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Cargando... Queens of the Crusades: England's Medieval Queens Book Twopor Alison Weir
   Ninguno Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro.  PhilSyphe | May 24, 2023 |   I'm not one to really get into the Queens but I read this one because it was available on Hoopla Digital. It covers 1. Eleanor of Aquitaine (Henry II) 2. Berengaria of Navarre (Richard I), 3. Isabella of Angouleme (John) and 4. Eleanor (here Alienor) or Provence (Henry III). 5. Eleanor of Castile (Edward I) I did find much of it interesting. Life in Medieval times was more advanced that some would think. This is my first book by Alison Weir and I feel she does a really good job of keeping her facts as facts and acknowledging that which is not fact or has little or no support as factual. I've read some of what happened during these years; Thomas Becket so it was interesting to revisit. (  ) Kristelh | Apr 18, 2023 | A good chunky book about the queens of England from Eleanor of Aquitaine (Henry II) to Eleanor of Castile (Edward I), including therefore also Berengaria of Navarre (Richard I), Isabella of Angouleme (John) and Eleanor (here Alienor) or Provence (Henry III). Weir has already published entire books about two of these (the first of the Eleanors and Isabella) and they rather dominate the narrative; in particular, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is everyone’s favourite of course, dies on page 186 of a 400-page book. As narrative history it feels fairly complete. I am much more familiar with Eleanor and her children than with the second half of the story, and it filled in some gaps in my knowledge; in particular, I had no idea that Berengaria of Navarre had quite an interesting career as dowager queen, living another 30 years after Richard I was killed. The details of Henry III’s hapless reign were also largely new to me. However, it would have been interesting also to interrogate the role of women in medieval politics. All of these queens were sometimes able to exercise legal authority and issue their own decisions; at other times they were not. What was the difference? What were the expectations of women in public life at that time? Weir does describe how the queens are portrayed in art, but without a lot of context for us to see how this compares with the portrayal of other women, or indeed men. So, a slightly old-fashioned book, but full of interesting stuff. ( ) nwhyte | Jul 23, 2022 | Alison Weir has done it again. She's brought these women from the pages of history and humanized them, providing us with a story and historical context that keeps you riveted to the text. There were a couple of editing mistakes, though I lay these at the door of the publisher and not with Ms. Weir. A job well-done. (  ) briandrewz | May 21, 2021 | sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Pertenece a las series
"Packed with incredible true stories and legendary medieval intrigue, this epic narrative history chronicles the first five queens from the powerful royal family that ruled England and France for over three hundred years. This remarkable recreation of the action-packed century that saw the murder of Thomas Becket and the signing of the Magna Carta covers the lives and reigns of the first five Plantagenet queens, who ruled England and France throughout the bloody 1200s, a particularly dramatic and violent period of European history. Wars, crusades, treachery, murder, passion, and the interplay between rival monarchs of Britain and France provide a surprising picture of these five ambitious women and their struggle for power. The queens covered in the book are Eleanor of Aquitaine, Berengaria of Navarre, Isabella of Angouleme, Alienor of Provence and Eleanor of Castile. One of these queens became legendary when, accompanying her husband on crusade, she saved his life by sucking the blood from his poisoned-arrow wound. Equally intriguing are the descriptions of their marriages, including one that was extremely tempestuous, and one that was a love match turned sour when the jealous husband discovered his queen's infidelity and retaliated by killing her lovers and hanging their bodies from the canopy of her bed. This second volume of historian Alison Weir's critically acclaimed Medieval Queens series brings these unfamiliar, fascinating royals to life, demonstrating how very much they resemble self-determining women of our own time"-- No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Debates activosNingunoCubiertas populares
 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)942.0309252History and Geography Europe England and Wales England Plantagenet 1154-1399Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (3.97)
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While I’m a fan of Alison Weir’s non-fiction (and fiction), certain books, particularly her bio on Katheryn Swynford, frequently stray off-topic. This book is another of this kind. It’s down to a lack of info of the women she’s writing about, so instead you get the familiar (to me, at least) retelling of the kings and princes involved.
While I’m interested in the histories of Henry II and Richard I, I feel too much space was given to their histories, especially the friendship-cum-rivalry between Henry and Thomas Beckett. It’s fascinating history but going into it in great detail makes it off-topic for a book about several queens of England, and off-topic books always irritate me.
Not all the queens go on crusades, either, so again, much of the histories here aren’t ‘as advertised’.
Although I've given this three stars, this is a commendable effort, albeit not one of my favourite Weir books, and not one I’d read again. (