dr Agnieszka Stempin

Section 11.: Women and Power in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times (Central Europe)

Although tabula, or board games, were extremely popular in the Middle Ages, the role of women in society at that time is analyzed from this perspective sporadically. Old games were not only a form of entertainment but also a manifestation of the position of elites and a field for implementing various ideological and educational programs. Chess was of particular importance. The range of pieces used in them was the subject of moralizing treatises and literary works. They were created as a military instruction, where the pieces reflected the structures of the India army - there was no place for a woman in them. The queen enters the chessboard after the game reached Europe and is a modification that took place only in the western zone of the continent (Eastern Europe still uses strictly military terminology). The chess queen and her Latin evolution included the transformation of the "silent companion" into a "crazy woman", and thus a modern breakthrough in the rules of the game took place.