Female Emotional Interactions in Medieval Flanders: Emotional Communities of Twelfth‐Century Guines and Ardres

ABSTRACT Lambert's Historia allows us to imagine an emotional community in the countryside of twelfth‐century Flanders. This masterpiece illustrates a valuable image of the specific affective relationships between female lords and female subjects. ‘The emotional turn’ may reveal important new perspectives on medieval rural society. The women of Guines–Ardres deployed various strategies to create emotional refuge out of a state of emotional chaos. The stories of positive emotional interaction between female lords and subordinate women challenge the traditional view of feudal society as one of inherent class antagonism.