Published Papers & Chapters by RāGena C . DeAragon
in Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100-1400: Moving Beyond the Exceptionalism Debate, 2019
Why, despite decades of research on powerful women in post-Conquest England, are those women seen... more Why, despite decades of research on powerful women in post-Conquest England, are those women seen as exceptions rather than the norm? This chapter considers this question as well as presenting the results of recent research on women in the twelfth century. In common with the other authors in the latest volume of the New Middle Ages series of Palgrave Macmillan, the author challenges the "exceptionalism" of women who exercised power and agency and suggests new avenues for research on women.
Anglo-Norman Studies XVII, 1995
Using prosopographical methods to investigate the lives of elite women in the century and a half ... more Using prosopographical methods to investigate the lives of elite women in the century and a half after the Norman Conquest, this investigation of 58 widowed Anglo-Norman and Angevin countesses looks at marriage and remarriage, fertility, longevity, retirement, burial choices, and relations with the crown. It challenges a number of assumptions about the lives of noblewomen in the long twelfth century. Although it was published twenty years ago, the findings have stood well the test of time and further research.
Henry I and the Anglo-Norman World, 2007
"A microhistory of the case that Pope Alexander III decided in favor of the interpretation of Gra... more "A microhistory of the case that Pope Alexander III decided in favor of the interpretation of Gratian on consent in matrimony, this study examines the life and marriage of Agnes of Essex, countess of Oxford (born 1151). The pope's decision in the matter of her appeal established the necessity of female consent to wed in canon law. Betrothed at three and raised by her future in-laws, Agnes rejected her father's choice of her husband, probably when she was seven. She married instead the eldest brother of her former betrothed--a man at least 30 years her senior. Soon thereafter, her father was accused of treason and convicted in a judicial duel. Her husband, the earl of Oxford, petitioned for an annulment of their marriage. The pope not only upheld the validity of her marriage, but intervened in the earl's treatment of Agnes.
For a brief summary of her life, see my entry on Agnes in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography."
This paper, a talk given at the International Congress of Medieval Studies in 2003, challenges u... more This paper, a talk given at the International Congress of Medieval Studies in 2003, challenges us to consider what we think we know about famous historical characters. It begins with a tongue-in-cheek review of college textbook accounts of Eleanor's life, but also critiques serious biographies of the queen. How much of what we know about Eleanor is based on cross-examined documentary evidence, how much on layers of tradition and supposition? I examine three episodes in her life, the evidence for which suggests that scholars have been as influenced by contemporary rumor and inference as the authors of many western civilization textbooks.
The life of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine is often discussed without sufficient understanding of the... more The life of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine is often discussed without sufficient understanding of the lives of other elite women of her time. This prosopographical and comparative study of aristocratic women and Eleanor provides that context, providing new insights into the life and actions of the queen and other noblewomen of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.
The article traces the development of inheritance custom in England from 1086 to 1154. Inheritanc... more The article traces the development of inheritance custom in England from 1086 to 1154. Inheritance of baronial estates has long been considered to have been tenuous in the reigns of William the Conqueror and his sons, but by dating instances of forfeiture, escheat and other forms of disinheritance, and by comparing these dates with those of political turmoil, it can be shown that the custom became fairly secure and regular in the latter half of the reign of Henry I, only to be disrupted in the civil wars of Stephen's reign.
Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned With British Studies, Sep 1982
Discussion of marital strategies of the aristocracy in England, 1066-1154, including recruitment ... more Discussion of marital strategies of the aristocracy in England, 1066-1154, including recruitment through marriage, marital alliances, and political advantage.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Aubrey II de Vere, eldest surviving son and heir of Domesday lord Aubrey I, became a royal chambe... more Aubrey II de Vere, eldest surviving son and heir of Domesday lord Aubrey I, became a royal chamberlain, sheriff, and justiciar under King Henry I of England. In 1133, the king made him hereditary master (later lord) chamberlain of England, an office held by his descendants until the early 18th century. Under King Stephen he served as a justiciar as well as master chamberlain, and he delivered the king's response to a summons by the bishop of Winchester after the arrest of the bishops in 1139. He was killed by a mob in London in 1141. His son and heir became the first earl of Oxford. (Watch for his installment of my "Brief History of the Veres in England", to be posted on this site in Feb. or March, 2016.)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
For brief version, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Bolebec
Isabel, sister and eventua... more For brief version, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Bolebec
Isabel, sister and eventual co-heiress of Walter de Bolebec, married twice. Her first husband, Henry de Nonant, was a Devonshire lord who died circa 1206, about the same time as her niece, another Isabel, Walter's daughter and heiress, who had married Aubrey de Vere, 2nd earl of Oxford. To retain a portion of the Bolebec lands, Aubrey's brother Robert de Vere married the widow Isabel "the elder" in 1207. When Robert succeeded Aubrey as earl in 1214, his wife became the second Isabel de Bolebec to become a countess of Oxford. On the death of her childless sister, Countess Isabel inherited the remainder of the Bolebec lands. She proved to be an able guardian for her young son when Earl Robert died in 1221. She aided the establishment of the Dominicans in the city of Oxford.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Robert, a younger son of the first earl of Oxford, (and NOT the "real" Robin Hood*--or even a fal... more Robert, a younger son of the first earl of Oxford, (and NOT the "real" Robin Hood*--or even a false one!) inherited the title and lands of his brother Aubrey IV de Vere, the second earl, in the later half of 1214, just as the rebellion against King John was developing. Soon the new earl had joined his cousins and neighbors among the rebels and, when the king accepted Magna Carta in 1215, Robert was chosen as one of the 25 barons to oversee its implementation. As a result, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III. King John declared him forfeit and took his castles and estates. Neither excommunication nor forfeiture are the same as being "outlawed." Earl Robert eventually made peace with the crown and his property was restored to him by 1217. He later became a royal judge.
*Aside from the fact that the legendary Robin Hood almost certainly was not based on the life of any individual, Robert de Vere is a very poor candidate for the part. The main reason, aside from his given name, that anyone has pointed to Robert de Vere is the price he paid for siding with the rebels against King John. We know almost nothing about his life before 1207, when he married the widowed heiress Isabella de Bolebec. They were soon parents of a son, Hugh, later the 4th earl of Oxford. Many men named Robert opposed King John. This is flimsy evidence indeed on which to hang a claim that he was in any way a model or inspiration for a story about an outlaw whose supposed charity to the poor was funded by robbery of the rich. (His grandson, Robert, the 5th earl, was not "the real Robin Hood" either.)
Conference Presentations by RāGena C . DeAragon
The Angevin king Henry II receives plenty of criticism, often for introducing or enhancing "oppre... more The Angevin king Henry II receives plenty of criticism, often for introducing or enhancing "oppressive" policies. Scholars cite the 1185 inquest recorded as the Rotuli de Dominabus et Pueris et Puellis as a prime example of his exploitation of royal lordship over feudal widows and orphans. They consider the inquest a census of those " in the king's gift " to assess their value as patronage prizes the king could distribute in marriage and wardship. But was King Henry's motive one of exploitation?
One prominent feature of many Rotuli entries has received little attention: lists of livestock. Estate values are often stated with an estimate of greater worth if a specified number and types of animals were to be added. What accounts for that aspect of the survey? The Old World Drought Atlas online, published by Columbia University's Earth Institute, provides a possible answer. It provides over 2000 years' annual precipitation information based on tree-ring data. In the later twelfth century, England and northwestern Europe experienced two extraordinarily wet years, significant outliers from the normal range of rainfall, 1177 and 1184. Aside from the direct toll from floods, waterlogged farmland can spread disease among livestock, while food shortages from disrupted planting and harvesting could affect animal and human populations. The Rotuli inquest was conducted in late spring 1185, when the toll of a bad year would still be felt, and the twelve counties in the surviving rolls were those that would have been the hardest hit in England.
The king's ostensible motive for conducting the survey seems to have been to assess the toll of bad weather and/or disease on the estates of wards and widows under his direct lordship. Christian ideals of good lordship would dictate relief following a disaster. He did restock the estates of many minor heirs from 1185 through Michaelmas 1186 at an expense of over £600.
One woman is praised by the monastic author of the Book of Walden, another is vilified--a not-unc... more One woman is praised by the monastic author of the Book of Walden, another is vilified--a not-uncommon theme in twelfth-century clerical writings, but these particular women were sisters. Delving past the gender stereotypes, this microhistory provides insights into the complicated relations of English monasteries and the families of their founders in the perilous context of civil war in Stephen's reign.
Despite a broader definition of power proposed 25 years ago and the careers of women such as Empr... more Despite a broader definition of power proposed 25 years ago and the careers of women such as Empress Matilda and Eleanor of Aquitaine, many scholars of medieval Britain still tend to equate power with public authority and undervalue women’s power. David Carpenter wrote recently that Magna Carta “highlighted the way in which women were sidelined in public life.” But just how sidelined were elite women in 12th-century England?
When I published “Dowager Countesses” in 1995, little was known about elite laywomen of 12th-century England. What is the current state of historiography of women? In particular, what involvement did women have in public life? I present findings from my prosopographical study of women recorded in administrative documents, such as the pipe and fine rolls, the Rotuli de Dominabus (1185), the Cartae Baronum (1166), and royal and private charters, challenging the notion that 12th-century kings had the "right" to grant marriages to baronial widows against their will. As long as the assumption holds that Norman and Angevin kings and lords oppressed elite women, any evidence of women's power and place in public will be labeled as exceptions.
Drawing primary on entries in the Pipe Rolls of Kings Henry I, Henry II, this paper will investig... more Drawing primary on entries in the Pipe Rolls of Kings Henry I, Henry II, this paper will investigate women in their interactions with the royal administration. By tracking all entries regarding women in documents such as the Pipe Rolls, certain patterns emerge. Women were doing business with the crown for almost all the same reasons as men. Few interactions were strictly divided by sex and, of course, men and women could act as agents for members of the other sex. This is part of a large prosopographical study of women in the royal records and the paper will present an overview of preliminary findings. Topics include offices, custody of children, marriage, pensions and alms, royal pardons for financial obligations. The results cast some doubt on assumptions about royal treatment of women, particularly widows.
The first poster session held at the Berkshire Conference.
Distinguishing between female land holding and female lordship, this paper investigates the relat... more Distinguishing between female land holding and female lordship, this paper investigates the relatively rare exercise of lordly authority by women in Norman and Angevin England and the ways in which lordship was gendered. Changes in the law and particularly the judgments of royal courts caused lordship to evolve for both female and male lords.
Others on the panel used the term "lordship" more loosely, applying it to anyone who held property worked by others.
Preliminary results of a major prosopographical study of women named or mentioned in royal docume... more Preliminary results of a major prosopographical study of women named or mentioned in royal documents, such as the Pipe Rolls. The early accounting records of Henry II suggest that other than routine payment of scutage or other taxes levied on all who held by feudal tenure, most women named were receiving monies from the king as pensions, alms, payments for land, etc. The few paying into the royal coffers included women holding administrative positions.
A comparative study of two consecutive countesses of Leicester demonstrates that even when wealth... more A comparative study of two consecutive countesses of Leicester demonstrates that even when wealth, background, status, and place in the life cycle are roughly equivalent, women's lives can vary tremendously due to circumstances and their personalities. The lives of Countesses Petronillla and Loretta diverged significantly in their married lives but still more when they were widowed.
The 1185 royal survey of widows and orphaned heirs & heiresses "in the King's gift", the Rotuli d... more The 1185 royal survey of widows and orphaned heirs & heiresses "in the King's gift", the Rotuli de Dominabus et Pueris et Puellis, has been considered a means by which the king determined the wealth and fertility of potential marriage prizes for royal patronage strategies. It has been viewed, therefore, as a prime example of royal oppression and exploitation. A prosopographical study of the 101 widows named in the survey, however, suggests an alternative purpose for this document.
Uploads
Published Papers & Chapters by RāGena C . DeAragon
For a brief summary of her life, see my entry on Agnes in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_of_Essex""
Agnes (born 1151) was betrothed at 3 but married her former betrothed's brother when she turned. Then her father was convicted for treason and her husband tried to divorce her. Agnes successfully appealed to the pope to uphold her marriage. Her case played a role in the development of the canon law of matrimony.
Isabel, sister and eventual co-heiress of Walter de Bolebec, married twice. Her first husband, Henry de Nonant, was a Devonshire lord who died circa 1206, about the same time as her niece, another Isabel, Walter's daughter and heiress, who had married Aubrey de Vere, 2nd earl of Oxford. To retain a portion of the Bolebec lands, Aubrey's brother Robert de Vere married the widow Isabel "the elder" in 1207. When Robert succeeded Aubrey as earl in 1214, his wife became the second Isabel de Bolebec to become a countess of Oxford. On the death of her childless sister, Countess Isabel inherited the remainder of the Bolebec lands. She proved to be an able guardian for her young son when Earl Robert died in 1221. She aided the establishment of the Dominicans in the city of Oxford.
*Aside from the fact that the legendary Robin Hood almost certainly was not based on the life of any individual, Robert de Vere is a very poor candidate for the part. The main reason, aside from his given name, that anyone has pointed to Robert de Vere is the price he paid for siding with the rebels against King John. We know almost nothing about his life before 1207, when he married the widowed heiress Isabella de Bolebec. They were soon parents of a son, Hugh, later the 4th earl of Oxford. Many men named Robert opposed King John. This is flimsy evidence indeed on which to hang a claim that he was in any way a model or inspiration for a story about an outlaw whose supposed charity to the poor was funded by robbery of the rich. (His grandson, Robert, the 5th earl, was not "the real Robin Hood" either.)
Conference Presentations by RāGena C . DeAragon
One prominent feature of many Rotuli entries has received little attention: lists of livestock. Estate values are often stated with an estimate of greater worth if a specified number and types of animals were to be added. What accounts for that aspect of the survey? The Old World Drought Atlas online, published by Columbia University's Earth Institute, provides a possible answer. It provides over 2000 years' annual precipitation information based on tree-ring data. In the later twelfth century, England and northwestern Europe experienced two extraordinarily wet years, significant outliers from the normal range of rainfall, 1177 and 1184. Aside from the direct toll from floods, waterlogged farmland can spread disease among livestock, while food shortages from disrupted planting and harvesting could affect animal and human populations. The Rotuli inquest was conducted in late spring 1185, when the toll of a bad year would still be felt, and the twelve counties in the surviving rolls were those that would have been the hardest hit in England.
The king's ostensible motive for conducting the survey seems to have been to assess the toll of bad weather and/or disease on the estates of wards and widows under his direct lordship. Christian ideals of good lordship would dictate relief following a disaster. He did restock the estates of many minor heirs from 1185 through Michaelmas 1186 at an expense of over £600.
When I published “Dowager Countesses” in 1995, little was known about elite laywomen of 12th-century England. What is the current state of historiography of women? In particular, what involvement did women have in public life? I present findings from my prosopographical study of women recorded in administrative documents, such as the pipe and fine rolls, the Rotuli de Dominabus (1185), the Cartae Baronum (1166), and royal and private charters, challenging the notion that 12th-century kings had the "right" to grant marriages to baronial widows against their will. As long as the assumption holds that Norman and Angevin kings and lords oppressed elite women, any evidence of women's power and place in public will be labeled as exceptions.
Others on the panel used the term "lordship" more loosely, applying it to anyone who held property worked by others.
For a brief summary of her life, see my entry on Agnes in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_of_Essex""
Agnes (born 1151) was betrothed at 3 but married her former betrothed's brother when she turned. Then her father was convicted for treason and her husband tried to divorce her. Agnes successfully appealed to the pope to uphold her marriage. Her case played a role in the development of the canon law of matrimony.
Isabel, sister and eventual co-heiress of Walter de Bolebec, married twice. Her first husband, Henry de Nonant, was a Devonshire lord who died circa 1206, about the same time as her niece, another Isabel, Walter's daughter and heiress, who had married Aubrey de Vere, 2nd earl of Oxford. To retain a portion of the Bolebec lands, Aubrey's brother Robert de Vere married the widow Isabel "the elder" in 1207. When Robert succeeded Aubrey as earl in 1214, his wife became the second Isabel de Bolebec to become a countess of Oxford. On the death of her childless sister, Countess Isabel inherited the remainder of the Bolebec lands. She proved to be an able guardian for her young son when Earl Robert died in 1221. She aided the establishment of the Dominicans in the city of Oxford.
*Aside from the fact that the legendary Robin Hood almost certainly was not based on the life of any individual, Robert de Vere is a very poor candidate for the part. The main reason, aside from his given name, that anyone has pointed to Robert de Vere is the price he paid for siding with the rebels against King John. We know almost nothing about his life before 1207, when he married the widowed heiress Isabella de Bolebec. They were soon parents of a son, Hugh, later the 4th earl of Oxford. Many men named Robert opposed King John. This is flimsy evidence indeed on which to hang a claim that he was in any way a model or inspiration for a story about an outlaw whose supposed charity to the poor was funded by robbery of the rich. (His grandson, Robert, the 5th earl, was not "the real Robin Hood" either.)
One prominent feature of many Rotuli entries has received little attention: lists of livestock. Estate values are often stated with an estimate of greater worth if a specified number and types of animals were to be added. What accounts for that aspect of the survey? The Old World Drought Atlas online, published by Columbia University's Earth Institute, provides a possible answer. It provides over 2000 years' annual precipitation information based on tree-ring data. In the later twelfth century, England and northwestern Europe experienced two extraordinarily wet years, significant outliers from the normal range of rainfall, 1177 and 1184. Aside from the direct toll from floods, waterlogged farmland can spread disease among livestock, while food shortages from disrupted planting and harvesting could affect animal and human populations. The Rotuli inquest was conducted in late spring 1185, when the toll of a bad year would still be felt, and the twelve counties in the surviving rolls were those that would have been the hardest hit in England.
The king's ostensible motive for conducting the survey seems to have been to assess the toll of bad weather and/or disease on the estates of wards and widows under his direct lordship. Christian ideals of good lordship would dictate relief following a disaster. He did restock the estates of many minor heirs from 1185 through Michaelmas 1186 at an expense of over £600.
When I published “Dowager Countesses” in 1995, little was known about elite laywomen of 12th-century England. What is the current state of historiography of women? In particular, what involvement did women have in public life? I present findings from my prosopographical study of women recorded in administrative documents, such as the pipe and fine rolls, the Rotuli de Dominabus (1185), the Cartae Baronum (1166), and royal and private charters, challenging the notion that 12th-century kings had the "right" to grant marriages to baronial widows against their will. As long as the assumption holds that Norman and Angevin kings and lords oppressed elite women, any evidence of women's power and place in public will be labeled as exceptions.
Others on the panel used the term "lordship" more loosely, applying it to anyone who held property worked by others.
Most historians have started with the premise that the princes were murdered and that their bones were those discovered in 1674. Are they examining all the possibilities? This talk considers the primary suspects and the problems associated with the case in the absence of proof of murder.
In 1166, Countess Agnes appealed to Pope Alexander III to uphold her marriage to the earl of Oxford. The case became was a cause célèbre in Angevin England but it has been poorly understood. In this talk, I laid out the known facts of Agnes's life, particularly her betrothal to Geoffrey de Vere and eventual marriage to his older brother, Aubrey first earl of Oxford. The earl's attempt to obtain an annulment was balked when Pope Alexander III declared the countess's marriage valid. His decision helped establish the principle of the necessity of female consent to wed in medieval canon law.
William had a rather varied career before becoming bishop in 1186, joining the Augustinian order and serving the king as a director of building works at Waltham Abbey. He knew many of the famous people of 12th-century England.