Visualizing Elizabeth of York's Ladies-in-Waiting

Abstract Medieval ladies-in-waiting were sophisticated players who earned significant rewards and engaged in power politics. This article quantifies and visualizes how female attendants accessed royal power and influence during the reign of Elizabeth of York (d. 1503), consort of Henry VII (r. 1485–1509). Using prosopographical techniques to build a collective biography of Elizabeth's highborn servants, analyzed with three related Microsoft Access databases, the investigation uncovered over 350 references to their activities. Employing Net.Create software and techniques of network analysis, this study contextualizes both their duties and their rewards. Visually representing proximity to the monarch reveals, beyond anecdotes, how rulers relied upon some ladies-in-waiting more than others. Informed by gender studies, this article supports recent queen-focused analyses of female power that have sought to challenge the long-standing narrative that male-dominated monarchy excluded female participation and access to power by revealing the prominence and activities of female courtiers in late medieval England.