Book excerpt: This series focuses on the exercise of power, influence and authority by particular categories, ranks and types of women in medieval societies, and by individual women; on the limitations, restrictions and inhibitions placed or assumed on such activity; on the opportunities open to women, and on the strategems by which women were able to give effect to these possibilities. Queens, Regents and Potentatesconcentrates on the theme of women and royal power, examining the available information about specific royal women and reassessing their access to and use of power and authority, and drawing significant new conclusions about internal politics and international relations in medieval Europe.Contents and Contributors: PATRICIA HUMPHREY, DONALD KAGAY, WILLIAM CLAY STALLS, PENELOPE ADAIR, KAREN NICHOLAS, DOUGLAS C. JANSEN, JOHN CARMI PARSONS, THERESA M. VANN, JENNIFER R. GOODMAN