richmond-rex: Theresa Earenfight argues that, in order for scholars to understand how medieval monar
richmond-rex: Theresa Earenfight argues that, in order for scholars to understand how medieval monarchies functioned, we need to break up the dichotomies between the political and the personal, between public and private. Medieval monarchies were complex and alternated between the personal and the political; they made the personal political in coronations and funerals. They made the political personal when they confirmed alliances through marriages. We also need to break up the dichotomy between king and queen. Earenfight encourages us to see the king and the queen as a corporate unit. She uses the term rulership, which incorporates both the king and queen as well as potential favourites that gained influence and power. The king and the queen were understood to complement each other; from a gender perspective, they embodied masculinity and femininity respectively.— Henric Bagerius and Christine Ekholst, ‘For better or for worse: royal marital sexuality as political critique in late medieval Europe’; The Routledge History of Monarchy (2018) -- source link