Female authority on the frontier of Christendom: rulership, patronage, diplomacy, and identity in the Latin east, 1200-1310.

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Riggs, C, 2024. Female authority on the frontier of Christendom: rulership, patronage, diplomacy, and identity in the Latin east, 1200-1310. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This thesis explores how elite women in the Latin East exerted authority. It contributes to the field of Crusader and Gender Studies as women in the thirteenth century Levant have not previously been researched in a single dedicated study and have received less scholarly attention than women in the previous century. This thesis asks four key research questions. First, how did women exert power? This is explored through a series of thematic chapters, about law, patronage, conflict, and identity, which have all been underrepresented in historiography. Second, was the thirteenth century a period of decline for female power in the Latin East? Third, were examples of powerful women in the Latin East ‘exceptional’ or part of a wider normalisation of female authority in the region? These questions are answered through the significant variety and number of sources available to evidence this thesis. Charter, narrative, artistic and architectural sources are utilised to demonstrate that female power was not in decline in the thirteenth century Latin East and that powerful women were not unique in this environment. Fourth, did the nature of the Levantine frontier shape the ways in which women could exert power? This thesis connects the evidenced frequency in which women held power to be connected to the nature of the frontier, in which stability was prioritised over the enforcement of gendered performances of authority and autonomy.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Riggs, C.
Contributors:	Name Role NTU ID ORCID Morton, N. UNSPECIFIED HHG3MORTON https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0003-4182 Hodgson, N. UNSPECIFIED HHG3HODGSNR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8490-209X
Date:	January 2024
Rights:	The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Arts and Humanities
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	22 May 2025 15:21
Last Modified:	22 May 2025 15:21
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53643