Joanna Laynesmith
University of Reading, GCMS, Department Member
- My PhD thesis was published as "The Last Medieval Queens. English Queenship 1445-1503" by OUP in 2004. It was joint w... moreMy PhD thesis was published as "The Last Medieval Queens. English Queenship 1445-1503" by OUP in 2004. It was joint winner of both the Longman-History Today Book of the Year Prize and the Women's History Network Book Prize.
I have taught at the Universities of York, Reading, Huddersfield and Oxford but since 2003 my work has been very much part time. A list of published articles can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/jlaynesmith/home
I recently completed a biography of Cecily duchess of York which has just been published by Bloomsbury Academic. I am now researching the politics of royal adultery in medieval Britain.edit
This is the first scholarly biography of Cecily Neville, duchess of York, the mother of Edward IV and Richard III. She was said to have ruled Edward IV 'as she pleased' and Richard III made his bid for the throne from her home. Yet Cecily... more
This is the first scholarly biography of Cecily Neville, duchess of York, the mother of Edward IV and Richard III. She was said to have ruled Edward IV 'as she pleased' and Richard III made his bid for the throne from her home. Yet Cecily has been a shadowy figure in modern histories, noted primarily for her ostentatious piety, her expensive dresses, and the rumours of her adultery.
Here J. L. Laynesmith draws on a wealth of rarely considered sources to construct a fresh and revealing portrait of a remarkable woman. Cecily was the only major protagonist to live right through the Wars of the Roses. This book sheds new light on that bloody conflict in which Cecily proved herself an exceptional political survivor. Skilfully manipulating her family connections and contemporary ideas about womanhood, Cecily repeatedly reinvented herself to protect her own status and to ensure the security of those in her care.
From her childhood marriage to Richard duke of York until her final decade as grandmother of the first Tudor queen, the story of Cecily Neville's life provides a rich insight into national and local politics, women's power and relationships, motherhood, household dynamics and the role of religion in fifteenth-century England.
Here J. L. Laynesmith draws on a wealth of rarely considered sources to construct a fresh and revealing portrait of a remarkable woman. Cecily was the only major protagonist to live right through the Wars of the Roses. This book sheds new light on that bloody conflict in which Cecily proved herself an exceptional political survivor. Skilfully manipulating her family connections and contemporary ideas about womanhood, Cecily repeatedly reinvented herself to protect her own status and to ensure the security of those in her care.
From her childhood marriage to Richard duke of York until her final decade as grandmother of the first Tudor queen, the story of Cecily Neville's life provides a rich insight into national and local politics, women's power and relationships, motherhood, household dynamics and the role of religion in fifteenth-century England.
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The last medieval queens of England were Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville, and Elizabeth of York - four very different women whose lives and queenship were dominated by the Wars of the Roses. This book is not a... more
The last medieval queens of England were Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville, and Elizabeth of York - four very different women whose lives and queenship were dominated by the Wars of the Roses. This book is not a traditional biography but a thematic study of the ideology and practice of queenship. It examines the motivations behind the choice of the first English-born queens, the multi-faceted rituals of coronation, childbirth, and funeral, the divided loyalties between family and king, and the significance of a position at the heart of the English power structure that could only be filled by a woman. It sheds new light on the queens' struggles to defend their children's rights to the throne, and argues that ideologically and politically a queen was integral to the proper exercise of mature kingship in this period.
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Written under maiden name, Joanna. L Chamberlayne. DPhil Thesis, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
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The Harlaxton Symposium is an annual conference on medieval studies, held at Harlaxton Manor near Grantham in Lincolnshire. This latest title in the series is brand new, published in April 2013 and presents the conference from 2011, on... more
The Harlaxton Symposium is an annual conference on medieval studies, held at Harlaxton Manor near Grantham in Lincolnshire. This latest title in the series is brand new, published in April 2013 and presents the conference from 2011, on the age of the Yorkist kings, Edward IV and Richard III. There are twenty-one academic essays in the volume and the subjects range from religious and political history, literary criticism, archaeology, art history and even musicology. The authors are: Alexandra Buckle, Clive Burgess, Frederik Buylaert, Sean Cunningham, Charles Farris, Jelle Haemers, David Harry, Maria Hayward, Michael Hicks, Oliver Hounslow, Hannes Kleineke, J. L. Laynesmith, Lister M. Matheson, Carol M. Meale, S. J. Payling, M. T. W. Payne, Derek Pearsall, Nigel Ramsay, James Ross, Nigel Saul, Jennifer Scott, Christian Steer, Anne F. Sutton, Meg Twycross and Livia Visser-Fuchs. While the book was in the press, the exciting news broke that the remains of Richard III had been found under that famous car park in Leicester, raising new discussion about his reign, a booming membership for the Richard III Society and debates about the location and design of a new royal tomb. This volume of essays by leading historians will become essential reading for Ricardians and any student of the fifteenth century.
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This volume includes papers on political, religious, social and economic history and the history of ideas during the 15th century. The papers challenge existing conceptions and open new avenues of discussion on longstanding debates.... more
This volume includes papers on political, religious, social and economic history and the history of ideas during the 15th century. The papers challenge existing conceptions and open new avenues of discussion on longstanding debates. Themes covered include parliaments and their relationships with the monarchs of the period, both in Scotland and in England; queens and their role in the 15th century English polity; the ideas that lay behind the English claims to the French throne, and the rituals of peace-making in the Hundred Years War. Debates over the importance of lordship and service are also touched upon, in a paper which examines Lord Hastings' retainers in the defence of Calais, while another chapter discusses the local politics of a small Welsh marcher lordship. The crucial subject of Lancastrian government finances in the 1450s also receives a fresh examination. In religious history, papers examine the activity of monastic propagandists and the religious life of cathedrals through the activity of fraternities based in them. There are also considerations of a noble widow, and of the 15th century rural economy.
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Research Interests: Medieval History, Gender History, Anglo-Saxon Studies, Medieval Studies, Anglo-Saxon Studies (History), and 9 moreEarly Medieval History, Queenship (Medieval History), Marriage (History), Danish History, Queenship in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Medieval Europe, Anglo-Norman history, women and family, monasticism, Anglo-Saxon history, Vikings, Anglo-Norman history, Anglo-Saxons, and Medieval marriage law
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Published under maiden name, Joanna L. Chamberlayne Since publishing this article I have realised that de Grey Birch was wrong to identify her supporter as an antelope. It is in fact a hart. I have also discovered that in Henry VII's... more
Published under maiden name, Joanna L. Chamberlayne
Since publishing this article I have realised that de Grey Birch was wrong to identify her supporter as an antelope. It is in fact a hart. I have also discovered that in Henry VII's reign she was sometimes referred to as 'the queen's grandmother' - these are both discussed in my 2017 biography of Cecily.
Since publishing this article I have realised that de Grey Birch was wrong to identify her supporter as an antelope. It is in fact a hart. I have also discovered that in Henry VII's reign she was sometimes referred to as 'the queen's grandmother' - these are both discussed in my 2017 biography of Cecily.
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Published under maiden name, Joanna L. Chamberlayne. Journal published by Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York.
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Synopsis of conference paper
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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most remarkable queens of the Middle Ages who took control when her husband, Henry VI, was incapable. Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482) wanted Henry to stay in power for the sake of their son, the... more
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most remarkable queens of the Middle Ages who took control when her husband, Henry VI, was incapable. Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482) wanted Henry to stay in power for the sake of their son, the heir to the throne, and her refusal to back down was seen by her enemies as a cause of the great dynastic struggle of the Wars of the Roses.
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Documentary narrated by Philippa Gregory to accompany the TV mini series of The White Queen.
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Explores alternative possibilities for the site of the Battle of Hastings and includes looking at the Bayeux Tapestry as a source.
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BBC Berkshire report by Jenny Minard including references to radio interview (but includes errors eg Elizabeth Woodville was recognised as queen at Reading Abbey, but was crowned at Westminster Abbey..
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Published under maiden name, Joanna L. Chamberlayne. Journal published by Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York.
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This volume includes papers on political, religious, social and economic history and the history of ideas during the 15th century. The papers challenge existing conceptions and open new avenues of discussion on longstanding debates.... more
This volume includes papers on political, religious, social and economic history and the history of ideas during the 15th century. The papers challenge existing conceptions and open new avenues of discussion on longstanding debates. Themes covered include parliaments and their relationships with the monarchs of the period, both in Scotland and in England; queens and their role in the 15th century English polity; the ideas that lay behind the English claims to the French throne, and the rituals of peace-making in the Hundred Years War. Debates over the importance of lordship and service are also touched upon, in a paper which examines Lord Hastings' retainers in the defence of Calais, while another chapter discusses the local politics of a small Welsh marcher lordship. The crucial subject of Lancastrian government finances in the 1450s also receives a fresh examination. In religious history, papers examine the activity of monastic propagandists and the religious life of cathedrals through the activity of fraternities based in them. There are also considerations of a noble widow, and of the 15th century rural economy.
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A military history of the Wars of the Roses aimed at general readers, not academics.