Queenship And Voice In Medieval Northern Europe

QUEENSHIP AND VOICE IN MEDIEVAL NORTHERN EUROPE QUEENSHIP AND POWER Series Editors: Carole Levin and Charles Beem This series brings together monographs and edited volumes from scholars specializing in gender analysis, women’s studies, literary interpretation, and cultural, political, constitutional, and diplomatic history. It aims to broaden our understanding of the strategies that queens—both consorts and regnants, as well as female regents— pursued in order to wield political power within the structures of male- dominant societies. In addition to works describing European queenship, it also includes books on queenship as it appeared in other parts of the world, such as East Asia, Sub- Saharan Africa, and Islamic civilization. Editorial Board Linda Darling, University of Arizona (Ottoman Empire) Theresa Earenfight, Seattle University (Spain) Dorothy Ko, Barnard College (China) Nancy Kollman, Stanford University (Russia) John Thornton, Boston University (Africa and the Atlantic World) John Watkins (France and Italy) Published by Palgrave Macmillan The Lioness Roared: The Problems of Female Rule in English History By Charles Beem Elizabeth of York By Arlene Naylor Okerlund Learned Queen: The Image of Elizabeth I in Politics and Poetry By Linda Shenk The Face of Queenship: Early Modern Representations of Elizabeth I By Anna Riehl Tudor Queenship: The Reigns of Mary and Elizabeth By Anna Whitelock and Alice Hunt The Death of Elizabeth I By Catherine Loomis Queenship and Voice in Medieval Northern Europe By William Layher The French Queen’s Letters (forthcoming) By Erin Sadlack Renaissance Queens of France (forthcoming) By Glenn Richardson QUEENSHIP AND VOICE IN MEDIEVAL NORTHERN EUROPE William Layher QUEENSHIP AND VOICE IN MEDIEVAL NORTHERN EUROPE Copyright © William Layher, 2010. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 All rights reserved. First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-28927-1 ISBN 978-0-230-11302-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-11302-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Layher, William. Queenship and voice in medieval Northern Europe / William Layher. p. cm.—(Queenship and power series) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Queens—Scandinavia—History—To 1500. 2. Monarchy— Scandinavia—History—To 1500. 3. Margrete I, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 1353–1412. 4. Euphemia, Queen, consort of Haakon V, King of Norway, 1270–1319. 5. Agnes, Queen, consort of Eric V, King of Denmark, d. 1304. 6. Middle Ages. I. Title. DL44.1.L39 2010 9489.0230922—dc22 2010002662 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: September 2010 A voice is a sound with significance. Aristotle, De anima II.8.420b5 CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Map of Medieval Northern Europe x Introduction 1 The Royal Families of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden 10 One Three Nordic Queens 13 Two Sound, Voice, and Vox: The Acoustics of the Self in the Middle Ages 29 Three “You Danes Must Do as I Say . . .”: Queen Agnes and the Regicide of 1286 53 <