This study challenges traditional interpretations of the roles of royal women in a patriarchial society. Drawing upon sources in anthropology, sociology, art history and literature, the author demonstrates that the wives of the early tsars played complex roles in government.

-- One of the first studies of medieval Russia's tsaritsy, Between God and Tsar challenges traditional interpretations of the roles of royal women in a patriarchal society. Drawing upon a wide range of sources in anthropology, sociology, art history, and literature, Thyret demonstrates that the wives of the early tsars played complex roles in government, especially during times of crisis, and shows how society perpetuated cultural and religious expressions of their legitimacy as female rulers.

Muscovite society's values were sanctioned by religion, and it is through religious images that the tsaritsy's claims to rulership are seen most clearly. Thyret examines Orthodox iconography -- such as the Golden Palace of the Tsaritsy that proclaimed Irian Godunova's right to act as an independent ruler -- to show how the Muscovite court used gendered religious images and legends to reveal the spiritual power of female rulers.

Bringing to light literary, artistic, and cultural expressions of the roles of Muscovite royal women, Between God and Tsar offers some clues to the question of why female rulers so often governed Russia under the Romanovs, while opening new avenues to understanding medieval Russia, women's history, and religious symbolism.