Ladies-in-Waiting in Medieval England

Ladies-in-Waiting in Medieval England examines female attendants who served queens and aristocratic women during the late medieval period. Using a unique set of primary source based statistics, Caroline Dunn reveals that the lady-in-waiting was far more than a pretty girl sewing in the queen's chamber while seeking to catch the eye of an eligible bachelor. Ladies-in-waiting witnessed major historical events of the era and were sophisticated players who earned significant rewards. They had both family and personal interests to advance – through employment they linked kin and court, and through marriage they built bridges between families. Whether royal or aristocratic, ladies-in-waiting worked within gendered spaces, building female-dominated social networks, while also operating within a masculine milieu that offered courtiers of both sexes access to power. Working from a range of sources wider than the subjective anecdote, Dunn presents the first scholarly treatment of medieval English ladies-in-waiting.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Part I. The People of the Household: 1. The household: size, gender, and recruitment; 2. Marriage and courtier families; Part II. Rhythms of Life: 3. Daily life and domestic duties; 4. Ritual and ceremony; Part III. Power and its Rewards: 5. Authority, influence, and power politics; 6. Rewards for good service; Conclusion: Power, authority, influence, and service; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Caroline Dunn is Associate Professor of Medieval History at Clemson University. She is the author of Stolen Women in Medieval England: Rape, Abduction, and Adultery c. 1110-1500. She was awarded the Bonnie Wheeler Fellowship in 2020.

Review :
'Caroline Dunn's richly fascinating book documents the careers of nearly 1200 elite female servants in royal and aristocratic households in England between 1236 and 1536. She devised a sophisticated methodology to convincingly argue that ladies-in-waiting were liminal but essential, vital to creating and maintaining networks of family alliances that comprise monarchy.' Theresa Earenfight, editor of Elite and Royal Households in Medieval and early Modern Europe 'This landmark work offers a rich perspective on ladies-in-waiting in the late medieval English court. A real strength of this book is the focus on the women themselves including their experience of life at court, their role in ritual and ceremonial and the rewards they gained from service to the queen.' Ellie Woodacre, author of Queens and Queenship 'Caroline Dunn takes us as never before into the world of honourable service of ladies-in-waiting. We see the inner workings of these establishments through the lives of some 1200 ladies, the links between families, kin, service, and their daily routine. This is a major contribution to our understanding of the significance of the domestic and access to power in the great household.' Chris Woolgar, author of The Great Household in Late Medieval England