For Her Good Estate: Life of Elizabeth De Burgh (New Middle Ages) - Hardcover

Frances A. Underhill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333753259 ISBN 13: 9780333753255

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999

Synopsis

For Her Good Estate recounts the trials and triumphs of a fourteenth-century English noblewoman. Elizabeth de Burgh led a tumultuous early life: an arranged marriage, an abduction leading to a clandestine second marriage, a forced third marriage to a man who died a traitor. Afterwards, empowered by a vow of chastity to insure her independence, Elizabeth emerged as a capable administrator of her vast estates, a concerned mother and grandmother, a shrewd builder of social and political networks, and a good friend. She expressed her piety by many charitable initiatives, culminating in the foundation of Clare College, Cambridge University, a demonstration of her devotion to God and to learning. This book is the first biography of this remarkable woman. Frances Underhill shows how deeply gender issues influenced her life and how admirably Elizabeth rose above them to impact the lives of others. Hedged in by gender barriers, Underhill reveals, Elizabeth achieved prestige among her contemporaries and left a lasting legacy after her death.

About this title

About the Author:

Frances A. Underhill taught at the University of Richmond for twenty-eight years. She received the Distinguished Educator Award three times. She is now Professor of History, Emerita.

Review:

"...an accomplished, elegant, and thorough study of a fascinating subject." --Albion

...a well-written social-historical study which sheds new light on women's history in fourteenth-century England.
-Mediaevistik

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0333753259
• ISBN 13: 9780333753255
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 286