Preliminary Material -- From Patron to Harlot: How Did Queen Urraca Get Here from There? -- The Establishment of San Isidoro as a Palatine Chapel: Fernando I (d. 1065) and Sancha (d. 1067) -- The Power of the King's Sister: The Infanta Urraca (d. 1101) and Alfonso VI (d. 1109) -- Dynastic Propaganda in a Queen's Patronage at San Isidoro: Urraca of León-Castilla (reigned 1109-1126) -- The Painted Cycle of the Pantheon, c. 1109 -- The Infanta Sancha (d. 1159), Alfonso VII (d. 1157), and Construction of the Monastic Complex -- Queen as King: Urraca of León-Castilla (d. 1126), Matilda of England (d. 1167), and Melisende of Jerusalem (d. 1161) -- Capitals of the Church of San Isidoro -- Mason's Marks -- Bibliography -- Index -- List of Illustrations -- Illustrations.

Queen as King traces the origins of San Isidoro in León as a royal monastic complex, following its progress as the site changed from a small eleventh-century palatine chapel housed in a double monastery to a great twelfth-century pilgrimage church served by Augustinian canons. Its most groundbreaking contribution to the history of art is the recovery of the lost patronage of Queen Urraca (reigned 1109-1126). Urraca maintained yet subverted her family's tradition of patronage on the site: to understand her history is to hold the key to the art and architecture of San Isidoro. This new approach to San Isidoro and its patronage allows a major Romanesque monument to be understood more fully than before.

Description based on print version record.