A study of the performance of queenship by two Tudor monarchs, showing
the strategies they used to assert their power.
Catherine of Aragon (r.1509-33) and her sister-in-law Margaret Tudor
(r.1503-13) presided as queens over the glittering sixteenth-century
courts of England and Scotland, alongside their husbands Henry VIII of
England and James IVof Scotland. Although we know a great deal about
these two formidable sixteenth-century kings, we understand very little
about how their two queens contributed to their reigns. How did these
young, foreign women become effective and trusted consorts, and powerful
political figures in their own right?
This book argues that Catherine and Margaret's performance of queenship
combined medieval queenly virtues with the new opportunities for
influence and power offered by Renaissance court culture. Royal rituals
such as childbirth and the Royal Maundy, courtly spectacles such as
tournaments, banquets and diplomatic summits, or practices such as
arranged marriages and gift-giving, were all moments when Catherine and
Margaret could assert their honour, status and identity as queens. Their
husbands' support for their activities at court helped bring them the
influence and patronage necessary to pursue their ownpolitical goals and
obtain favour and rewards for their servants and followers. Situating
Catherine and Margaret's careers within the history of the royal courts
of England and Scotland and amongst their queenly peers, this book
reveals these two queens as intimately connected agents of political
influence and dynastic power.
