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Historical information on many of the queens is slim. Unless they were very powerful like Eleanor of Aquitaine ( she was the wife of two kings, the mother of 2 kings, the grandmother of a queen) little is known. The queens we know most about seem to come after the middle ages. One reason for this is that the skills of reading and writing were lost when the Roman Empire fell and the middle ages started. The middle ages lasted 1000 years. Women in this time were treated as second class, had no rights ( not even queens) and were not allowed to make decisions in government. Many women, if they did not follow their husbands commands, were sent away or to a nunnery. Abuse was allowed with no threat of the law and many times any local authority would carry out the punishment.
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There were many Queen's recorded during this period. Most were consorts (wives) to the King . Some were quite weak and had no influence, and others had a great deal of power over their husbands.
Some Queens had power because they ruled in place of their underaged sons or in if their son/husband was off on a battle - they were called regents. They had the ability to make decisions and enforce them until their son came to power or husband returned from war. Their word was law.
Life for a woman in medieval society depended much on her status. As Queen or a Princess, a woman would live a privileged life. But a price would be paid for such privileged. One of the primary roles of a Queen was to produce a male heir to the throne. More than one Queen was disposed of when she gave birth to females only. As well, women of such high status were a commodity - to be married off to establish alliances, gain land and strengthen kingdoms. Often a women wouldn't know who she was marrying and in some instances didn't even know the language of the man she married. That was her lot in life. To be endured. A woman who had a strong personality however could exert a great deal of influence over her husband the King and sway government policy.
A good queen was expected to oversee her children's education, be a patron to the arts, set up charities and be a pious supporter of the Church. The view of female rulers can best be summed up by what was written on English Queen Matilda's tomb: "Here lies Henry's daughter, wife and mother; great by birth, greater by marriage, but greatest in motherhood." Although Matilda took the throne because by right of birth (there were no surviving male heirs) she was still seen through her role as a mother.
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DevinYou must be asking about queens who ruled as monarchs, since every married king had a queen.
There were a number of queens, and even empresses, who ruled as monarchs. Some of them were very important.
When Charlemagne was crowned as emperor, in 800, the Byzantine Empire was ruled by Empress Irene.
Queen Margaret I of Denmark ruled that country very well and united it under her crown with Sweden, Norway, and Iceland into what was called the Kalmar Union.
There was a Queen Hedwig of Poland, who was crowned as a king so she could make the point that she was the monarch.
There was a Queen Matilda in England, but she was never able to consolidate her power there; she was the mother of King Henry II.
There were a number of queens regnant in Spain, and others elsewhere. Reigning queens were not very common, but they did exist.
Queens rules with the king and had special duties to oversee the household. They would see that the children were properly trained, especially their daughters, look after the castle and estates while the lord was away. Sometimes they even defended the castle as commander when a house was under attack while the lord was away or on Crusade. They had less freedom to marry and marriage was often political instead of love.
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How many dresses did queens have in the Medieval Times and the Renaissance?
Queens in the earliest medieval times had no more dresses than an ordinary modern woman would. In fact I would bet some had only two, one to wear and one to wash. But then some queens were confined to convents. Things got better for women in general as the Middle Ages passed. I have read the when Queen Elizabeth I died, she had many hundreds of gowns.
Does a medieval market place have a bank in it?
The rise of banking was one of the things that happened as the Middle Ages drew to an end. There were possibly banks in some market places at the end of the Middle Ages, but there certainly would have been none during most of the Middle Ages.
What are some of the grandest indicators of the strength of religious belief in the Middle Ages?
The way they restrain from the things forbidden in their religion.
Who were some of the major kings and queens during the middle ages?
The Middle Ages lasted about 1000 years, and there were more countries then I can count, most of which had kings and/or queens. That said, a few kings and kings were: Charlemagne Alfred the Great William the Conqueror Louis VII of France Henry II of England Matilda of England Richard I of England Louis IX of France Wenceslaus of Bohemia Margaret I of Denmark
What was the religion of medieval kings and queens?
1st Answer:Everyone, including the queen, were Catholic.2nd Answer:In the Middle Ages, nearly all kings and queens were catholic, until the Great Schism of 1054. After that, those in the West were mostly Roman Catholic, and those in the East were mostly Eastern Orthodox. There were other religions represented among the medieval monarchs. In the early times, there were pagans, and after the 8th century, until the end of the Middle Ages, there were always some European monarchs who were Muslim. There were also some kings and queens were were known or suspected to be heretics of one sort or another.
