Writing Ottonian Queenship I

This chapter turns to Adelheid, the second wife of Otto I, remembered as one of the most powerful queens of the Middle Ages. I begin with a discussion of the sources for Adelheid’s career, which is very well documented compared to the queens covered in previous chapters. I argue that this proliferation of evidence after 961 is not a coincidence, and that it relates to a deliberate attempt by the Ottonians to emphasize Adelheid’s status as a means of legitimizing Otto I’s second invasion of Italy (to whose former king Adelheid had once been married). The changing narratives used to legitimize Otto’s invasions are deconstructed, and I argue that this helps explain the extraordinary position of the queen in the sources, including the first uses of the title ‘consors regni’ (sharer in the kingdom). This is why the period after 961 represents a step-change in the history of Ottonian queenship.

Art · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Medieval Literature and History

• Wounds Before Milk

  Chris Halsted•Speculum•2026

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