Document Type
Article
Peer Reviewed
1
DOI
10.17077/1536-8742.1965
Abstract
In the mid-fourteenth century, two women headed opposing parties in a civil war for control of the duchy of Brittany in France. Conventional scholarship explains their involvement in politics and warfare as exceptions possible only during emergencies. Contemporary chronicles and the letters of the two women themselves, however, tell another story, one in which these two women participated in politics and warfare even before their husbands entered captivity. Their participation makes sense if we recognize that medieval society understood lordship as a form of shared governance performed by a noble couple. While separate roles did exist for the husband and wife, these roles were not divided into “male-only” or “female-only” spheres of activity. Instead, noblewomen, like their husbands, were expected to contribute to politics and warfare. This long-standing participation in matters of state prepared the women to assume sole leadership (and their vassals to accept them as leaders) when necessary.
Acknowledgements
This writing of this article was made possible by funding from the Seed Grant for Transitional and Exploratory Projects offered by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Keywords
Politics, warfare, women, Brittany, lordship, nobility, medieval
Rights Information
Copyright © 2015 Katrin E. Sjursen
Recommended Citation
Sjursen, Katrin E. "The War of the Two Jeannes and the Role of the Duchess in Lordship in the Fourteenth Century." Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality 51, No. 1 (2015) : 4-40.
Included in
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, History of Gender Commons, Medieval History Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Military History Commons
