History : Medival queens etc
- medieval women - Matilda : the warrior queen - Eleanor : the rebel queen - isabella : the vengeful queen - medieval queens around the world -
Medieval women:
women oversaw household activities such as : cooking , brewing , spinning and weaving as well as taking care of live stock
women might acts as land owners and managers if unmarried , widowed or their husbands where away
Medieval women knowledge retrieval comprehension :
1.)Whose decision was it to declare women inferior to men?
the church where it was a rule by the aristocracy which made women like a decorative object
2.)what was the only place for a women in society?
as there was no place for a single women at the time they could only become a wife unless they wanted to become a nun
3.)what was a lady’s obligation in the household?
a women’s body or goods became her husbands property when she marries
4.)Why did the men not want a divorce
when a women would get married she would bring the man a dowry and with it status and power and if they get divorced the dowry would return to the wife’s family and obviously the man would not want that
5.)At what time would the women get political power
when the husband was away because they where fighting at war , at the kings courts or fighting the jutes etc .
when the husband was absent the women would have to take their husbands responsibilities for example : deal with the administrator of the property , defend their property from attacks so having to face soldiers judge in case of quarelles
Matilda - the warrior queen :
born in 7 February 1102 - 1167
she was the heir of Henry 1 , king of England and ruler of Normandy
Went to Germany as a child
Crowned empress in 1141 - 1148
Had no children
Matilda’s brother William died in white ship disaster 1120
Father arrange marriage her to Geoffrey of Anjou to form and alliance to protect southern borders of France
Henry had no other real children so Matilda was the heir
Father died in 1135
Matilda’s throne was taken by her male cousin Stephen of Blois
In 1139 Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force supported by her half brother Robert earl of Gloucester and her uncle David I of Scotland
Her husband was focused on conquering Normandy
Her forces captured Stephen at the battle of Lincoln 1141
But her attempt to be crowned collapsed as she was heartily disliked for her arrogant and haughty manner
Bc of this she was never formally declared as queen but was named “lady of English”
Robert earl was captured in 1141 and Matilda agreed to exchange him for Stephen
Matilda was besieged at Oxford castle by Stephen’s forces in winter but she escaped at night across the frozen river thames
She wore white as camouflage in the snow
War degenerated with Matilda controlling much of the south west of England and Stephen the south east and the midland
Large parts of the rest of the country were in the hands of local independent barons
Matilda returned to Normandy now in the hands of her husband in 1148 leaving their eldest song to continue the campaign in England
He was eventually declared Stephen’s heir
Eleanor - the rebel queen :
1122 - 1204
her father is William x , duke of aquitaine
in 1137 , Louis VI , king of France secured Eleanor as bride to his son and heir prince louis
Eleanor married him in 25th July 1137
Eleanor and louis where the new king and queen of France on Christmas day 1137
they had 2 daughters , mari and Alice
their lack of son and heir caused tension between the couple
louis left to go an a crusade to the holy land in 1147 and eleanor persuaded him to allow her and her ladies to acopany the army
the crusade was a disaster and louis showed himself o be a weak and ineffectual military leader while Eleanor was lauded for her strength and wisdom during the crusade
they returned to France in 1149 and in 1152 they had divorced
though Eleanor wanted to stay unmarried this was impossible because her wealth and power made her a target fr kidnapping
if she was forcibly married the kidnapper could take her lands
in 1152 there was an attemp of kidnapping by geoffrey of anjou but she escaped
she apparently sent an envoy to Geoffrey’s older brother henry , count of Anjou and duke of normandy , demanding that he marry her instead
ether this is true or not henry and Eleanor were married on 18 may 1152 just 8 weeks after she got divorced
in 1154 henry and Eleanor became king and queen of England and had 8 children
but they divorced partly due to his eglect of their childrn
eleanor returned to aquitaine in about 1168 with 2 of their sons richard and geoffrey
in 1173 eleanor’s eldest surviving son , henry , was dissatisfied with his lack of power , plotted to overthrow his father
he travelled to Auitaine and his brother richard and geoffrey joined him in the plot
eleanors reason to supporting them was ot clear
the revolt failed and in 1173 henry II captured eleanor and he imprisoned her for almost 16 years at various locations
when her son richard I succeeded to the throne in 1189 as Richard I one of his first acts was to release eleanor and grant her powers over english political affairrs
richard spent most of his time away on crusade and eleanor acted as a vice regent along with her younger son , john
Isabella - the vengeful queen :
April 222nd 1451 - Nov 26 1504
was the daughter of John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal
Isabella was the queen of Castile and was also queen of Aragon
her husband is king ferdinand II
After struggling to claim the throne isabella reorginaized the govermental system , brought the crime rate down and unburdened the kingdom of dept which her half brother henry IV had left behind
isabella married ferdinand are known for being the first monarchs to be reffered to as the Queen and king od spain respectvely
their actions include completion of the reconquista , the alhambra decree which ordered the mass eexplusion of jews from spain , initiating the spanish inquisition
she was 2nd in line to the throne after her older brother henry IV of castile
henry had no children
isaabella’s youger brother alfonso was born 2 years later in 1453 demoting her position to 3rd in line
when her dad died henry became king and isabella , her mother and alfonsso moved
the conditions in the catsle where very poor and thety suffered from shortage of money
eventhough heer father arranged in his will for his children to be financially taken care of henry did not comply with their father’s wishes
eventhough her living condiions were difficult isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in deep reverence for religion under the supervision of her mother
when henry’s wife was abt to give birth isabella and alfonso were summond to court in segovia to come under direct supervision of the king and to finish their education
she lived a relaxed life style but she rarely left segovia sine king henry forbde this
her half brother was keeping her from the political turmoil going on in the kingdom though isabella had full knowledge of what was going on and of her role in the feuds
after a rumour spread tht joanna was not actuall king henry’s daughter but rather a royal fav, noblemen confronted king henery and demanded that his younger bther be named as successor
they even went so far as to ask alfonso to seize the throne
the nobles where now in control of alfonso an claiming that he ws the true heir clashed with king henry forces at the second battle of olmedo in 1467
the battle was a deraw
king henry agreed to recognize alfonso as his heir ,provided that he would maarry his daughter , princess joana
soon after he ws named prince of austuriad he dieed in july 1468 likely of black death
he nobles asked isabella to take his place as champion of the rebellion
isabella prefered a negotiateed settlement to continuing the war
she met with her elder hlf brother and they reached a compromise that the war would stop
king henry would name isabella his heir instead of his daughter and isabella would not marry without her half brothers consnt but he would not be able to force her to marry against her will
at the age of six a bethroal to fedinand , the younger so of jhon II of navarre
at the time the 2 kings henery and jhon were eager to show their mutual love and confidence and they believed that this alliance would make their eternal friendship obvious to the world
ferdinands uncle alfonso died in 1458 and all his spanish territoried ad well as islands where left to john II
john now had a stronger position than ever befoe and no longer needed the security of henry’s friendship
tthis is way to long like wikipedia is giving every detail man bacically isabella unified spain through her marriage to ferdinand of aragon and she frinanced the eepedition of christipher columbus leading to the discovery of the americas
she also infamously expelled jews and muslims and empowered the spanish inquisition