Sharon’s answer to “I recently saw BBC Documentary "How to Get Ahead at Court - Medieval Times" Stephen Smith said, "In…” > Likes and Comments
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I think its more accurate to say that people THOUGHT that a strong female ruler would mean instability.
And perhaps the only reason a strong female rule was sometimes unstable was the inabilty of the noble men to accept a woman telling them what to do.
This is such an interesting question and my own belief is that both men and women were taught by the Church that women were inferior beings, so to them this was 'truth' that they simply accepted, though I'm sure many women may have chafed at the thought in private.
What I find particularly interesting is the difference between the Tudor sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. It was ingrained in Mary from when she was a child that females were inferior creatures and that they needed a husband to guide them in their decisions and so Mary married Philip of Spain(a bad choice)which brought her much heartache.
Elizabeth by contrast was vastly intelligent and cunning and understood the psychology of the men who she appointed as chief courtiers. But she also let it be known that she was The Queen and that those who served her must also defer to her. She was a better queen and ruler than her psychotic father. I do think Elizabeth was psychologically damaged by her mother's cruel death and find it deeply moving that the ring she always wore had a small portrait of her mother hidden within.
So two complex women and two very different attitudes that women were able to rule in their own right.
PS: This isn't an attack on the Catholic Church, as I am a Catholic but it is what the Church taught centuries ago.
I'm always astounded by the logic that says that someone was a bad ruler or a factor of instability (since Maud didn't even get to be a ruler) because someone else usurped them. In some cases, they were, in some they were not, but the latter is hardly the proof of the former, no more than being murdered is a proof the victim must have been a bad person.
Speaking of the Anarchy, Sharon, how did you like George R.R. Martin's "The Princess and the Queen", about the Anarchy-inspired Targaryen civil war Dance of the Dragons?
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Janine
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Aug 08, 2015 02:54PM
I think its more accurate to say that people THOUGHT that a strong female ruler would mean instability.
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And perhaps the only reason a strong female rule was sometimes unstable was the inabilty of the noble men to accept a woman telling them what to do.
This is such an interesting question and my own belief is that both men and women were taught by the Church that women were inferior beings, so to them this was 'truth' that they simply accepted, though I'm sure many women may have chafed at the thought in private.What I find particularly interesting is the difference between the Tudor sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. It was ingrained in Mary from when she was a child that females were inferior creatures and that they needed a husband to guide them in their decisions and so Mary married Philip of Spain(a bad choice)which brought her much heartache.
Elizabeth by contrast was vastly intelligent and cunning and understood the psychology of the men who she appointed as chief courtiers. But she also let it be known that she was The Queen and that those who served her must also defer to her. She was a better queen and ruler than her psychotic father. I do think Elizabeth was psychologically damaged by her mother's cruel death and find it deeply moving that the ring she always wore had a small portrait of her mother hidden within.
So two complex women and two very different attitudes that women were able to rule in their own right.
PS: This isn't an attack on the Catholic Church, as I am a Catholic but it is what the Church taught centuries ago.
I'm always astounded by the logic that says that someone was a bad ruler or a factor of instability (since Maud didn't even get to be a ruler) because someone else usurped them. In some cases, they were, in some they were not, but the latter is hardly the proof of the former, no more than being murdered is a proof the victim must have been a bad person.Speaking of the Anarchy, Sharon, how did you like George R.R. Martin's "The Princess and the Queen", about the Anarchy-inspired Targaryen civil war Dance of the Dragons?
