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Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York Paperback – August 3, 2010

by Lisa Hilton (Author)

25 customer reviews

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The colorful and dramatic history of England's medieval queens.

England's medieval queens were elemental in shaping the history of the nation. In an age where all politics were family politics, dynastic marriages placed English queens at the very center of power—the king's bed. From Matilda of Flanders, William the Conqueror's queen, to Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor consort, England's queens fashioned the nature of monarchy and influenced the direction of the state. Occupying a unique position in the mercurial, often violent world of medieval politics, these queens had to negotiate a role that combined tremendous influence with terrifying vulnerability.

Lisa Hilton's illuminating new book explores the lives of the twenty women who were crowned queen between 1066 and 1503. War, adultery, witchcraft, child abuse, murder—and occasionally even love—formed English queenship, but so too did patronage, learning, and fashion. Lovers of history will enjoy a dramatic narrative that presents an exceptional group of women whose personal ambitions, triumphs, and failures helped to give birth to the modern state. 16 pages of color illustrations

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

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Product Details

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Pegasus; 1 edition (August 3, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1605981052
ISBN-13: 978-1605981055
Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 0.1 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #287 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Royalty
- #381 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Great Britain
- #621 in Books > History > World > Women in History

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Customer Reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars

5 star		24%
4 star		28%
3 star		20%
2 star		16%
1 star		12%

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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful

Average. And fire the editor.

By Judith Loriente on April 23, 2010

Format: Hardcover

After reading Hilton's wonderfully readable (if partisan) biography of Madame de Montespan, I expected Queens Consort to be a great read. Instead, it's simplistic, pedestrian and often even dull.

Hilton does correct some of the inaccurate legends that have been propagated about these women. But she doesn't do it in a way that's fascinating; again, it's pedestrian.

She also has an irritating habit of quoting chunks of other works in the middle of sentences, instead of putting what happened in history into her own words (which I thought was the job of a historian). And she usually doesn't name the source, so that you have to turn to the end notes to see where it's taken from - maybe a chronicler, maybe another historian. Repeatedly quoting other people's works looks like something an insecure student or a novice historian would do. It's not something to be expected from a historian with two books under her belt.

There are also factual errors: for instance, Hilton states (p. 142) that King John was Eleanor of Aquitaine's sixth child, when he was her tenth and last (two by her first husband, eight by her second). She gives the date of Henry III's death (p. 186) as 1274 instead of 1272, even though she gets it right in the family tree, and also on p. 193 - didn't she do a final read of the proofs, and notice this discrepancy?

As for the writing, there's a dreadful sentence on p. 190: "Their magnificence, though, is as much a testament to Edward's conception of the dignity of his kingship than to Eleanor's own qualities." This should be, "is as much a testament to Edward's conception of the dignity of his kingship AS to Eleanor's own qualities", or, "is MORE a testament to Edward's conception of the dignity of his kingship than to Eleanor's own qualities".Read more ›

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

Chronicling The Feminine Side Of Kingship

By John D. Cofield TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on August 23, 2010

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

Lisa Hilton begins this fine new history with a quote from Jane Austen: "It is to be supposed that Henry IV was married, since he certainly had four sons, but it is not in my power to inform the Reader who was his wife." How appropriate to begin with this, since the history of women, even royal women, is often considered secondary to that of their fathers, husbands, and sons. But as Hilton demonstrates here, the Queens Consort of medieval England were often proud, powerful women who wielded influence to assist (and sometimes oppose) their husbands and in-laws.

Queens Consort consists of 19 chapters, each focussed primarily on one woman, from Matilda of Flanders who married William the Conqueror to Elizabeth of York wife of Henry VII. Especially in the earlier centuries there are few direct references to these women, so much has to be taken on inference, leading to quite a few "must have beens" and "probablys" scattered throughout the text. Nevertheless Hilton does a fine job of giving us a good idea of the personalities of all the Queens. For Queens like Eleanor of Aquitaine and Marguerite of Anjou the problem lies in sifting through the massive amount of material available to provide a fair picture of the women, and here again Hilton does well. Of necessity there is a vast amount of material on England's internal and external conflicts and developments, so that the book actually becomes a very accessible and pleasing history of medieval England. Don't overlook the Conclusion, which contains some interesting ideas on the Morte d'Arthur, Beowulf, and the roles of women and of femininity in the Middle Ages.

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

By Ann Drourr on January 27, 2011

Format: Paperback

I have to agree with some of the other reviewers. I was hoping for much more from this book. As someone with more than a passing interest in English history, the many errors were glaring. Poor editing was evident throughout - even in the subtitle! The book starts with Matilda of Flanders not Eleanor of Aquitaine. The book had very little narrative flow and made some extremely interesting periods of history dry and boring. The author was very good at debunking ridiculous legends (such as Rosamund Clifford) however and was clearly striving for as accurate a portrait of their lives as possible.

At the same time there seemed to me to be many opinions presented as truths. The chapter on Eleanor of Aquitaine started out by saying that her reputation is overstated and that she really didn't accomplish much but the facts as they were presented clearly showed why she is so famous and what an impact she had on Europe during her lifetime. She seemed determined at times to present the case for alternate opinions just for their own sake (as with Eleanor of Aquitaine and also Eleanor of Castile). One queen would be chastised for acquiring too much land and money while another was chastised for doing the opposite. She also seems to have a real problem with homosexuality and made some rather offensive comments in the chapters on Edward II and Richard I and II that surprised me.

Overall, an uneven and disappointing read.

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35 of 49 people found the following review helpful

Interesting though don't always agree with the conclusions

By A. Schneider on April 5, 2009

Format: Hardcover

In this book, author Lisa Hilton, explores the development of queenly tradition and practice between the 11th and 15th centuries by looking at the diverse lives of the individual queens - from Matilda of Flanders to Elizabeth of York. For anyone interested in Medieval England, it's a fascinating look at history through the roles that the queens played. My main criticism is with some of the the conclusions Hilton arrives at which are presented as fact when, in reality, they are strictly her opinion.

For example, her blatant bias against Richard III and Anne Neville is very evident in the way she portrays the relationship and marriage as "one of mutual convenience" and an "ugly marriage" because Anne colluded with her husband in cheating her mother of her rights and marying within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity. If this were the only information the reader how about a couple, they would come away with a very distorted view.
For example she says; "how could Anne have countenanced marriage to the man who was responsible for her husband's (Prince Edward)death" and "how could Anne and have chosen to ignore the fact that marriage to Richard was deeply sinful (because they were first cousins once removed).
The answers for both are fairly obvious if one accepts the fact that Anne and Richard were deeply in love - an idea Hilton refuses to acknowledge.

There is no reason at all that Anne should have felt any love for Prince Edward. This was, after all, the son of somebody who had been her families adversary for years and the entire marriage was a cynical exercise in bringing the two former foes together. She didn't know this teenager and the scant information we have about him makes him sound like a spoiled and slightly sadistic boy.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Wonderful book

Published 17 days ago by Amazon Customer

Comprehensive study of nineteen queens.

Lisa Hilton has written a comprehensive study of nineteen queens of England spanning five hundred years. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Carole P. Roman

interesting material but issues

I was thrilled to see this book; the personalities of the medieval queens of England are incredibly large and vibrant for the time period. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Sarah L. Gruwell

Really enjoyed reading all the insiders view of the royal rumbles and struggles for power.

Published 5 months ago by cecilia davidson

A Dull Elizabeth!

I bought this book at a literary festival prior to hearing the author speak. Having read many books on Elizabeth, I am always interested in any new slants on that remarkable... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Kate

I like the interesting historical insight into the characters. Love to read old "gossip" :-)

Published 16 months ago by Ann Shonstrom

The kindle version is unreadable.

This seems to be a well written an very interesting book. However, the kindle version either repeats whole sections at the end of a page, or deletes entire sections from the end... Read more

Published 16 months ago by HPH

A book of opinions.

I read this book with a red pen in hand to correct the grammatical errors and typos. It was nearly impossible to become absorbed in the material because of the author's annoying... Read more

Published 17 months ago by Jennifer Tejada

Little gem. I loved it!

I had no idea that this book was so good! Once I sat down to read it, I really couldn't stop! Lisa Hilton offers a fresh perspective on the lives of medieval queens of England,... Read more

Published 19 months ago by TheHistoryGirl

The first few pages turned me off right away particularly when the author says that it is supposed that Henry IV was married since he had 4 sons but it isn't in her power to tell... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Amazon Customer

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