Between 1299 and 1369 there was a continuous succession of queen consorts and queen dowagers. Margaret of France was queen consort between 1299 and 1307 and died in 1318, Isabella of France was queen consort between 1308 and 1327 and she died in 1358 and Philippa of Hainault was queen consort between 1328 and 1369 when she died. A continuous transition between queens is particularly exciting for a study of queenship because an analysis of these queens' activities provides a unique opportunity to form conclusions about nonnative queenly behaviour, and to determine the extent to which their activities depended on circumstance and inclination. The overlapping of consorts and dowagers also allows us to study the relationships between these women. Yet there has been no full-length study which takes advantage of this exceptional period in late medieval history. This present study proposes to do so, and frames this examination around four major themes: gender; status; the concept of the crown; and power and authority. By using administrative, visual and literary sources this study seeks to address the themes of gender, status, medieval concepts of the crown and power and authority. Through these themes it expounds upon the relationship of the ideology of queenship and the historical actions of three fourteenth-century queens. This thesis will demarcate when the queen's power is symbolic or achieved through her own initiative. It examines the extent to which gender and status dictated the nature of her power and authority, and it will use the concept of the crown to assess her royal status. It acknowledges that gender inequality existed in the medieval period; the queen could not rule in her own right, nor act as chancellor, treasurer or member of parliament. However, instead of emphasizing the queen's independence or her constraints and limitations, this study seeks to provide an even-handed analysis of how the queen acted. Overall, this thesis concludes that not only did the queen remain a visible part of the centralized monarchy, she also held official roles within government She was embedded in the administrative apparatus of government as a wife, a mother and a widely recognized representative of the crown.

This thesis examines the indispensable role played by the household knights of King Henry III in the governance of England, Ireland, and those parts of Wales under Crown rule between the years 1216 and 1236. A large part of this study is devoted to reconstructing the membership of the <i>familia regis</i> from the fragmentary evidence for this period. Building on that reconstruction and the identification of king’s knights it provides, the major duties and functions of the <i>milites regis </i>are examined. It will be shown that their greatest contribution as a group was through their performance as sheriffs castle custodians, diplomats, and guardians of important state prisoners. How the king’s knights were compensated for their service is also examined. This thesis shows how the <i>terra Normannorum</i> was used as a preserve by Henry III to reward his knights for their services, and how tenure of these escheats, given initially at pleasure, were gradually secured as hereditary grants guaranteed by royal charter. The process whereby this occurred is discussed as well as the political implications. The development of a system of monetary rewards during the minority and early years of Henry III’s personal rule involving annual Exchequer fees is also examined.

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This thesis examines the nature and uses of the regimen in the fourteenth and fifteenth century in England. The introduction discusses the historiography of the regimen primarily through a delineation of the genre. It argues that the usual focus of the regimen of health and its characterization as a medical text is too narrow, proposing that the text, in both its form and use, was a text on guidance of body and soul that can not be separated from other works of political governance, ethical behaviour and spiritual advice. In order to establish the subject, chapter one presents a distillation of multiple dietaries structured as a daily regimen. The second chapter deals with medical regimens – those books of advice on health usually written by doctors – written, translated or transcribed in late medieval England. It works as a survey and discussion of the contents, composition and audience of texts ranging from calendrical regimens and the classic epistolary dietary, to plague tracts, works resembling political begging letters and the widespread universal regimen. Chapter three investigates the links between the regimen and the institutional regimens practiced in English hospitals, religious houses and noble households, to argue that all texts on rule share similar concerns with health, both of the body and of the spirit (corporate and individual). The final chapter uses John Lydgate’s popular <i>Dietary</i> as a means to discuss the regimen’s central place in the literature of the fifteenth century. Among its roles was that of a handbook for the fifteenth century reader, a guide to ethical behaviour in the social environment not dissimilar to the courtesy books; while a focus on early printed books reveals the regimen’s influence on the vernacular religious text. This is followed by a handlist of regimens written, translated or used in late medieval England.

Margaret of York, Princess of England and Duchess of Burgundy (1446-1503) is the central figure in this examination of the role and function of women within the power structures of fifteenth-century north-western Europe. Born into the English royal family, she was closely involved in the process of the Habsburg domain, and as such, was important in ushering in the political constellation of the next century. Her role in all this as a woman is all the more striking as she lacked that essential female contribution to the medieval political process: children.  By carefully distinguishing Margaret’s influence from her power, and her power from her authority, her life challenges conventional ideas about boundaries imposed upon late medieval women through gender. In addition, her life sheds light onto the cultural as well as the political relationships between England and the Low Countries. Margaret of York’s role within this relationship asks some pertinent questions of long-held beliefs on the importance of Burgundy as the source of late medieval culture. The context of her own powerbase in the Low Countries also calls into question the standard theories on the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses. Finally, Margaret’s life adds to our understanding of the role of piety, and of the church, in the wider culture and society of the period. Her fine manuscript collection, as well as her involvement with new devotional cults, and her reliance upon men of the Church as her political allies, combine to provide a more holistic picture of piety and devotion amongst aristocratic ladies of the fifteenth century.

This thesis is an investigation of the state and conduct of the royal finances on the eve of the Wars of the Roses. In a period of such intense political controversy the financial health, or otherwise, of the crown was a matter of great debate among contemporaries, and has remained so in subsequent historiography. The capacity of the government to manage the king's finances and in particular to meet its principal financial obligations was fundamental to the success or failure of successive regimes during the period 1450-55. As such, the greater part of this work comprises a critical assessment of government expenditure in areas such as the defence of the realm, the management of the king's household, the dispensation of patronage and the operation of a complex administration. Furthermore, it includes analysis of the main financial initiatives which were put in place during these years. The principal materials for the study are derived from the records of the royal exchequer. The significance of the financial history of the period lies in its relationship to the political developments which were taking place concurrently. An attempt has been made to provide a more rounded picture of the state of government finance in the mid-fifteenth century by relating financial policies not only to the exigencies of day-to-day politics, but also to the broader expectations of contemporary political society, which are increasingly being recognised by modern researchers as issues of the utmost significance in directing the course of politics