Medieval Foremothers and Female Audiences: Women's Crusader Identities and the Cultural Contexts of The King of Tars

This article examines premodern receptions of The King of Tars , a fourteenth-century poem that many scholars traditionally view as tailored to chivalric male European audiences, aiding crusader recruitment. In contrast, this study proposes that the poem's Princess appealed to premodern female audiences, and that it promoted a feminine crusader ideal. This three-part study explores female influence, first through medieval treatises on women's preaching and mission by Pierre Dubois, Thomas of Chobham, and others. Next, the Anglo-Norman interlude, Gilote e Johane , showcases changing premodern attitudes toward women's teaching, contextualizing the Princess as a moral example for medieval women. Finally, this article assesses manuscript evidence supporting a historically active female reception and patronage of The King of Tars . These findings together illustrate the promotion of a female crusading ideal and the relation of The King of Tars to medieval women audiences.