Description
Book SynopsisAn in-depth analysis of the key contribution made by the women members of this important ruling family in maintaining and advancing the family's political, landed, economic, social and religious interests. This book examines the lives of aristocratic Anglo-Irish women in late medieval and early modern Ireland as illustrated by an in-depth cross generational analysis of women born or married into the important Ormond family between the 1450s and 1660. It outlines and assesses their individual and collective significance in negotiating the preservation and advancement of the family's political, landed, economic, social and confessional interests, from the chronic instability of the Wars of the Roses, through the vicissitudes of the Tudor, Stuart, Commonwealth and Restoration eras. In gauging the relative significance of the Ormond women's experiences and contributions, the book explores their roles in both private dynastic and wider public circles within the broader context of aristocratic families elsewhere in Ireland, England and continental Europe. The cross-generational approach provides a chronologicaland comparative appraisal of all aspects of each of these women's lives, roles and contributions - private, public, social, economic, confessional and political - all of which were intimately intertwined with the Ormond family's changing political fortunes, succession challenges, shifting dynastic alliances, and financial difficulties over the course of two centuries of profound change and upheaval in Ireland.
Trade ReviewA fascinating and engaging work....Duffy has produced a wonderful and highly engaging investigation into the power and influence wielded by aristocratic women in early modern Ireland. * HISTORY IRELAND *
The book is illuminating, revelatory, and, I have to add, thrilling. It not only fills a yawning gap in Irish history by exploring the lives and roles of these Ormond women, but it portrays them as three-dimensional people who actively shaped the wider political, societal, economic, and cultural changes of the day. * IRISH EXAMINER *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Aristocratic women's lives in late medieval and early modern Western Europe The Ormond women through the Wars of The Roses and immediate aftermath: marriage, absenteeism and illegitimacy New beginnings: The heiresses, the usurper, and royal intervention; the succession of Margaret and Anne Butler Dynastic consolidation and female political entity: Margaret Fitzgerald, Countess of Ormond and Ossory (1472-1542) Family, marriage, and politics: The six daughters of Margaret Fitzgerald and Piers Butler and the ongoing revival of the earldom in the sixteenth century 'You have too piteous a face to be a warrior', Joan Fitzgerald Countess of Ormond, Ossory and Desmond - agent, peace broker, advocate Black Tom's women: unions, succession and decline Conclusion Bibliography
