Manly Minds in Female Bodies: Women’s Power through Coins and Seals

Abstract

This article investigates coins and seals as instruments that reflect the desire for self-representation and remembrance of ruling women. An analysis of these small but important objects connected to Queen Urraca of León-Castilla (r. 1109-1126), Empress Matilda of England (r.1135-1154), and Duchess Bertha of Lorraine (r. 1176-1194/95), will show that they each constructed the visual image of their rule by employing a masculine iconography to craft their identities. Originating directly from the power these lordly women, their coins and seals convey how they represented themselves and consequently how they wished to be recognized and recollected. As such, these objects were part of a wider medieval memorial culture to which the creation of artefacts and architecture was crucial.

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