Dissatisfied by her previous enquiries on medieval kingship and inspired by Helen Castor's "She-Wolves," Elizabeth Carr sought to incorporate the stories of powerful medieval women such as Empress Matilda and Eleanor of Aquitaine into her Key Stage 3 curriculum. Carr used these stories to highlight to her pupils the crucial substantive concepts of power and authority and the wider European context of English medieval politics. She discusses how laying these substantive foundations will help her pupils achieve more later in Key Stage 3 and beyond.