Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 5952
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Narbona-Cárceles , María.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Woman at Court: A Prosopographic Study of the Court of Carlos III of Navarre (1387-1425) [The appendix lists the 364 women investigated along with their positions at court. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Medieval Prosopography 22, ( 2001): Pages 31 - 64.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article;Names List
  • Subject (See Also): Courts Leonor of Trastamara, Wife of Carlos III, el Noble, King of Navarre Noble Women Prosopography Queens Servants Social Class Work
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Iberia
  • Century: 14- 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: Two figures. Figure One Map of the kingdom of Navarre, 1400. Figure Two Map of the territories of the king of Navarre in France, beginning of the fourteenth century.
  • Table: Five Tables. Table One, Geographic origins of the women who held positions at court. Of the 364 women in this study, the origin of 83.2% are known. Table Two, Social origins of the women at the court of Carlos III. They are divided into royal family, nobility, free women, and undefined. Table Three, Numbers of servants of chamber divided by occupation (undefined, caregivers, rockers, midwives, wet nurses, "damiselas," "damas," servants, "criadas," "mozas" (maidservants), handmaidens, and waiting women). Table Four, Female workers in the departments, suppliers, and artisans. The work categories are: dyeworkers, lace makers, weavers, embroiderers, seamstresses, concierges, innkeepers, "oblieras," potters, winemakers, sellers, fruiterers, bakers, and laundresses. Table Five, The Évreux dynasty in Navarre, 1328-1425: The legitimate descendants of Carlos III, el Noble.
  • Abstract: In the second half of the fourteenth century the kingdom of Navarre escaped the domination of French culture and politics and enjoyed a period of independence and strength. The archives of the royal household enable us to trace 364 women who held a variety of positions at court, from menials (and even slaves) to those who surrounded the queen and her daughters and who played a strong role in the indirect power that women exercised. Women of Castile and then of Navarre emerged as active participants in the household, and they- whether alone or as part of families with a service tradition- remind us that a royal court was far from being a male preserve with its women confined to muted roles in domestic quarters.
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: Universidad de Navarra
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 2001.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 01989405