Gender, politics and ideology in medieval historiographical sources. Politicising the discourse of femininities and masculinities in the Flandria Generosa chronicles

Genealogies and chronicles are biased products which offer an indirect insight in specific political and ideological strategies. This project deals with the gendered representation of male and female rulers in the Flandria Generosa chronicles. The main research question is how these gendered narratives were constructed, rewritten and adapted over time to their intended audiences. The analysis of the relation between the socio- political context of the texts and the changing ‘gendered language’ is the central objective of this research project. The typical or atypical ‘male’ and ‘female’ features of the Flemish rulers depicted often reflect politically biased ideas. The aim of this research is to analyse the changing use of this gendered language as a political instrument, but moreover, to relate this to altering medieval notions of masculinities and femininities.