At the re enactment of the Battle of Bosworth this weekend, I attended a talk given by author Amy Licence, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Amy spoke of the role of the queen in the medieval period, and how society viewed them, how men viewed them and how they are often placed into different categories.
Here we can see Amy talking with Philippa Gregory before her talk.
I certainly agree with what Amy said. I have found that women are, more often than not, depicted as either a virgin or a whore, but these medieval women had far more to them. It seems that prostitutes were more widely accepted in medieval times and nuns weren't always as saintly as we are lead to believe.
In between the two categories can be found very strong women, the other queens Amy didn't have time to mention, Matilda, daughter of Henry I and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, for instance went on Crusade where she led an army of ladies dressed in armour and Isabella of France who took up arms against the weak rule of her husband Edward II, scholars such as Felicie de Almania who spoke of the need of women doctors to treat women patients and who continued to practice medicine without a licence.
I was going to ask Amy, about Catherine of Valois, but couldn't pluck up the courage, and her alleged 'affair' with Edmund Beaufort and if she thought that Edmund Tudor might be his child? Catherine is often referred to as rather amorous or 'over sexed,' a derogatory term often thrown at women, which, it seems, is okay behaviour if you're a male!
One of the saddest things I've read about Catherine was written by Samuel Pepys in his diary in 1660.
‘by perticular favour’ took Catherine's body into his hands and planted a kiss on her mouth, ‘reflecting upon it that I did kiss a Queen, and that this was my birthday’
Sadly, Catherine's remains were still left unburied and available to view at Westminster until 1793! It was not until the late 19th century that it was removed to Henry V's chantry.
How awful is that?
In between the two categories can be found very strong women, the other queens Amy didn't have time to mention, Matilda, daughter of Henry I and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, for instance went on Crusade where she led an army of ladies dressed in armour and Isabella of France who took up arms against the weak rule of her husband Edward II, scholars such as Felicie de Almania who spoke of the need of women doctors to treat women patients and who continued to practice medicine without a licence.
I was going to ask Amy, about Catherine of Valois, but couldn't pluck up the courage, and her alleged 'affair' with Edmund Beaufort and if she thought that Edmund Tudor might be his child? Catherine is often referred to as rather amorous or 'over sexed,' a derogatory term often thrown at women, which, it seems, is okay behaviour if you're a male!
One of the saddest things I've read about Catherine was written by Samuel Pepys in his diary in 1660.
‘by perticular favour’ took Catherine's body into his hands and planted a kiss on her mouth, ‘reflecting upon it that I did kiss a Queen, and that this was my birthday’
Sadly, Catherine's remains were still left unburied and available to view at Westminster until 1793! It was not until the late 19th century that it was removed to Henry V's chantry.
How awful is that?
The image above is Catherine of Valois's funeral effigy.
Amy's website is linked here http://amylicence.weebly.com/
Amy's website is linked here http://amylicence.weebly.com/
RSS Feed
