Ladies and robes of the Garter: kingship, patronage, and female political agency in late medieval England, c.1348-1445

Abstract

This thesis examines the late medieval English royal custom of bestowing robes of the Garter to women. Drawing on extensive documentary evidence, primarily found in the Accounts of the Great Wardrobe, this study identifies late medieval Ladies of the Garter, from the reign of Edward III through to the early years of Henry VI (c.1422-45). Although historians have acknowledged the existence of this practice and have raised the possibility that Ladies of the Garter existed before the modern era, this scholarly attention has been decidedly inadequate. This thesis provides a comprehensive list of Ladies of the Garter during the late medieval period, and offers an examination of the lives and careers of these specially selected women. Furthermore, this study investigates the political circumstances and personal preferences of the individuals that facilitated the initial bestowal of Garter robes on a woman in 1375, the rapid expansion of the ‘sorority’ under Richard II, and the subsequent decline in Garter Lady numbers during the fifteenth century. As such, this thesis will consider the impact of political crises, such as usurpation, dynastic change, and minority on the distaff branch of the Order. This thesis assesses how different methods of kingship, personal preferences, and political exigencies facilitated female political agency. Conversely, this work also addresses the extent to which a monarch’s relationship with, and his tolerance or encouragement of, female political activity impacted on the gendered reputation of a monarch and the stability of his rule. This thesis will look closely at the robes of the Garter themselves, examining how these changed over the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, considering the relationship between dress, gender and status in late medieval England.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Maria Hayward: orcid.org/0000-0002-3299-4383

ORCID for Anne Curry: orcid.org/0000-0002-7677-5561

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