This magazine’s special issue is an ideal starting point to familiarise students with all of the medieval queens of England and to contextualize their lives, with comparisons to their European and global counterparts (there is an article on medieval queens across the world). The issue includes short biographies as well as extended discussions with experts on queenly power, image and the importance of family. The material also contains engaging features (including ‘Did you know?’ sections, fact files and Q&As) that you could use in class.

Helen Castor is a noted medieval historian and author. This engaging and well-researched collective biography of four important medieval queens: the Empress Matilda (The ‘Lady of the English’ but failed claimant to England’s throne), Eleanor of Aquitaine (a great heiress who became Queen of France and Queen of England through her two marriages), Isabella of France (who overthrew her husband Edward II to place their son on the throne) and Margaret of Anjou. The book was later made into a documentary series for the BBC.

Theresa Earenfight is one of the most well-known and respected scholars of medieval queenship. This wonderful introduction to the study of queenship is both academic and accessible. It is designed to function on several levels – as a textbook for students, as a resource for scholars or to be read by members of the general public. Earenfight approaches the topic chronologically, with each chapter demonstrating how queenship developed over the course of the middle ages. The material is richly supported by examples from the lives of queens from England and across Europe as well.

Letters are fantastic primary sources to witness the activity and agency of medieval queens and learn more about the queen’s office and how it was exercised. In Crawford’s collection, each letter is set in context. While they are very formulaic in construction and were often penned by a scribe, we can still see the ways that queens acted as ‘lords’ in their dower lands, their political influence and their wider networks across the realm and beyond. (As an online alternative, use Epistolae: Medieval Women’s Letters, published by Columbia University. It is a collection of letters to and from women, dating from the fourth to the thirteenth centuries. You can read them in their original Latin or their English translation. Access this collection.)

Margaret Beaufort was a pivotal figure in the evolution of education in Britain: this clip ex0plores her relationship with knowledge, including her friendship with Erasmus from Rotterdam.