Juana, Blanca, Juana, Blanca: Four generations of Navarrese royal women, four examples of the challenges and opportunities of widowhood

Abstract

This article compares the situation of four women of the royal dynasty of Evreux-Navarre from the mid-fourteenth to the midfifteenth century, with particular focus on the challenges and opportunities that they faced in their period of widowhood as both consort and regnant queens. Ultimately it argues against the assumption that royal women were at the peak of their power as wives and mothers, demonstrating the political agency that these women had in the latter stages of their lives and political careers.