Anything but Natural? Princely Husbands in the Low Countries (Thirteen-Fifteenth Century): Acceptation or Distrust?

Lecuppre, Gilles
(2025) Naturalisation of Power (1250-1600): Unravelling the Strategies of Legitimation — ISBN: [978-88-9290-363-0], p. 225-236, published

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While the neighbouring monarchies were gradually adopting consti tutions that clearly excluded women from power, the pre-Burgundian Low Countries not only allowed and accepted female succession, but demanded it. Of course, most of the time princesses and their subjects had to bear the tutelage of princes consort who were generally chosen in foreign countries, which avoided disturbing the balance of powers inside their own fiefdoms. But in this particular area and at this partic ular time, the position of an imported prince, whether from far away or close by, was precarious enough. Most of the time, they were either short-lived, powerless or placed under duress, and were often caught between the devil of French tutelage and the deep blue sea of local prerogatives. Only Philip the Bold stood out against the group. All in all, princely husbands were indispensable to natural princesses. As far as they were concerned, they were neither unnatural nor supernatural actors, but temporary elements – tolerated with resignation
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Lecuppre, G. (2025). Anything but Natural? Princely Husbands in the Low Countries (Thirteen-Fifteenth Century): Acceptation or Distrust? In Éloïse Adde and Jonathan Dumont (ed.), Naturalisation of Power (1250-1600): Unravelling the Strategies of Legitimation (Sismel- Edizioni del Galluzzo, p. p. 225-236). Sismel- Edizioni del Galluzzo. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/247533