She-wolves the women who ruled England before Elizabeth
When Edward VI died in 1553, the extraordinary fact was that there was no one left to claim the title of king of England. For the first time, England would have a reigning queen, but the question was which one: Katherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary; Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth; or one...
| Main Author: | Castor, Helen. |
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| Format: | Downloads eBook Books eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
HarperCollins,
c2011.
|
| Edition: | 1st ed. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
Go to Downloadable eBook Here. |
| Summary: |
When Edward VI died in 1553, the extraordinary fact was that there was no one left to claim the title of king of England. For the first time, England would have a reigning queen, but the question was which one: Katherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary; Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth; or one of their cousins, Lady Jane Grey or Mary, Queen of Scots. But female rule in England also had a past. Four hundred years before Edward's death, Matilda, daughter of Henry I and granddaughter of William the Conqueror, came tantalizingly close to securing the crown for herself. And between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries three more exceptional women -- Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou -- discovered how much was possible if pre-sumptions of male rule were not confronted so explicitly, and just how quickly they might be vilified as "she-wolves" for their pains. The stories of these women, told here in all their vivid detail, expose the paradox that female heirs to the Tudor throne had no choice but to negotiate. Man was the head of woman, and the king was the head of all. How, then, could royal power lie in female hands? - Publisher. |
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| Physical Description: |
1 online resource (xv, 480 p.) : col. ill., maps, geneal. tables. |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780062065780 0062065785 |
| Author Notes: |
Helen Castor is a historian of medieval England and a Bye-Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her first book, Blood and Roses , was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the English Association's Beatrice White Prize. Her second book, She-Wolves , was selected as one of the books of the year by The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Financial Times , and BBC History Magazine . She lives in London. |