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Loading... Noblewomen, Aristocracy and Power in the Twelfth-Century Anglo-Norman Realm (Gender in History)by Susan M. Johns
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This book does as it says on the tin: Susan Johns looks at how Anglo-Norman women expressed power and lordship in the twelfth-century, focusing particularly on charters, seals, and government records like the Rotuli de Dominabus. Johns' conclusions about the intersections of gender and class are persuasive, as is her call to consider the family as a unit of lordship in the High Middle Ages. However, this is one of those books which a little too clearly first saw life as a dissertation—the beginning of each chapter read a bit too much like wading through a lit review, and the book as a whole read as choppy rather than as a unified argument. ( ) no reviews | add a review
This is the first study of noblewomen in twelfth-century England and Normandy, and of the ways in which they exercised power. It draws on a rich mix of evidence to offer an important reconceptualisation of women's role in aristocratic society, and in doing so suggests new ways of looking at lordship and the ruling elite in the high middle ages.The book considers a wide range of literary sources such as chronicles, charters, seals and governmental records to draw out a detailed picture of noblewomen in the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm. It asserts the importance of the life-cycle in determining the power of these aristocratic women, thereby demonstrating that the influence of gender on lordship was profound, complex and varied.This work will be of importance to specialists in history and medieval studies, as well as those interested in the experience of women and those working on lordship and feudalism. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)306.0941Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Culture and Institutions Biography And History Europe British IslesLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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