This essay analyzes the illustration sequences of the four magnificent Gospel books made for Judith of Flanders within the context of the political chaos in pre-Conquest England. These deluxe display books indicate one of the ways that literacy and literary patronage provided cultural legitimacy and social status for secular women in the late Anglo-Saxon period. The evangelist symbols in Judith's English books—some of them very unusual—demonstrate Judith's use of patronage as a cultural

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... to proclaim her wealth and position in the political theater of northern Europe. She exemplifies the ways that aristocratic women, who generally did not control land or military forces, could successfully assert themselves through purchase and use of beautiful, luxurious objects.