Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir is subtitled England’s Medieval Queens and it tells the stories of the lives of the five queen consorts in England in the 14th century, the Plantagenet period from 1299 to 1399, but inevitably it’s a lot more than that as while writing of the experiences of the women and their husbands, the history of their era and how it affected them also has to be written about.
The five Queens are: Marguerite of France (Edward I’s second wife), Isabella of France (Edward II’s wife), Philippa of Hainault (Edward III’s wife), Anne of Bohemia (Richard II’s wife), Isabella of Valois (Richard II’s second wife).
These Planatgenet wives were far from being shrinking violets, it was quiet an eye-opener how much power and influence they could have. Reading this book you learn an awful lot about English history but also the history of Scotland and the various European countries that become embroiled in English history. It’s a painless and entertaining way of learning. I’m constantly amazed by how many documents and personal letters are still in existence from so far back in history. What a thrill it must be to be able to see and possibly even touch them.
This was a really enjoyable and interesting read. I received a digital copy for review from the publisher via Netgalley, for which many thanks.
Hi Katrina,
Ah! If you received a copy for review, this probably means it won’t be published until the New Year? Of course, I can look it up. I’m so glad you reviewed this one, because I love the stories of medieval queens. So much history, and if I can say so, that is being rewritten, based on the major influence these queens had.
Making a note of this title.
Judith,
I was late in getting around to reading this one and I believe it was published on 2nd November, I should have mentioned that in my post. I hope you enjoy it if you get around to it. What about Christmas Holiday, I finished it and obviously it didn’t get me in the Christmas mood, but it was very well written I think.
I’m still just in the opening chapters of Christmas Holiday, which I plan to finish by New Year’s Day. I have never read anything by Maugham, so I’m looking forward to giving it a go. I’ll let you know my thoughts.
Thank you so much for introducing this interesting book. Will look it up – I study Medieval studies at the open university at my leisure time. At the moment there is a course on Classical and Medieval, some comparisons and what made the change from one to another. Although, of course the change is never so drastic in reality that one morning as waking up you actually could say “whoo, I’m living in a different era now”, ha ha!
Medieval time is infinitely interesting, varied and a great period that formed Europe in so many ways.
It is breathtaking that there are old letters and other fragments, even thousands of years old! A lot of them in shreds, and in ancient language and script, the researchers had their work cut out for them!
Saila,
That sounds like a very interesting course that you’re doing. I must admit that I didn’t know much about medieval English history, apart from when it involved Scotland. English history tends to be very Tudor heavy so it was good to get to know more about the Plantagenets.
I was very impressed when I was able to visit the National Records of Scotland to look at letters that were sent to an ancestor of mine in the 1790s, but that seems quite recent compared with 1299!
Hi Katrina,
When I was browsing the New Books–History section at the library on Thursday, I found Alison Weir’s new book sitting there waiting for me, though with a different, though very colorful tapestry cover. It’s a chunky read, but looks fascinating. I think I’ll need to get my own copy. It looks like one I’ll want to read slowly and closely.
Judith,
Of course I read it on my Kindle, but I would have preferred an actual book, in fact I might buy a copy of it anyway as it’s the sort of book that I would enjoy dipping into again and that’s not so easy with a digital copy. Does it have any illustrations?