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    Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York
    Unavailable
    Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York
    Unavailable
    Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York
    Ebook791 pages14 hours

    Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York

    By Lisa Hilton

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “A compelling trek through English history in the company of some remarkable women.” —Kirkus Reviews

    Though their royal husbands occupy the lion’s share of history books, the queens of early England are fascinating subjects in their own right. Lisa Hilton’s Queens Consort vividly evokes the lives and times of England’s first queens, from Matilda of Flanders and the Norman conquest of England to Elizabeth of York and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.

     By profiling twenty different queens, Hilton provides an intricate and dramatic composite of the English monarch: from the ruthless Isabella of France, who violently gained control of England by dispatching Edward II, to the beloved Matilda of Scotland, known for her intelligence and devotion despite her philandering husband, Henry I; and from a girl who was crowned at the age of nine to a commoner who climbed the social ladder at the most opportune moment. Queens Consort dispels many of the myths that have surrounded these women for centuries, while simultaneously illuminating lesser-known facts about their lives. 
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPegasus Books
    Release dateMay 7, 2013
    ISBN9781480405561
    Unavailable
    Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York
    Author

    Lisa Hilton

    LISA HILTON is the acclaimed author of The Real Queen of France: Athénais and Louis XIV, Mistress Peachum's Pleasure, Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens, and The Horror of Love. She is the author of three novels, the best-selling Wolves in Winter; The House with Blue Shutters, which was short-listed in the UK for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and The Stolen Queen. She was educated at Oxford University and lives in central London.

    Read more from Lisa Hilton

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    Reviews for Queens Consort

    3.5/5

    58 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is a history by theme, rather than period. It takes each of the women who have taken the role of Queen between William the Conqueror and Henry VII and discusses each of them in turn. It looks at who they were, what is known of them as a woman, not just as a figurehead. It looks at how the role the queen could play has shifted across the centuries, and how they were viewed by their contemporaries as well as by later generations. It s not afraid to try and debunk a few myths, and to accept that they may have been a bad queen, but good mother or interesting woman. Each is addressed in their own chapter,although in some cases there are overlaps. Some queens survived their husbands and played roles in their daughter in law's life as well. And the wars of the roses gets very confusing, with multiple holders of the title of queen at once. They were not all an identikit parade of dynastic pawns, some of them took life on and played their hand. It's an interesting look at the role and the very different women who filled it.
    • 4/5
      Lisa Hilton's explores the lives of the twenty women crowned between 1066 and 1503nonfictionShe reminds us of well-known figures like Eleanor of Aquitaine and illuminates the lives of forgotten queens such as Adeliza of Louvain...
    • 4/5
      I picked up Queens Consort because it looked like it'd be useful to me in understanding the portrayal of queens in literature in the medieval period. It turned out to be interesting in general, covering the lives of queens who are little remembered now as well as the notorious ones, and trying to portray them fairly, rather than as their detractors would have liked them to be remembered (or, similarly, with reference to their flaws as well as the propaganda intended to make them into heroines: Lisa Hilton is after a balanced and truthful portrayal). It's a good survey of how the role of queen consort developed.

      I also found her references to the literature -- mostly in the conclusion to the book -- and to concepts I've encountered only in literature until now (the idea of a queen as a "peaceweaver", which I knew of through Beowulf; obviously the idea of a diplomatic marriage to make peace was familiar to me, but Lisa Hilton seemed to draw her idea of the role directly from the Anglo-Saxon ideas of the role of women/queens) very interesting: the conclusion discusses Malory's portrayal of Guinevere, which undoubtedly reflected how he saw queenship at the time, and perhaps impacted future queens.

      There are a few points where it could have been better edited, and it can be quite dry; if you want something more exciting, I'd go for a book that covers the more notorious queens, like Helen Castor's She-Wolves, which I'm about to read.
    • 3/5
      Generally competent survety of medieval queens of England from Matilda wife of William the Conqueror to Elizabeth of York wife of Hwenry VII. Level-headed about most of the romantic nonsense talked about some of the queens, notably Eleanor of Aquitaine and Eleanor of Castile. The only dubious story she endorses is Elizabeth of York's alleged desire to marry Richard III. However, she does sometimes misuse medieval terms -- the bishjop of London was not a "primate" and the original law barring the Beaufotrs from the throne was not an "attainder" (though some of them were attainted later).
    • 4/5
      Quite enjoyed reading this book. It does get confusing when kings and queens have the same name and as I neared the end of the book I had forgotten some of the beginning. I read it for pleasure but feel I learned along the way.Well laid out. Well presented. Family trees and photos added to the overall understanding.
    • 5/5
      I loved all of the sources and looking at various situations from all of the parties perspectives and not just leaning completely on the side of either the queens, kings, nobles or other such parties. This tends to be a very difficult to thing to do when contemporaries try to review what happened in the past and I feel like out of the many books I've read on this type of subject matter that this was probably one of the best for it.

      If you have an interest in understanding British Royal History than you really need to take the time to read this even if you think you know the facts of these queens already.
    • 4/5
      I found it hard to rate this book. I had trouble getting into it at first, but then I was gripped it. I enjoyed the way that Hilton wove the stories of succeeding queens together so that one got a fairly unified history of the entire period. Hilton comes across as knowledgeable and thoughtful, although a couple of problems with the book give me pause.One is the numerous typo-kind of mistakes that resulted in errors of fact. As examples, in the section on Philippa of Hainault, there is a reference to Blanche of Lancaster's father Henry, when it is her grandfather Henry who is meant. Philippa's daughter Isabella is said to have given birth to her first child in 1265, which would be a good trick since neither of Isabella's paternal grandparents were alive at that time. One assumes that 1365 was meant. In the section on Catherine de Valois, Isabeau of Bavaria is said to have been imprisoned in 1317, well before she was born c.1370. Catherine is said to have been shorted on her dower rights in 1332, some sixty-nine years before she was born, and even before her parents were born. At one point, Louis IX (St. Louis, 25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270) is referenced when Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483) is meant. These are not the only instances, careful reading would produce more examples.I was also troubled when I got to the section on Anne Neville. I have read several dozen books on the Wars of the Roses and related personalities, so I was paying a bit more attention, and I realized that her footnoting is totally inadequate. Most historians state that neither the mothers nor the birthdates of Richard III's illegitimate children can be known for sure, although there are various theories. Hilton states, with no footnote, that Alice Burgh was the mother of Richard III's illegitimate son John of Pontefract or Gloucester. Amy Licence states in her biography Anne Neville : Richard III's Tragic Queen that this is the theory of Michael Hicks, but not only is there no footnote, there is no reference to his work in the bibliography. Hilton also states that when Edward of Middleham, Richard III & Anne's son, was made Prince of Wales in York, he was so frail that he had to be carried in a litter. Again, no footnote. I have never heard this before, which doesn't make it untrue, but it needs to be footnoted. Another author that I read recently, equally shy of footnotes, claimed that he was in general good health and likely died of appendicitis.Lastly, Hilton argues "[...] Anne's relationship with her intended husband was considered genuinely incestuous. To anyone with a conscience in the late fifteenth century, it was just plain wrong." No supporting evidence. In his biography Anne Neville : Queen to Richard III, Michael Hicks makes a similar argument, claiming that such a marriage would never be approved, and then backs off, admitting that other marriages with the same impediments were approved. Amy Licence states in her above mentioned biography, published after Hilton's book, that a number of similar marriages took place. The marriage seems to have been accepted in its time. Just to pick a couple of famous examples that come to mind, Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic approved the marriages of two of their daughters to their brothers-in-law around this time period: Catherine of Aragon married the son of Henry VII of England, Arthur, and was betrothed to his brother Henry in 1503; Maria of Aragon married her sister Isabella's widower, Manuel I of Portugal in 1500.So I think it is worth reading, but one can certainly hope for a second improved edition.
    • 3/5
      I was thrilled to see this book; the personalities of the medieval queens of England are incredibly large and vibrant for the time period. The author gives us a window into their lives and personalities, even to the lesser known like Adelizia of Louvain, making them breathe with relevance and making them real people to a modern audience. I really enjoyed getting to know them on a personal level and seeing the role they played on a grander scale. I also was enthralled to see how the role of queens changed throughout the Middles Ages that the author explored.The amount of research and information that went into this works is astounding. The sheer wealth of information presented makes my jaw drop; the author must have been at it for years. I also liked that she wrote in such a way that the reader is kept engaged and isn’t tired out from an excess of dry facts and figures. Chunks of primary material are kept to a minimum, and the author keeps her readers engaged with her research being interwoven with her own words.However, this book did suffer in a few areas that kept it from being a truly stellar work. First off is the lack of editing and proofreading. I’m not sure if the author didn’t have other people editing her work or not; I would think for a professionally published work that she would, though. Yet, there are typos and grammar mistakes literally everywhere. Spaces where there shouldn’t be, randomly inserted letters/misspellings, and the occasional run-on sentence made me grit my teeth in frustration. I can just imagine the frustration of a true grammar Nazi…Then there is the overuse of symbolism the author utilizes throughout, especially in her comparisons to the Virgin Mary and queen-ship. Sometimes the conclusions the author reaches when utilizing these comparisons seemed far-fetched, but maybe that’s just me. Yet, I did find the amount of times these comparisons and symbols being used in the narrative excessive and overused.So not a bad work overall, especially in an area that isn’t explored much in non-fiction. The author breathes personalities into people that might otherwise be footnotes in history or stereotypes for all queens or she-wolves of history. The amount of research is clearly evident and shines through, to the author’s credit. However, an abundance of typos and grammar mistakes along with an excessive use of questionable symbols keep this from being a true forerunner in the nonfiction body of work on medieval queens of England.
    • 3/5
      An overview of England's medieval queen consorts from Matilda of Flanders to Elizabeth of York. We learn a bit about each queen's background and their rise to power. While I appreciate that each lady's life story was heavily involved in the politics of the times, I wish the book was a little more detail oriented. For instance, several of the queens in the book were said to have had sumptuous and extravagant ceremonies surrounding their weddings and coronations, yet there was really no offering has to how it came to be so described. "Her coronation was grand" is about all we get in some instances. For me, a lot of the writing was very dry, and some details such as mentioned above would've gone a long way in helping to gain a better picture of the ladies.
    • 4/5
      I found it hard to rate this book. I had trouble getting into it at first, but then I was gripped it. I enjoyed the way that Hilton wove the stories of succeeding queens together so that one got a fairly unified history of the entire period. Hilton comes across as knowledgeable and thoughtful, although a couple of problems with the book give me pause.One is the numerous typo-kind of mistakes that resulted in errors of fact. As examples, in the section on Philippa of Hainault, there is a reference to Blanche of Lancaster's father Henry, when it is her grandfather Henry who is meant. Philippa's daughter Isabella is said to have given birth to her first child in 1265, which would be a good trick since neither of Isabella's paternal grandparents were alive at that time. One assumes that 1365 was meant. In the section on Catherine de Valois, Isabeau of Bavaria is said to have been imprisoned in 1317, well before she was born c.1370. Catherine is said to have been shorted on her dower rights in 1332, some sixty-nine years before she was born, and even before her parents were born. At one point, Louis IX (St. Louis, 25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270) is referenced when Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483) is meant. These are not the only instances, careful reading would produce more examples.I was also troubled when I got to the section on Anne Neville. I have read several dozen books on the Wars of the Roses and related personalities, so I was paying a bit more attention, and I realized that her footnoting is totally inadequate. Most historians state that neither the mothers nor the birthdates of Richard III's illegitimate children can be known for sure, although there are various theories. Hilton states, with no footnote, that Alice Burgh was the mother of Richard III's illegitimate son John of Pontefract or Gloucester. Amy Licence states in her biography Anne Neville : Richard III's Tragic Queen that this is the theory of Michael Hicks, but not only is there no footnote, there is no reference to his work in the bibliography. Hilton also states that when Edward of Middleham, Richard III & Anne's son, was made Prince of Wales in York, he was so frail that he had to be carried in a litter. Again, no footnote. I have never heard this before, which doesn't make it untrue, but it needs to be footnoted. Another author that I read recently, equally shy of footnotes, claimed that he was in general good health and likely died of appendicitis.Lastly, Hilton argues "[...] Anne's relationship with her intended husband was considered genuinely incestuous. To anyone with a conscience in the late fifteenth century, it was just plain wrong." No supporting evidence. In his biography Anne Neville : Queen to Richard III, Michael Hicks makes a similar argument, claiming that such a marriage would never be approved, and then backs off, admitting that other marriages with the same impediments were approved. Amy Licence states in her above mentioned biography, published after Hilton's book, that a number of similar marriages took place. The marriage seems to have been accepted in its time. Just to pick a couple of famous examples that come to mind, Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic approved the marriages of two of their daughters to their brothers-in-law around this time period: Catherine of Aragon married the son of Henry VII of England, Arthur, and was betrothed to his brother Henry in 1503; Maria of Aragon married her sister Isabella's widower, Manuel I of Portugal in 1500.So I think it is worth reading, but one can certainly hope for a second improved edition.