Queens of the Age of Chivalry (England's Medieval Queens Book 3)

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Hopefully, that means another literary foray into the often underappreciated and misunderstood world of female power (both subtle and overt) that helped to form good kings or compensate for the weak and cruel ones. And that, in a nutshell, is what QUEENS OF THE AGE OF CHIVALRY is all about. Rather than the end of a brilliant trilogy, it feels like the powerful “prequel” to an endlessly fascinating and ongoing story. This meticulous group biography . . . brushes away long-standing legends. . . . [Alison] Weir skillfully documents the political, religious, and cultural issues of medieval England and France.” — Publishers Weekly As in previous ages, a queen consort’s primary role was to produce strong male heirs, preferably more than one, when infant mortality was horrifically high, even among the most privileged. Few of Britain’s queens could match the prolific and perennially popular Philippa of Hainault, who gave her adoring Edward III no fewer than 12 healthy offspring. And few were more pitiable than the pious and persevering Anne of Bohemia, who could not conceive with the ill-fated Richard II and died barren, or Richard’s second wife, Isabella of Valois, who had not even reached puberty when he was dethroned and executed, leaving her a widow at age 10.

The author portrays a way of life very different to the standards of today, and uses primary sources to reveal the vast sums spent by the royals on maintaining their way of life. She puts the spotlight firmly on the queens, but also fills in the gaps of what happened to their husbands. It makes for fascinating reading; not least as she offers a (to me) new theory about the fate of Edward II, as well as some justification that Isabella did not deserve the evil reputation history has given her. We also see the origins of many of the ongoing traditions of this country.Medieval queens were seen as mere dynastic trophies, yet many of the Plantagenet queens of the High Middle Ages dramatically broke away from the restrictions imposed on their sex, as Alison Weir shows in this gripping group biography of England's fourteenth-century consorts. Coming a close second to securing their husbands’ bloodlines was the importance of marital alliances to forge political ones, as seen in the title origins of all five women portrayed in QUEENS OF THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. None were born in England, although the period saw frequent movements among the nobility to advocate for domestic royal partners. But at a time when England’s claims to large parts of France were continually challenged and tested, ultimately leading to the Hundred Years’ War, arranged political marriages (often with vast transfers of money and real estate) were accepted as one of the few reliable means to broker periodic outbreaks of peace. Social distancing will be implemented in all parts of the arts centre, including The Pound Café Bar, which will now serve customers via table service during the day, as well as our well-ventilated auditorium, where all events will be operating with a reduced capacity

In September 1299, the Princess Marguerite of France found herself on a ship crossing the English Channel, with the white cliffs of Dover drawing ever nearer as she sailed to England to marry its King, Edward I. He was sixty and she was twenty, and probably in awe of his fearsome reputation. Her body was to seal a peace between England and France. Most of all, I found it fascinating reading about queens I had previously heard little about. There is so much detail about each one, and I take my hat off to Alison Weir at the work that goes into every book she writes. My interest was especially piqued at a theory she posits regarding Edward II. But you’ll have to read the book to find out what that was! I feel much better versed in the English royalty of the 14th century now. Maybe I still have a chance at being erudite enough? Although there is a lot of information, no stuffy nonfiction chronicle is this. Rather it reads more like a novel. I really liked that when Weir cited money, she gave the equivalent in today’s price; this provided a meaningful perspective on the costs. But as for the other four (well, maybe with the exception of Philippa of Hainault, Isabella’s daughter-in-law), I was a bit more lukewarm as their stories were just less interesting and impactful and they remained mostly relegated to the shadows of men throughout their lives. At least they seemed to have happy marriages, unlike Isabella, so at least there’s that.

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Marguerite and Isabella had been born into the most illustrious royal house in Christendom. In the early fourteenth century, France was the wealthiest and most heavily populated kingdom in Europe: it had an estimated twenty-one million inhabitants, compared to four and a half million in England, and eighty thousand of them lived in Paris, twice the population of London. French society was essentially feudal, and the royal domain now covered more than half of modern France; the rest was made up of vassal feudatories. This book recounts the stories of five queen consorts of Plantagenet period, during the age of chivalry in the fourteenth century . They are Marguerite of France, wife of Edward I, Isabella of France (Edward II), Philippa of Hainault (Edward III), Anne of Bohemia, first wife of Richard II, and his second wife, Isabella of Valois

Edward’s great adversary was Philip IV of France, the most powerful ruler in Christendom. From 1296, Philip had been at war with both England and Flanders.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It’s customary for the medieval history to be presented through the viewpoint of men, as it was a time of even noble and royal women being little but chattel, men’s property, and the wombs to propagate dynasties. They were who history happened to, not the makers of it. In Queens of the Age of Chivalry, however, Alison Weir tries to bring them from the shadows behind the throne into the spotlight, with varying success. Against this dramatic milieu, Alison Weir describes the lives and reigns of five queen consorts: Marguerite of France was seventeen when she became the second wife of sixty-year-old King Edward I. Isabella of France, later known as “the She-Wolf,” dethroned her husband, Edward II, and ruled England with her lover. In contrast, Philippa of Hainault was a popular queen to the deposed king’s son Edward III. Anne of Bohemia was queen to Richard II, but she died young and childless. Isabella of Valois became Richard’s second wife when she was only six years old, but was caught up in events when he was violently overthrown.

Marguerite of France (c. 1279-1318), second wife of Edward I (r. 1272-1307); Isabella of France (1292-1358), wife of Edward II (r. 1307-1327); Philippa of Hainault (c. 1315-1369), wife of Edward III (r. 1327-1377); Anne of Bohemia (1366-1394), first wife of Richard II (r. 1377-1399); and Richard’s second consort, Isabella of Valois (1389-1409), present a fascinating and often tragic diversity of lifespan, political influence and the all-important criterion of fertility. In this meticulously researched tome we learn not only of these five women, but also quite a bit about their royal spouses. and the importance of these unions. Only Isabella of France made her own story, and as such, most of the book is dedicated to her. Marguerite of France and Anne of Bohemia seemed to have had happy marriages and little to no scandal surrounding them. They were remembered fondly, but seemed to not have any lasting effect on the country their husbands ruled. Philippa of Hainault had some interesting tidbits to her, such as her spending and securing of matches, and Isabella of Valois was more of a tragic child than a Queen in her own right. Isabella and Marguerite must have grown up with a strong sense of their importance. They would have been raised to believe in the sanctity of the royal line of Capet and its superiority over all other ruling dynasties. They would also have learned that royal and aristocratic marriages could bring about changes in the ownership of feudal territories, which sometimes led to kings and lords owning lands far from their own domains.

From one of Britain's best selling historians, a sweeping and magisterial history of the extraordinary lives of five queens in England's turbulent Age of Chivalry