The Queens Regnant of Navarre

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Geography and Gendered Rule

   • Elena Woodacre

   Pages 1-20

3. Juana I: The Vacant Throne

   • Elena Woodacre

   Pages 21-49

4. Juana II: The Queen Returns Home

   • Elena Woodacre

   Pages 51-75

5. Blanca I: The Peacemaker

   • Elena Woodacre

   Pages 77-107

6. Leonor: Civil War and Sibling Strife

   • Elena Woodacre

   Pages 109-130

7. Catalina I: Unequal to the Task?

   • Elena Woodacre

   Pages 131-164

8. Conclusions

   • Elena Woodacre

   Pages 165-172

9. Back Matter

   Pages 173-267

   PDF

The five queens of Navarre were the largest group of female sovereigns in one European realm during the Middle Ages, but they are largely unknown beyond a regional audience. This survey fills this scholarly lacuna, focusing particularly on issues of female succession, agency, and power-sharing dynamic between the queens and their male consorts.

• civil war
• Europe
• Middle Ages
• politics

'This longitudinal study of regnant queens in a single realm is an excellent approach that has not been done before to the field. The overall quality of the research is very high, with both extensive study of archival and chronicle sources. As the first book to look exclusively at five Navarrese queens regnant, just narrating the story of their lives and reigns makes this book a significant contribution to the field. The thesis is compelling, the evidence convincing, and the overall quality and tone of the writing excellent. Woodacre's book is an important and most welcome addition to the historiography of medieval queens.' - Theresa Earenfight, Professor of History, Seattle University, USA

'The five medieval queens-regnant of Navarre: Juana I, Juana II, Blanca I, Leonor and Catalina I receive new attention in this careful study of queenship, gender, and geopolitics. Elena Woodacre demonstrates how these women were not mere place-holders or figureheads, but actively ruled Navarre as diplomats, administrators, and patrons, despite Navarre's precarious situation between the powerhouses of Castile, Aragon, and France, and despite the perceived disabilities of youth and gender. This book is a welcome contribution to the study of queenship in medieval Europe.' - Miriam Shadis, Ohio University, USA

'This is a most informative, well-researched, and enjoyable book that brings to life five queens of Navarre who reigned in their own right, as genuine sovereigns, between 1274 and 1512.' - Nuria Silleras-Fernandez, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA

Elena Woodacre is Lecturer in Early Modern European History at the University of Winchester, UK.

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