Scholar Introduction: Catherine Capel

Catherine is a full time PhD student at the University of Winchester and is in the final year of her three-year studentship on the theme of forgotten women in history. Her main research focus is the motivations and participation of Anglo-Norman queens and noblewomen in warfare, with an interest in gendered political representations of women and the impact of kinship ties.

Catherine specialises in the study of women in warfare and her other research interests focus on the presence of high-status women in charter evidence, the description of women in chronicle sources and the concepts of female power, reputation and sexuality. She has presented papers at conferences on the topic of women in warfare including at the Women and War International Conference in 2019 where she presented a paper called ‘An Exploration of the Classifications of Authority in Warfare and their Impact on the Visibility of Elite Women’ and the Kings and Queens Conference 2020 with a paper entitled ‘Queens as Military Leaders: A Transformation or Extension of their Feminine Body?’. She also recently organised and spoke at the first virtual Medieval studies Day in conjunction with the University of Winchester. Catherine has also been involved in popular history events, participating in the Heritage Open Days history festival in Hampshire.