The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 [Hardcover]

J. L. Laynesmith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2004

The last medieval queens of England were Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville, and Elizabeth of York - four very different women whose lives and queenship were dominated by the Wars of the Roses. This book is not a traditional biography but a thematic study of the ideology and practice of queenship. It examines the motivations behind the choice of the first English-born queens, the multi-faceted rituals of coronation, childbirth, and funeral, the divided loyalties between family and king, and the significance of a position at the heart of the English power structure that could only be filled by a woman. It sheds new light on the queens' struggles to defend their children's rights to the throne, and argues that ideologically and politically a queen was integral to the proper exercise of mature kingship in this period.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`Weaving together institutions and personality, family and realm, intimacy and ceremony, The Last Medieval Queens, is a wise book by a young and lively scholar. It is well written and beautifully produced, and is worthy of a wide readership both academic and popular.' History Today

`The book nicely compliments the numerous studies of English queenship in the thirteenth century and earlier. It will be the essential reference point for discussion of the late medieval English queenship for many years to come.' History

About the Author

J. L. Laynesmith received her doctorate from the University of York and has taught medieval history at the universities of York, Oxford, Reading, and Huddersfield.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199247374
• ISBN-13: 978-0199247370
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,286,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some Good Details, July 10, 2006

By 

Evelyn Hoffester "Eve" (VA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 (Paperback)

I wouldn't recommend this book as a "good read" necessarily, this writer isn't Alison Weir or Carolly Erickson, but there are good details throughout that illustrate the idea of queenship in the last half of the 15th century. The cover claims that it is about Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville, and Elizabeth of York, however don't be confused into thinking this is a biography of these four women. Rather the book is split into four subjects, such as ceremony, motherhood, households, etc. and uses those particular queens to illustrate certain points.
If you have a background in the subject area than this book offers some interesting details, however if you are new to the war of the roses time period than I would suggest starting elsewhere.

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money, April 19, 2005

By 

Kathryn Griner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 (Hardcover)

This book was quite a disappointment. What little bits of new information you might glean were buried in disorganized details. Example of two sentences from page 192 on the role of the queen's family: "Richard II was more fortunate, and perhaps more careful, with his half-brothers than Henry III had been. John Holland and his nephew Thomas Holland were members of Richard's inner circle in the 1390s, but were spared by Henry IV, probably at least in part because John had married Henry's sister Elizabeth, but possibly also because their influence over the king was not considered as malign as that of the chamber knights of the 1380s, nor had Richard aroused resentment against them by so heaping them with honours as he had his cousin the earl of Ruland or William le Scrope." Huh? This is a book about Margarent of Angou, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville and Elizabeth or York?