and political implications of childlessness and how monarchs coped with these problems. Finally, it will examine how childlessness did not mean a queen was a failure, thus broadening our understanding of pre-modern queenship.
By Kristen L. Geaman and Theresa Earenfight
Kristen L. Geaman
Kristen L. Geaman received her PhD in medieval history from the University of Southern California. She currently teaches medieval and pre-modern world history at the University of Toledo in Ohio, USA. She is interested in women’s and gender history, and her work has appeared in English Historical Review and Social History of Medicine.
Theresa Earenfight
Theresa Earenfight, Professor of History at Seattle University, focuses her teaching and research on queens and queenship in medieval and early modern Europe. She is the author of The King's Other Body: Maria of Castile and the Crown of Aragon (2010) and Queenship in Medieval Europe (2013), and is currently at work on a study of Queen Catherine of Aragon.
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Annotated Bibliography
- Hunt, Tony. “Obstacles to Motherhood.” In Motherhood, Religion, and Society in Medieval Europe, 400–1400. Edited by Conrad Leyser and Lesley Smith. 205-212. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2011.
- Looks at a variety of medieval tracts (some medical, some moral) to explore some of the reasons given for women’s childlessness.
- Laynesmith, Joanna L. The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Looks at late medieval English queenship as an office and highlights some of the ways queens were necessary for more than just giving birth.
- L’Estrange, Elizabeth. Holy Motherhood: Gender, Dynasty and Visual Culture in the Later Middle Ages. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008.
- Not specifically about queens, but this book looks at motherhood and highlights a number of women who struggled with fertility.
- McCracken, Peggy. The Romance of Adultery: Queenship and Sexual Transgression in Old French Literature. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.
- Shows how childlessness could be a benefit at times, such as when a queen committed adultery.
- Stafford, Pauline. Queen Emma and Queen Edith: Queenship and Women's Power in eleventh-century England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.
- This book looks at two important English queens, one of whom (Edith) was childless.
Reading List
Dunn, Diana. “Margaret of Anjou monster-queen or dutiful wife?” Medieval History 4 (1994), 199-217.
- Accessible look at some of the issues surrounding queenship and gendered expectations of women.
Facinger, Marion. “A Study of Medieval Queenship: Capetian France, 987-1237.” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History 5 (1968): 3-48.
- Classic study of queenship that helped set the parameters of the field for a time. Many scholars argue with a number of Facinger’s contentions, so it can be a way to show students historiography on queenship.
Shadis, Miriam. “Blanche of Castile and Facinger’s ‘Medieval Queenship’: Reassessing the Argument.” In Capetian Women. Edited by Kathleen Nolan. 137-161. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
- Works well with Facinger to teach historiography.
Earenfight, Theresa. Queenship in Medieval Europe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
- Excellent introduction to medieval queenship.
Links
BHO - British History Online - www.british-history.ac.uk/
- Indispensable website for all things British - digitalized sources for the period 1300-1800 as well as helpful subject guides on different topics and their sources.
Feminae - www.inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/WhatIsFeminae.aspx
- The Medieval Women and Gender Index contains bibliographic information on articles about queens and other medieval women.
The International Medieval Bibliography - www.brepolis.net/
- Vast bibliography covering the entire middle ages; a great first stop for any research about the period; behind a pay-wall.
Keywords
Catherine of Aragon; Mary I; Henry VIII; Isabel of Castile; Jaume II; Blanca of Naples; Marie of Lusignan; Elisenda de Montcada; Anne of Bohemia; Richard II; Joan of the Tower; David of Scotland; Philippa of Lancaster; João I; Pierre André de Pulcro Visu; Gaston IV Count of Foix; Edith of Wessex; Edward the Confessor; Aelred of Rievaulx; Emperor Henry II; Cunigunde; Philippe de Mézières; María of Castile; Alfonso V of Aragon; Henry III of France; Louise of Lorraine; Catherine de Medici; Mary of Modena; James II of England; Agnes Strickland; St. Anne; Charlotte of Savoy; Louis XI; St. Petronilla; Virgin Mary; Margaret of Anjou; Edward IV; Elizabeth Woodville; Anne of Brittany; St. Margaret; Clothilde; William of Malmesbury; Gilbert of Sempringham; Eleanor of Provence; Henry III of England; Edward I; Eleanor of Castile; Margaret of France; Isabella of France; Edward II; Philippa of Hainault; Henry of Grosmont, duke of Lancaster; Catherine of Braganza; Charles II; Louise de Kéroualle; Lady Castlemaine; Isabel de Villena;
England; Castile; Aragon; Portugal; Holy Roman Empire; Naples; Catalonia; France; Montserrat; Notre-Dame du Puy; Our Lady of Walsingham; Wilton Abbey
Infertility; Childlessness; Queenship
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Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones: Harem Politics: Royal Women and Succession Crises in the Ancient Near East (c. 1400-300 BCE) (See Chapter 31)
Henric Bagerius and Christine Ekholst: For Better or for Worse: Royal Marital Sexuality as Political Critique in Late Medieval Europe (See Chapter 38)
Chad Denton: From Galanterie to Scandal: The Sexuality of the King from Louis XIV to XVI (See Chapter 41)