Most of us could probably come up with a few names of the kings who ruled in England in the centuries before the Norman Conquest, but the queens? Maybe not. We know they existed, but it can be hard to figure out much else about them – or whether later medieval notions of what queenship actually is even fit. This week, Danièle speaks with Matthew Firth about what early queenship looked like, the role queens played in legitimizing a king’s right to rule, and how three incredible women shaped English royal history.
Most of us could probably come up with a few names of the kings who ruled in England in the centuries before the Norman Conquest, but the queens? Maybe not. We know they existed, but it can be hard to figure out much else about them – or whether later medieval notions of what queenship actually is even fit. This week, Danièle speaks with Matthew Firth about what early queenship looked like, the role queens played in legitimizing a king’s right to rule, and how three incredible women shaped English royal history.
Matthew Firth is an Associate Lecturer in medieval literature and history at Flinders University. His new book is Early English Queens, 850-1000: Potestas Reginae, published by Routledge.
The creator and host of The Medieval Podcast is Danièle Cybulskie. Click here to visit her website or follow her on BlueSky @5minmedievalist.bsky.social
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