D. Fairchild Ruggles is Professor and Debra L. Mitchell Chair in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she also holds appointments in Art History, Architecture, Medieval Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, and Gender and Women's Studies. She is the author and presenter of short films on Islamic art for the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf, and she is current art and architecture field editor for The Encyclopaedia of Islam.

By the time I finished reading the chapters on Shajar al-Durr's patronage of two tomb complexes and the concept of Matronage, I had an enriched understanding of the impact of this specific woman's actions, particularly in light of the political, military, religious and cultural world in which she lived (and died).

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgements Note on Dates and Transliterations Chapter 1: Who Was "Tree of Pearls" Chapter 2: Sultans and Slaves: Salih's Rise to Power Chapter 3: The Streets of Cairo and the Salihiyya Madrasa Chapter 4: Crisis in Cairo: From Sultan to Sultan-Queen Chapter 5: Commemorative Architecture and Salih's "Blessed Mausoleum" Chapter 6: "If You Lack Men": the Shajar al-Durr's Abdication and Tomb Chapter 7: Matronage Appendix: Recipe for Umm 'Ali BibliographyIndex

D. Fairchild Ruggles is Professor and Debra L. Mitchell Chair in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she also holds appointments in Art History, Architecture, Medieval Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, and Gender and Women's Studies. She is the author and presenter of short films on Islamic art for the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf, and she is current art and architecture field editor for The Encyclopaedia of Islam.

By the time I finished reading the chapters on Shajar al-Durr's patronage of two tomb complexes and the concept of Matronage, I had an enriched understanding of the impact of this specific woman's actions, particularly in light of the political, military, religious and cultural world in which she lived (and died).

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgements Note on Dates and Transliterations Chapter 1: Who Was "Tree of Pearls" Chapter 2: Sultans and Slaves: Salih's Rise to Power Chapter 3: The Streets of Cairo and the Salihiyya Madrasa Chapter 4: Crisis in Cairo: From Sultan to Sultan-Queen Chapter 5: Commemorative Architecture and Salih's "Blessed Mausoleum" Chapter 6: "If You Lack Men": the Shajar al-Durr's Abdication and Tomb Chapter 7: Matronage Appendix: Recipe for Umm 'Ali BibliographyIndex

D. Fairchild Ruggles is Professor and Debra L. Mitchell Chair in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she also holds appointments in Art History, Architecture, Medieval Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, and Gender and Women's Studies. She is the author and presenter of short films on Islamic art for the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf, and she is current art and architecture field editor for The Encyclopaedia of Islam.

By the time I finished reading the chapters on Shajar al-Durr's patronage of two tomb complexes and the concept of Matronage, I had an enriched understanding of the impact of this specific woman's actions, particularly in light of the political, military, religious and cultural world in which she lived (and died).

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgements Note on Dates and Transliterations Chapter 1: Who Was "Tree of Pearls" Chapter 2: Sultans and Slaves: Salih's Rise to Power Chapter 3: The Streets of Cairo and the Salihiyya Madrasa Chapter 4: Crisis in Cairo: From Sultan to Sultan-Queen Chapter 5: Commemorative Architecture and Salih's "Blessed Mausoleum" Chapter 6: "If You Lack Men": the Shajar al-Durr's Abdication and Tomb Chapter 7: Matronage Appendix: Recipe for Umm 'Ali BibliographyIndex