Description

In the primary extent of an exhilarating new collection, bestselling writer Alison Weir brings the dramatic reigns of England’s medieval queens to lifestyles.

The lives of England’s medieval queens had been jam-packed with incident—love, intrigue, betrayal, adultery, and battle—however their tales were in large part obscured via centuries of fable and omission. Now esteemed biographer Alison Weir supplies a contemporary point of view and restores those ladies to their rightful position in historical past.

Spanning the years from the Norman conquest in 1066 to the break of day of a brand new technology in 1154, while Henry II succeeded to the throne and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the primary Plantagenet queen, used to be topped, this epic ebook brings to brilliant lifestyles 5 ladies, together with: Matilda of Flanders, spouse of William the Conqueror, the primary Norman king; Matilda of Scotland, respected as “the average mom of all England”; and Empress Maud, England’s first feminine ruler, whose son King Henry II could move directly to discovered the Plantagenet dynasty. Greater than individuals who got here prior to or after them, those Norman consorts had been identified as equivalent sharers in sovereignty. With out the toughen in their other halves, the Norman kings may just now not have dominated their disparate dominions as successfully.

Drawing from probably the most dependable latest assets, Weir skillfully strips away centuries of romantic lore to proportion a balanced and unique take at the significance of those feminine monarchs. What emerges is a continuing royal saga, an all-encompassing portrait of English medieval queenship, and a sweeping landscape of British historical past.

Praise for Queens of the Conquest

“Very best-promoting writer [Alison] Weir pens Any other readable, neatly-researched English historical past, the primary in a proposed 4-extent collection on England’s medieval queens. . . . Weir’s analysis talents and storytelling talent mix superbly to inform an enchanting tale supported via superb historic analysis. Enthusiasts of her fiction and nonfiction will experience this contemporary paintings.”—Library Magazine (starred overview)
 
“Any other sound feminist resurrection via a professional historian . . . Although Norman queens had been in large part unknowable, depart it to this prolific historic biographer to convey them to lifestyles. . . . As standard, Weir is meticulous in her analysis.”—Kirkus Reviews