History 409 - Yas Queen: Female Rulership in Premodern Europe, 800-1800

Although men largely dominated the public sphere in the premodern world, women left their mark in a number of ways, including occupying positions of power and authority around the globe. Throughout the course, we will address different aspects of women’s power, as well as consider how factors such as religion, age, marital status, and even geographic region interacted with gender to shape the lived experiences of women. We will chart a course that traverses the divide between medieval and early modern, focusing also on how premodern realities contrast with (or resemble) their modern depictions. This research seminar will consider how gender roles and the supposed inferiority of women to men was constructed, as well as introduce students to the prevailing methodologies (and their limitations) for analyses of premodern gender and power. Using this foundation, we will examine several case studies that illuminate how women that were queens negotiated the limitations placed upon them to attain prominence and renown – or even notoriety – in the political and cultural spheres of a patriarchal world. Students will hone some of the key skills of the professional historian: reading and assessing scholarship critically but constructively and conducting research using primary sources to sustain an original argument that is situated within a larger academic conversation. Meets once weekly.