Being Queen may look like a glamorous gig, but throughout history, the occupation has been extremely risky. Left to the wims of King and country, it could be downright deadly! Here are 4 reasons you definitely wouldn't want to be the queen in Medieval Europe, no matter how tempting the idea.
1. You're basically a womb for rent.
So it's no secret that royal women were used to create political alliances between kingdoms and settle disputes between families, but what it all boiled down to was the ability to have children. Just ask Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, no matter how talented, learned, or queenly you were, if you couldn't provide an heir, you were disposed of by any means necessary...
2. The heir and the spare
Given the high infant mortality rates, if you did manage to be fertile enough to have a child without losing your head (thanks, Henry VIII), childbearing would be your job from then on. The queen would need to have as many children possible in order to make sure at least one heir would survive to take the throne. Most queens would have children until they were too old or died in the process.
3. Madness runs in the family.
Royal families kept their power by marrying into other royal families around them. The only problem with that is that eventually all royal families would become related, which is exactly what happened. The royal family trees in Europe are missing quite a few branches, and all of the intermarrying caused deformities and madness to run rampant through the gene pool.
4. The king controlled your fate.
Above all else in your life, your king controlled your fate in life and that could be deadlier than anything else life could throw at you. The king had limitless power and many had a limitless ambition that matched (looking at you again, Henry VIII!)
If you couldn't produce an heir, couldn't produce a male heir, your family became too ambitious, you fell in love with someone else, someone more eligible came along, you lost your looks, or the king simply tired of you, no crown or royal pedigree could save you from the king's will.
