| An examination of the books owned by noblewomen from the Valois courts reveals how significantly they contributed to the cultural and spiritual character of the period. They were responsible for commissioning a vast number of manuscripts, some of which were aesthetically equal to the books made for the dukes and kings. In fact, certain manuscripts now considered the most lavish and important from this period belonged to women. These women often married into noble families from regions far from their native lands. When they arrived at their new homes, they brought their own customs, knowledge of artistic styles, and aesthetic sensibilities, which affected book production in western Europe. Appendices 1--7 show the complexity of relationships between nobles from Burgundy, France, Spain and England for eleven generations, and include all of the individuals discussed in this dissertation. These charts reveal the matrilineal connections between generations and include many women who do not appear on ancestral charts in other studies of the late medieval nobility in northern Europe. As demonstrated in the charts, marriages could result in the solidification of certain regions within a generation, causing genealogical ramifications in subsequent generations. This ancestral web shows the mobility of women in western Europe in the late Middle Ages, resulting in their desire to preserve some of their childhood traditions through commissions of devotional manuscripts.;This interactive nature of manuscripts and the multiple ways in which they were used by women of the Valois courts is central to this study. I adhere to the idea that devotional manuscripts used by these women must be studied within the context for which they were made and in which they were used. At first glance, devotional manuscripts appear to be just that, books of prayers. On further examination, it is clear that they were multifunctional and could express issues that applied to many aspects of a noblewoman's life. This dissertation considers book collections of late medieval noblewomen and the ways in which they used their private devotional manuscripts as vehicles for self-definition, in order to preserve the devotional and cultural traditions of their families. |
