Arquetipos de la reginalidad medievalEleanor Plantagenet y las mujeres de su familia (siglos XII y XIIII)

Abstract

The various studies on medieval queenship that have been published in recent years provide a glimpse of the existence of an ideal model of queen. This model is characterised by a series of virtues, actions and attitudes with which the first lady of the kingdom should identified with. The present work aims to analyse these archetypes that medieval queens were called upon to personify, in order to discover, secondly, the acceptance and implementation of these archetypes, or their transgression, in a group of women belonging to the Plantagenet family: Aliénor of Aquitaine (1122-1204), Matilda Plantagenet (1156-1189), Eleanor Plantagenet (1160-1214), Joanna Plantagenet (1165-1199), Berenguela of Castile (1180-1246) and Blanche of Castile (1188-1252). They were all part of one of the most influential families in high medieval Europe, extending their dominion and political activity throughout Europe. The marriage alliances in which these noble and royal women participated, contributed to the creation of a common court culture, in which the role of the queen was gradually being defined and acquiring its own characteristics.