ABSTRACT

Queens, be they consorts, dowagers or regents, often played pivotal roles in the lives of medieval and early modern kingdoms. As women who often married across geographical, political and, sometimes, religious borders, they were ideally placed to serve as diplomats and ambassadors, whether directly as agents or indirectly as transmitters of cultural practices, values and ideas. This introduction celebrates the position which queens occupied at the heart of international and transnational affairs in the premodern era. It argues that queens were figures who enjoyed meaningful public authority. Their ceremonial actions were imbued with significance, and their deliberate and considered interventions in court politics, and in the wider affairs of their marital and natal families’ kingdoms placed them on the international stage and at the heart of European monarchy. This introduction also offers an overview of the articles within this special issue and their contribution to recent historiographical debates on queenship and the nature of pre-modern diplomacy.

摘要

皇后，无论是配偶、太后还是摄政，在中世纪和现代早期王国的生活中都扮演着举足轻重的角色。作为经常跨越地理、政治和有时跨越宗教边界结婚的女性，她们非常适合担任外交官和大使，无论是直接作为代理人还是间接作为文化习俗、价值观和思想的传播者。这篇介绍颂扬了皇后在前现代时代在国际和跨国事务中占据的核心地位。它认为女王是享有有意义的公共权威的人物。他们的仪式性行为充满了意义，他们对宫廷政治的深思熟虑的干预，在他们的婚姻家庭和家庭王国的更广泛事务中，他们将他们置于国际舞台和欧洲君主制的核心位置。本导言还概述了本期特刊中的文章，以及它们对最近关于王权和前现代外交性质的史学辩论的贡献。