Ballantine Books
Queens of the Crusades: England's Medieval Queens Book Two
Key Metrics
- Alison Weir
- Ballantine Books
- Hardcover
- 9781101966693
- 9.3 X 6.1 X 1.8 inches
- 1.9 pounds
- Biography & Autobiography > Royalty
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, seductive queens, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of southern Europe--these determined women often broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill.
This second volume of Alison Weir's critically acclaimed history of the queens of medieval England now moves into a period of even higher drama, from 1154 to 1291: years of chivalry and courtly love, dynastic ambition, conflict between church and throne, baronial wars, and the ruthless interplay between the rival monarchs of Britain and France. We see events such as the murder of Becket, the Magna Carta, and the birth of parliaments from a new perspective.
Weir's narrative begins with the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Henry II established a dynasty that ruled for over three hundred years and created the most powerful empire in western Christendom--but also sowed the seeds for some of the most destructive family conflicts in history and for the collapse, under her son King John, of England's power in Europe. The lives of Eleanor's four successors were just as remarkable: Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard the Lionheart; Isabella of Angoul�me, queen of John; Alienor of Provence, queen of Henry III; and finally Eleanor of Castile, the grasping but beloved wife of Edward I.
Through the story of these first five Plantagenet queens, Alison Weir provides a fresh, enthralling narrative focusing on these fascinating female monarchs during this dramatic period of high romance and sometimes low politics, with determined women at its heart.
Author Bio
Alison Weir is the biggest-selling female historian (and the fifth best-selling historian) in the United Kingdom since records began in 1997. She has published thirty titles and sold more than 3 million books - over a million in the UK and 2.2 million in the USA. She is now working on two concurrent series of books: Six Tudor Queens, comprising six novels on the wives of Henry VIII (with associated e-books, above), and England's Medieval Queens, a quartet of historical works of non-fiction.
Source: alisonweir.org.uk
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