Roles of the Medieval Queen Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Roles of the Medieval Queen - Assignment Example Regent Queens participated in the feudal assemblies of the kings together with some of the vassals (Shahar 146). In addition, they also made judgments in their area of governance and discussed both economic and political issues. Various conditions certified a medieval queen role during the period the fall of the Roman Empire end (476 AD) and approximately (1500 AD). The specific conditions included being a king’s wife, the position of a retired queen and as an heiress with specific birthrights. Additionally, the one would ascend to the position of medieval ruler given the relationship with the king and his advisers. A queen or empress consort was a wife to a reigning emperor or king. A queen consort shared the king’s social status and rank, which allowed her to exercise feminine powers over servants in the palace. She supervised the servants to ensure that they performed their chores (Shahar 151). The consort queen also had a role in a dowry to the king and, acting as his helpmate. A consort queen would also play a part in the church by raising money to build them. A consort queen also motivated church reforms and gave moral support to people in the kingdom. However, the roles of a queen consort in the kingdom were limited because she did not usually share king’s full Regent military and political powers (Lecture notes). A Queen Regent was a monarch who ruled a kingdom in her rights. She was not a wife to the king. The Queen Regent acquired and exercised sovereign powers over the Kingdoms she inherited from the previous king (lecture notes). She ordered the military, got into negot iations and partook agreements with other kingdoms as she deemed fit. The Queen also took charge of the throne through primogeniture. As the firstborn daughter without brothers in the royal family, she had rights to inherit the kingdom from her parents. For instance, Queen Melisende born in 1105 acquired the kingdom of Jerusalem from her father, King Baldwin II, during her early 20s.   The queen died in the year 1161 at the age of sixty years after serving on behalf of her father.