Sicilian Queenship

Book excerpt: This supplement to the author's groundbreaking compendium, Queens of Sicily 1061-1266, brings us further insight into the lives and times of the earliest countesses and queens of Sicily, introducing a few topics and details considered here for the first time. Chapters are dedicated to such subjects as: the queens' use of power in suppressing adversaries, reginal patronage, reginal titles and heraldry, words spoken by the queens, court cuisine, court poetry, places identified with the queens, the queens as part of Sicilian cultural identity, and more. A chapter also lists current work in the field by various historians. This book begins a new conversation in Sicilian women's studies.