Rowena E Archer

Rowena E. Archer is Supernumerary Fellow in Medieval History at Brasenose College and Lecturer in Medieval History at Christ Church, University of Oxford. She holds a D.Phil from Oxford (1984) and B.A. from Bristol (1977).

Her research examines English aristocracy with specialization in medieval noblewomen, investigating their roles as landholders, administrators, and religious patrons. Notable publications analyze dowager economics ('Rich Old Ladies', 1984), estate management by women ('How ladies... ought to manage their households', 1992), and devotional practices ('Piety in Question', 2003). Her current project is a biographical study of Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk (d.1475).

Archer's work illuminates gender dynamics in property management, inheritance strategies, and religious expression within aristocratic contexts. Her source-based methodology integrates cartularies, financial records, and devotional texts to reconstruct noblewomen's social agency.