Girlindis and Alpais: Telling the Lives of two Textile Fabricators in the Carolingian Empire

Garver, Valerie L.

doi:10.1057/9781137074706_9

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, Valerie Garver' s exploration of two women-one noble, the other peasant-revealed much about what shaped the lives of Carolingian women. 16 Investigating Ermengard's relationships with other women, like her stepmother Queen Bertrada, her sisters-in-law, her mother-in-law, and her daughter, will be useful to understanding her life. Looking for aristocratic women's ties-familial, economic, spiritual, geographic, temporal-with other women is a rich vein to follow and mine further.…”

Section: Charting New Pathsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recalculating the Equation: Powerful Woman = Extraordinary

Livingstone¹

2016

MFF

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

or much of the modern historiography on medieval women, any woman who exercised any sort of power or influence was considered in some way "extraordinary." The idea that a noble-born woman could be powerful and influential without qualification was simply not something that most scholars working before 1990 could digest or, in some cases, even recognize. Hence caveats were applied to account for a woman' s power: she was an heiress; she was from a powerful family; she had an "unusual" relationship with her husband or son; she was a powerful personality; she had influential friends. The operating assumption was that for a woman to have power either she or her situation had to be remarkable or unusual. That it was common and accepted for aristocratic women to hold courts, resolve disputes, mete out punishments, make proclamations, have clients, be patrons, command men, or hold office was something that had yet to be acknowledged or assimilated. 2 1. These comments were originally presented at "Debating Women and Power in the Middle Ages: A Round Table Discussion" in 2014 at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds. The roundtable was organized by myself and Elena Woodacre and sponsored by Medieval Prosopography and the Royal Studies Network. Other roundtable participants included Theresa Earenfight

show abstract

Section: Charting New Pathsmentioning

confidence: 99%