What Happened in the Low Countries, Didn't Stay in the Low Countries: The Theory of the Spread of Gossip about the Queens of the House of Luxembourg

Abstract

Usually we are trying to use methods of the critical historiography to correct the image of medieval rulers and their wives. There have been various attempts to edit wrong interpretations, to refute gossips and rumors that we find in literature and various historical sources, and to find "the truth".

It is always possible, however, that the roots lie not in an attempt to denigrate the main characters, to dramatize the story and spread gossip, but in the simple confusion about who is who? Who, then, could have had a lover, who was bitten by the dog, and how is it that Queen Anne of Bohemia is still the Good one? A network of marital unions between the ruling families united medieval Europe. How were rumors spread through this network and misinterpretations made? Even though it might be regarded as a marginal topic, the answers to these questions can help to better understanding of the historical sources.