Queenship and Voice in Medieval Northern Europe / Queenship and Power (PDF)

WILLIAM LAYHER is Professor of Medieval German and Medieval Scandinavian Literature at Washington University in St. Louis, USA.

"In this innovative study, Layher focuses on three late medieval Nordic queens - Agnes of Denmark, Eufemia of Norway, and Margareta of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden - to show how they used their royal voices to augment their authority and advance their political goals in periods of political crisis, specifically, crises of male lordship. Recommended." - CHOICE

"This is a marvelous book, original, insightful and important, in which the author demonstrates how Nordic queens of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries employed their positions to shape public opinion and the course of history. Layher analyzes how, faced with crises of different sorts, Agnes, Eufemia and Margareta actualize the potential power of their positions through what he calls the skillful instrumentalization of sound and voice. A necessary tonic for those interested in history and culture in the Middle Ages, Queenship and Voice in Medieval Northern Europe offers a fresh, bold examination of the forces at work in it." - Stephen Mitchell, Professor of Scandinavian and Folklore, Harvard University

"Arguing that voice is the marker of lordship, William Layher brings a sophisticated command of the history, languages, and literatures of medieval Scandinavia and literally gives voice to three medieval Scandinavian queens - Agnes of Denmark, Euphemia of Norway, and Margareta of Denmark. Connecting patron, poet, and audience across Scandinavian borders, Layher traces these queens struggle to hold and exercise political agency in moments of crisis, noting that the queen s voice is most evident when the king is silent. An innovative study in terms of theory and the queens studied, Layher s book complicates our understanding of queenship by examining not just the cultural production of texts but also the language of production and, more importantly, the voice of the patron filtered through the poet. It opens up a new dimension in the study of queens, influence, and power. Layher s book