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frantically's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
I would've much preferred this, if it had been structured more as separate biographies than one continual story — the latter left a number of unfulfilled "plots" from the former queens to have to be resolved in the chapters of later queens. Especially in the case of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who lived to the age of 80, the chapters that concerned the two queens after her were still mainly focused on Eleanor and her relationship to her son & grandson. It didn't leave any room for the other queens to "act" in their own right. This seemed more like a general overview of the English monarchy during the time of the Crusades — which didn't make it any less enjoyable but it wasn't as focused on the "Queens of the Crusades" as I expected it to be.
Weir, even as a women's history, seems to copy a lot of misogynistic opinions of contemporary or modern authors writing about powerful women. I especially noticed this when she was talking about Eleanor of Aquitaine & her mother-in-law Empress Mathilde.
Nevertheless, one can tell that Weir put a lot of work and research into this and isn't scared to go against modern historical "facts" and disprove them with good arguments. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much Weir continuously brought up the Jewish history of the time and how rampant antisemitism was in England — something that's way too often ignored when writing medieval history.
Thus, the book is a mostly enjoyable overview of England from the 12th to the 14th century and a great starting point for gaining some basic information about English queens during the time. I myself focus on the subject at university and have to admit that besides Eleanor of Aquitaine, I didn't know much about the other women in this book. I'm excited to research more about some of them!
Weir, even as a women's history, seems to copy a lot of misogynistic opinions of contemporary or modern authors writing about powerful women. I especially noticed this when she was talking about Eleanor of Aquitaine & her mother-in-law Empress Mathilde.
Nevertheless, one can tell that Weir put a lot of work and research into this and isn't scared to go against modern historical "facts" and disprove them with good arguments. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much Weir continuously brought up the Jewish history of the time and how rampant antisemitism was in England — something that's way too often ignored when writing medieval history.
Thus, the book is a mostly enjoyable overview of England from the 12th to the 14th century and a great starting point for gaining some basic information about English queens during the time. I myself focus on the subject at university and have to admit that besides Eleanor of Aquitaine, I didn't know much about the other women in this book. I'm excited to research more about some of them!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Rape, and Infidelity
Minor: Medical content
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