Crowning the queen: staging legitimacy and the coronation ritual in fourteenth-century Castile

ABSTRACT The coronation ritual in the Kingdom of Castile has been the subject of intense historiographical debate in recent years, but no analysis has been made of the significance of the role played by the queen. Despite the scarcity of documentary evidence on the subject, it is important to reflect on the esteem in which the queen was held and the reasons that led to her being involved in, or excluded from, the ritual of royal anointing. This paper examines the peculiarities surrounding royal coronations in fourteenth-century Castile, as well as the reasons for the presence or absence of the king’s wife.