The Queen's Hand: Power and Authority in the Reign of Berenguela of Castile (The Middle Ages Series) - Hardcover

Bianchini, Janna

4.62

13 ratings by Goodreads

9780812244335: The Queen's Hand: Power and Authority in the Reign of Berenguela of Castile (The Middle Ages Series)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0812244338 ISBN 13: 9780812244335

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012

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Her name is undoubtedly less familiar than that of her grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, or that of her famous conqueror son, Fernando III, yet during her lifetime, Berenguela of Castile (1180-1246) was one of the most powerful women in Europe. As queen-consort of Alfonso IX of Le�n, she acquired the troubled boundary lands between the kingdoms of Castile and Le�n and forged alliances with powerful nobles on both sides. Even after her marriage was dissolved, she continued to strengthen these connections as a member of her father's court. On her brother's death, she inherited the Castilian throne outright—and then, remarkably, elevated her son to kingship at the same time. Using her assiduously cultivated alliances, Berenguela ruled alongside Fernando and set into motion the strategy that in 1230 would result in his acquisition of the crown of Le�n—and the permanent union of Castile and Le�n.

In The Queen's Hand, Janna Bianchini explores Berenguela's extraordinary lifelong partnership with her son and examines the means through which she was able to build and exercise power. Bianchini contends that recognition of Berenguela as a powerful reigning queen by nobles, bishops, ambassadors, and popes shows the key participation of royal women in the western Iberian monarchy. Demonstrating how royal women could wield enormous authority both within and outside their kingdoms, Bianchini reclaims Berenguela's place as one of the most important figures of the Iberian Middle Ages.

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About the Author:

Janna Bianchini teaches history at the University of Maryland.

Review:

"This is a substantial contribution to the historiography of medieval Iberian queens in its reevaluation of monarchy as the dynamic relationship between queen and king."—Theresa Earenfight, Seattle University

"The Queen's Hand is an extremely impressive work of empirical scholarship, addressing the career of a queen who enjoyed a remarkable partnership in power with her son Fernando III."—Simon Doubleday, Hofstra University

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