The Queen of Navarre and a queen from Navarre: Comparing the experience of queenship of Leonor de Trastámara and Joan of Navarre

Abstract

This article offers an intensive comparison of two queen consorts, Leonor de Trastámara, consort of Carlos III of Navarre (r. 1387-1425) and her sister-in-law, Joan of Navarre, consort of Henry IV of England (r. 1399-1413). Key similarities and differences in their lives and experience of queenship are revealed by an examination of the major ceremonies that marked their tenure as consort and their personal exercise of the queen’s office. As well as bringing greater illumination to their individual lives, the comparison also deepens our understanding of queenship, not only in Navarre and England, but more broadly in the later middle ages.