The decades between ca 1280 and ca 1380 were marked by a striking affinity to the Mendicant orders on the part of many female members of royal and princely courts. And yet, "Queens, Princesses and Mendicants" is both an innovative and comparatively neglected juxtaposition in medieval studies, for historical research has generally tended to neglect the relationship between Mendicants and aristocratic women.
This volume unites twelve articles written by experts from seven European countries. The contributions cover a wide array of medieval European kingdoms in order to facilitate direct comparisons. Was affinity towards the Mendicants a prevalent phenomenon in the late Middle Ages? Can one even term "philomendicantism" a late medieval European movement? The collection of essays provides answers to these and other questions within the field of gender, religious and cultural history.
“Queens, Princesses and Mendicants. Close Relations in a European Perspective” was published with LIT Verlag in March 2019 and is part of the series “Vita regularis - Ordnungen und Deutungen religiosen Lebens im Mittelalter. Abhandlungen.”
Prof. Nikolas Jaspert is co-director of the Cluster "Asia and Europe" and the Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies (HCTS), and professor of Medieval History at Heidelberg University.
Imke Just is concluding her doctoral thesis at Heidelberg University on the relations between noblewomen and Mendicants in Central Europe.