Mother, Wife and Rebel: A Comparative Study of Gender in the Rebellions of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France

Abstract

This thesis is a comparative study of two Medieval English queens who are not often compared with one another: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France. More specifically it is a comparison of the way both women met or transgressed against their key gender roles of wife, queen, and mother - particularly within the unique circumstances of their rebellions. This thesis uses these three gender roles for they were central to the identity, as defined by both themselves and their contemporaries, of both queens throughout their lives. Broadly, this thesis argues against the traditional historiographical traditions that have seen these women labelled as bad queens of England, and their behaviour as being on a singular trajectory towards their rebellions. Instead, by utilising several primary sources for each queen, this thesis sets up the series of events of their rebellions as a framework - interacting with key debates surrounding the origins and developments of each uprising. The thesis then considers their adherence to their gender roles within this established framework - comparing it to each other and to their behaviour outside of their rebellions. This thesis does accept that not all the actions of Eleanor and Isabella were aligned with behaviours appropriate for their gender roles, particularly within the context of their rebellions. However, it ultimately concludes that when it came to the three key gender roles of wife, queen, and, especially, mother Eleanor and Isabella were decidedly more conventional than they are often portrayed in the primary and secondary source material. Many of their behaviours align with the expectations placed upon them and at no point did either woman abandon these gender roles completely. Instead when the roles became incompatible with one another they had to select which roles they would prioritise.