Power, Piety, and Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship: Maria de Luna (The New Middle Ages) [Hardcover]

Nuria Silleras-Fernandez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2008 | Series: The New Middle Ages

Maria de Luna was one of late medieval Spain’s most intriguing female personalities. In a period characterized by powerful male rulers, she combined patronage and a pious cultural program to extend her political power, both formally and informally.  However, hers was a figure that did not challenge or undermine the image of the monarch, and instead completed it. Using Maria de Luna, Silleras-Fernandez examines the four pillars of medieval queenship: formal authority, family relations, religious patronage, and household and court through an exhaustive study of her letters and administrative and financial records. This book brings to light the potentials and limits of female power in Iberia on the cusp of modernity and adds to our understanding of queenship in late medieval and early modern Europe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Silleras-Fernandez cleverly guides the reader through the sparse documentary data on Maria's biography and the well-known historical facts that led to the end of the dynasty of the counts of Barcelona in order to highlight how her politics were fashioned by her sex, on the one hand, and by her belonging to a feudal dynasty, on the other."--Speculum

“This is an engaging and important study of queenship, gender, and power in the late medieval world.”—Canadian Journal of History

"Simply bringing Maria de Luna to light makes this book by Núria Silleras Fernandez a welcome addition to the field of queenship studies. But Power, Piety, and Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship: Maria de Luna is more than just an introductory bow to a prodigiouslytalented woman...Maria's reign allows Silleras Fernandez to present in a compact space a queen consort in the full range of her life and in the potential for power.  Her thesis benefits from and builds on the work of anthropologists (culture of court and ceremony), sociologists (networks of power), gender studies (complementarity of femininity and masculinity), and political theory (the dynamics of power).  Her discussion of Maria's thoughts on kingship in a letter to her son is part of a field of research that needs much more attention...This book is jam-packed with details that scholars will pore over for some time." —The Medieval Review

 

"Silleras-Fernandez builds up a comprehensive study of the life and work of Maria de la Luna which is securly placed in the wider context of medieval queenship and socio-political movements of the late medieval era... Altogether this is a well crafted and highly readable account of the political career of a truly remarkable woman." —AARHMS

 

"Power, Piety, and Patronage in late Medieval Queenship offers interesting insight into the life of an exceptional woman, who had an understanding of the politics of power far superior to that of most men of her time." —The Feminist Review

“In this richly textured and superbly researched book, Silleras-Fernandez convincingly shows the important political role of medieval queens in the Crown of Aragon and, by implication, in the rest of western Europe. This book offers a compelling, original, and insightful account of the intersection of lineage, marital affection, institutional history, and power. In doing so Silleras-Fernandez provides a much needed and timely contribution to our understanding of the life and activities of medieval queens in the Crown of Aragon and elsewhere in the medieval West.” —Teofilo F. Ruiz, Professor of History, UCLA

“An intriguing account of the career of a late medieval queen of Aragon who was arguably a more capable partner in rulership than her husband the king. Maria de Luna was faced with uprisings, invasions, financial difficulties, and other challenges. Through extensive use of original documents this book reveals Maria’s personal and political life and shows that she was a redoubtable ruler. The result is a fascinating biography, one that helps us understand what it meant to be a queen in a chaotic world.” —Paul Freedman, Yale University

“This monograph, written in a highly readable style, excels in its use of a wealth of archival resources including royal letters, account books, municipal and ecclesiastic documents. With the publication of Power, Piety, and Patronage in late Medieval Queenship, Silleras-Fernandez has introduced a new theoretical frame into the growing discipline of medieval queenship studies.” —Dawn Bratsch-Prince, Professor of Spanish and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Iowa State University 

"Silleras-Fernandez's work rests on a truly impressive range of archival sources... [T]his is an engaging and important study of queenship, gender, and power in the late medieval world." —Elizabeth A. Lehfeldt, Cleveland State University

 

About the Author

Nuria Silleras-Fernandez is Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her primary fields of research are queenship and gender in medieval and early modern Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as cultural, political, and institutional history. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition edition (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403977593
• ISBN-13: 978-1403977595
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,647,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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