This project examines literary representations of the functioning, the concepts and the agency patterns of power and domination by women (spouses, queens, mothers, etc.) in the ruler’s surroundings between formal structures and unofficial opportunities stemming from personal relationships as they appear in receptions of oriental wisdom literature on the Iberian Peninsula (Sendebar, Doncella Teodor) and in the first autochthonous novel of chivalry (Libro del caballero Zifar) as well as in selected contemporary chronicles which anchor historical female actors in the cultural memory.