Overview

Power and Women in Southeast and Central Europe in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (1300–1600) offers a nuanced exploration of female authority across a region shaped by dynastic struggles, Ottoman expansion, and shifting political cultures. This volume brings together case studies from royal courts, urban patriciates, monastic milieus, and noble estates, while it also examines how women exercised, negotiated, and represented power in contexts ranging from thirteenth-century Hungary and fourteenth-century Zadar to the aftermath of Mohács and the sixteenth-century Adriatic world. Through analyses of queens, empresses, regents, noblewomen, and urban elites, this collection reveals the diverse forms of agency available to women between 1300 and 1600. Furthermore, it challenges the narratives of female marginality and demonstrates that women were central actors in the making, performance, and preservation of political authority in the late medieval and early modern periods.

Full Product Details

Author:   Melina Rokai
Publisher:   Trivent Publishing
Imprint:   Trivent Medieval
ISBN:  

9786156696984

ISBN 10:   6156696989
Pages:   290
Publication Date:   28 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introductory Study: The Wreath of Women’s Power Melina Rokai Women at the Hungarian Royal Court in the Thirteenth Century Márta Font Patrician Women and Times of Crisis in Fourteenth-Century Zadar Zrinka Nikoli Jakus Empress Helena in Athos, Matei?, and Serres: from Shared Power to Personal Reign Jasmina S. ?iri? and Branislav J. Cvetkovi? Nuns on the Throne: Queen Jelena and Princess Milica Aleksandra Fostikov The Queen Returns – Isabella Jagiellon, Queen Regent and the Means of Establishing Power in the Eastern Kingdom of Hungary (1556-1559) Teréz Oborni Chapters from Women's Lives in Medieval Kotor: Special Cases Lenka Blechová Women Left Behind – Female Fates After the Battle of Mohács Dóra Bachusz Noblewomen and their manor houses in south-eastern Hungary (15th-16th centuries) Zsuzsanna Kopeczny Enhancing Female Legitimation: Gender and Political Authority in Literary and Visual Representations Patroned by Voivode Neagoe Basarab and Lady Despina Elisabeta Negr?u Women of Honor, disgraced man. The siege of Korula (1571) Marco Rampin

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Author Information

Melina Rokai, PhD, is currently engaged as a Senior Research Associate at the Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade in Serbia. Dr Melina Rokai obtained her PhD in History at the Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade in 2013. She holds postgraduate degree, Master of Studies in Modern British and European History at the University of Oxford in 2010. So far, Dr Melina Rokai’s research and publication interests have been in the spheres of late medieval and modern history, with the emphasise on women’s history, history of culture, history of religion, imagology – the creation of the ‘other’ within the post-colonial framework.

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