TMW’s Jonathan Phillips and Natasha Hodgson presented a paper on Queen Arwa of Yemen at the ‘Who Ruled the World? Queen Urraca and Her Contemporaries in the Early Twelfth Century’ conference on 3 March 2026 at the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid.
Arwa of Yemen was a contemporary of the conference’s focus, Urraca, queen of Castile and Leon, as well as better-known twelfth-century female rulers, Empress Matilda of England and Melisende of Jerusalem. Arwa ruled first with her two husbands, before assuming sole rule in 1097/98 CE, her reign ending only with her death in 1138.
As well as speaking about Arwa at the conference, Jonathan and Natasha also had the opportunity to visit Burgos Cathedral where they saw the tomb of Leonor Plantagenet, queen of Castile and daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the tomb of el-Cid.
