Preview

What Factors Enabled Or Undermined A Successful Partnership Between A Reigning Queen And Her Consort?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1834 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Factors Enabled Or Undermined A Successful Partnership Between A Reigning Queen And Her Consort?
What factors enabled or undermined a successful partnership between a reigning queen and her consort? Use at least three examples in your answer.
In this essay I will be discussing the factors that led to a successful or unsuccessful partnership between a reigning queen and her consort. I will be using many examples of the successful and unsuccessful marriages of regnant queens in this essay including the marriage of Queen Isabel of Castile to Ferdinand of Aragon and the marriage of Mary Tudor to Philip of Spain as well as the second marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to Lord Darnley. I will be assessing what factors made these marriages successful or unsuccessful as well as why these factors had an impact on these marriages.
Between 1500 and 1800 the roles of women were beginning to change, this was partly due to humanistic teachings. Before this time the role of women, whether they were rich or poor, consisted of them being a wife, the husband had any and all authority over his family. The wife had a duty of obedience to her husband. During this time women were seen as weaker and inferior than men. There was a clear power imbalance between wives and their husbands during this time. …show more content…
One such example of this is Queen Anne of England and her husband Prince George of Denmark. With many married regnant queens, their male consorts would have a coronation the same as the Queen yet, unusually, George of Denmark remained Prince George rather than becoming a King Consort. Prince George of Denmark had no interest in sharing his wife’s Royal authority. This was unlike his brother in law, William of Orange, who insisted he share his wife’s, Mary the second, throne (Beem and Taylor, 2014, pp. 1-2). Prince George of Denmark was happy to remain a Prince consort to Queen Anne rather than become
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    What Problems Did Elizabeth Face in 1558?
    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages

    What Problems Did Elizabeth Face in 1558?

    One factor Elizabeth had to face, which was seen as a huge disadvantage, was her gender. This was because the society was very patriarchal, male dominated, meaning that she was seen as week and less capable of being a good leader. This was a problem for Elizabeth as she had to do more to prove that she could be a good leader. This leads onto the fact that her sister Mary wasn’t a good leader so therefore there were low expectations of Elizabeth, This also meant Elizabeth had a lot to prove in order to be a good leader. Although this was a problem for Elizabeth, there were also positive factors to her gender. One of these was that Elizabeth was very good at using her flirtatious charm to get what she wanted. Another reason Elizabeth’s gender wasn’t too much of a problem was that she asserted her royal authority; it was her divine right to become the queen as god had chosen her.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    How Eleanor of Aquitaine Influenced and Reflected Her Times Essay Example
    • 2449 Words
    • 10 Pages

    How Eleanor of Aquitaine Influenced and Reflected Her Times Essay Example

    Eleanor of Aquitaine led a life active in the politics and administration of her inherited lands and later England, after her second husband Henry of Anjou acceded to the English throne. During the High Middle Ages, it was extremely rare for a woman to wield political power because of the rigid social constraints enforced by both Church and state. However, Eleanor was the heiress to an extremely large and rich estate, wealthier even than the kingdom of France (Parsons, 4-5). Therefore, whomever she married would control this valuable expanse of land. This is because power was determined in patrimonial terms during her lifetime, and marriage was an “important instrument of royal alliance” (Parsons, 63). Eleanor’s first marriage to the Capetian King Louis VII in 1137, therefore, resulted in her vast property and rights being handed over to her husband.…

    • 2449 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Far Do You Agree That Wyatt’s Rebellion Was a Serious Threat to Mary’s Authority
    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages

    How Far Do You Agree That Wyatt’s Rebellion Was a Serious Threat to Mary’s Authority

    Mary’s ascension to the throne of England was marked with extraordinary political and religious circumstance: the return of Catholicism in England marshalled by Mary was a decision met with gratefulness and one that pleased many of those citizens supressed under the Tudor dynasty’s progressive and eventually full protestant stance. However, Mary’s gender meant that she couldn’t enjoy the same levels of independence and power as those wielded by her brother and father. Mary’s announcement that she intended to marry Philip II of Spain in 1554 divided her privy council into two distinct groups; one opposing her marriage, favouring the possible courter, Edward Courtenay (Earl of Devon), and the other, who supported the Spanish Monarch. The reasons for these split alliances were deeply ingrained in foreign policy, with those supporting Philip’s prospects seeking the advantages of a strong Anglo-Spanish alliance, and those against it fearing the consequences of a future hereditary Spanish claim to the English throne and a possible need to aid Spain in future conflict.…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Empress Cixi Ruled China
    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Did Empress Cixi Ruled China

    One example is of Empress Wu Chao. She was a girlfriend to T'ai Tsung and when he died she was a girlfriend to his son, Gaozong (Carr*). She used Gaozong’s love to make him forget about his other girlfriends and she even killed some to get rid of them (Carr). She did all of those things just to get Gaozong to marry her and make her Empress of China (Carr). She was active in politics so when her husband had a stroke and was too sick to rule she ruled for him (Carr).…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Queen Elizabeth 1 Research Paper
    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Queen Elizabeth 1 Research Paper

    My last question is what the judgement was made about Queen Elizabeth not being married? When King Henry died Queen Elizabeth moved with her stepmother and her step mother got married to a guy named Thomas Seymour. Thomas Seymour was having an affair with Queen Elizabeth. There were a lot of rumours about why she never married. Some of these rumours were she was a male and the scandal with Thomas. So this is why she never married because of what happen to her in her life.…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    In her life Eleanor of Aquitaine achieved little of significance
    • 3412 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In her life Eleanor of Aquitaine achieved little of significance

    There can be no doubt that, from her birth in 1124 (c) to her death in 1204, Eleanor of Aquitaine made a significant contribution to politics and mediaeval life in general, despite numerous obstructions from those around her due to her position as a women or the extent of her actions. In this essay however, I will examine the extent of her influence throughout the different phases of her life in chronological order, as this will allow us to consider the positive and negative effects respectively of each single achievement or trait. To this end, I shall categorise her life into the periods of: Her early years and marriage to King Louis of France, her marriage to King Henry and years of freedom therein, the rebellion of 1173 and her subsequent imprisonment, and her contribution under the reigns of her sons Richard and John. It will be necessary therefore to comment, if she was not influential for a period of her life, upon the reasons and causes for this, as our opinion and conclusions about her must change if she was unable, rather than unwilling to achieve her targets.…

    • 3412 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Queen Elizabeth Dbq
    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Queen Elizabeth Dbq

    Queen Elizabeth I of England, who ruled for 45 years from 1558-1603, had an uneasy reign. Since she was a female monarch and not male, which was rare in England, people believed that she wouldn’t be a competent monarch. The people who were not favorable for female monarchs or even females in general, believed very strongly abut the issue. John Knox, a Scottish religious reformer, declared in First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, that a women ruler is “against all nature” (D1). However, there are some who are favorable to Queen Elizabeth’s rule as a female. Marcus Gheeraerts, an English court painter, depicts Queen Elizabeth as a person who is rich and in control by dressing her in extravagant clothes and putting the world underneath her (D8). During Queen Elizabeth’s reign, there were those who were not favorable to her rule and those who were, but apart from what others said, she herself thought that she was a competent ruler.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Life in Western Europe during the Nineteenth Century
    • 2184 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Life in Western Europe during the Nineteenth Century

    Gender roles were shaped by the Domesticity and Private Spheres Ideology which said that women should devote themselves to their homes, their husbands, and their children while men were to go out and get jobs, take part in politics, and other aspects of the outside world. It was said that men and women had different functions to perform under God. Society’s peace depended on these roles and if women began taking part in men’s activities there would be crisis. Young girls were to be under the supervision of their fathers, or brothers in some cases, until they were married and then they belonged to their husbands. Married women were considered legal incompetents because they did not have a sufficient brain to participate in legal affairs. For a while people did not have a problem with this arrangement because it portrayed women as noble and superior. Around the 1850s church attendance became very low and many more women than men begin attending services. Women took over the church in a sense because while men had world affairs and politics, women did not have such commitments and so they adopted the church to have a place of their own in society.…

    • 2184 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Women in 1889
    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Women in 1889

    During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women's efforts during the 1800's were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women's place in society.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Womenhood 1790-1860
    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Womenhood 1790-1860

    During the period between 1790 and 1860 the role of women began to change dramatically. In domestic families, women generally sided with the men and were limited to performing such tasks. Economically speaking, women occupations decrease as educated men replace midwifery.…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Difficulty Of Women's Rule In 16th Century England
    • 150 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Difficulty Of Women's Rule In 16th Century England

    During the 16th century, female rule become dominant within England and Scotland. The paper first describes the strong belief that people held about a women’s subordination to men. It then examines the difficulty of having a female monarch, with this belief system. The position and authority of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth are discussed, including their treatment of the people of England. Furthermore, questions pertaining to marriage, children, and legitimacy are discussed within the paper. The article also examines each queens’ response and actions towards external voices questioning their authority, as a monarch. Additionally, the paper also provides accounts were women’s right to rule was defended during the 16th century and at its end. The…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Victoria And Prince Albert: Partners, Rivals
    • 1833 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Victoria And Prince Albert: Partners, Rivals

    At first glance, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s reign in Britain seems stereotypical of the era. Social standards had predetermined their wedding, the couple stimulated a strong sense of nationalism, and they abundantly supplied Europe with royal offspring. However, as Gillian Gill highlights in her book, “We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals” in reality this relationship was far from orthodox. In a world where misogyny, debt, and lewd behavior were common among rulers, their partnership broke many modern-day standards and created a new set of values. Though many of these values emerged in struggle for power, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert managed to stay together, and ultimately, redefined European politics, economics, and society in the 1800s.…

    • 1833 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Powerful Women
    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Powerful Women

    Between 1450 and 1800 many women gained power as rulers, some as reigning queens, others as regents. Identify two such powerful women and discuss how issues of gender, such as marriage and reproduction, influenced their ability to obtain and exercise power.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did The Reformation Change The Role Of Women
    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Did The Reformation Change The Role Of Women

    Over the expansion of time between 16th Century Reformation and the 18th Century Enlightenment, the role of a woman was greatly discussed. The Reformation was led to a desire in seeking changes. The age of Enlightenment prompted looking at things under a different light. It was the ideas of the Reformation and the Enlightenment that led to a desire for classification and roles for each person in society over this expansion of time. Women were never recognized as equals to men by the majority of society. The specific details of a woman's role entailed did change slightly between the Enlightenment and Reformation; women were granted some new abilities such as more education and ability to divorce their husbands but limited in how they could work and live in society while being considered subordinate to man.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Bloody Mary and "The Virgin Queen"
    • 1970 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Bloody Mary and "The Virgin Queen"

    Mary and Elizabeth Tudor were both, by all accounts, strong and intelligent women endowed with many of the qualities that mark a successful ruler. However, only Elizabeth's legacy is a positive one; her reign has been called the "Golden Age" of England, and she remains a heroine in popular history and even modern film. Mary's reign is scowled at, and seen by most as a brief unpleasant period preceding the glorious ascension of Elizabeth. To account for this, one can examine each sovereign's maternal influences, governing styles, and choices regarding marriage.…

    • 1970 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics