Gender and Spacein English Royal Palaces c. 1160—c. 1547: A Study in Access Analysis and Imagery

TRANSFORMATIONS in the form and layout of castles and palaces have long been foci of study for architectural historians and, more recently, for archaeologists attempting to ascribe meanings to those changes. In tandem with historical studies of court life, such analyses have highlighted the growing complexity, of royal palaces from the 12th to the 16th century and the extent to which royal apartments, particularly those of kings, were affected by the development of administrative departments and court ceremonial. This paper, focusing on the apartments if of queens consort, which have received less attention, undertakes an examination of these 'facts' and trends by analysing routes through buildings and their decorative treatment. It reveals that queens' apartments were isolated from public buildings and from ceremonial routes through palace complexes. Alongside the paucity, of female imagery, particularly in halls, such patterns appear to be the architectural manifestation of restricted access to power.