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Heir to an earldom, and wife and widow of William de Valence (half-brother of King Henry III), Joan de Valence was an important actor in the volatile political world of thirteenth-century England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Yet, astonishingly, her story of survival, perseverance, and influence has never been told until now. Joan de Valence: The Life and Influence of a Thirteenth-Century Noblewoman draws on archival research, as well as tools of historical analysis and gender studies, to peel back the layers of this remarkable noblewoman´s life. From her survival of the wars between king and baronage at mid-century to her life as a widow and magnate of the realm, the story of Joan de Valance, as Mitchell argues, exemplifies the range of experiences of noblewomen during the middle ages.

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Introduction: Writing Medieval Women´s Biographies
1. Growing Up as a Marshal, Marriage, and Motherhood (1230-1258)
2. War, Rebellion, and Recovery (1258-1285)
3. Success, Conflict, Death, and Bereavement (1285-1296)
4. Widow, Lord, and Countess (1297-1307)
Conclusion: The Legacies of Joan de Valence
Appendix One: The Family Connections of Joan de Valence
Appendix Two: Joan de Valence´s Property
Appendix Three: Litigation of Joan de Valence in Widowhood

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"In Joan de Valence, Linda Mitchell takes up a number of challenges that face any scholar attempting to write the life history of a medieval woman. The result is a book making the case not just for this one powerful noblewoman, but for a return to the archives to reassess the underappreciated but important roles that women played in medieval society." (Kathleen Ashley, Journal of British Studies, Vol. 55 (4), October, 2016)

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Linda E. Mitchell is Martha Jane Phillips Starr Missouri Distinguished Professor of Women´s & Gender Studies at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, USA. She is the author of Portraits of Medieval Women and Family Life in the Middle Ages and senior editor of the journal, Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques.

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