Women’s History
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God’s Own Gentlewoman: The Life of Margaret Paston Diane Watt
The remarkable story of Margaret Paston, whose letters form the most extensive collection of personal writings by a medieval English woman. Drawing on what is the largest archive of medieval correspondence relating to a single family in the UK, God’s Own Gentlewoman explores what everyday life was like during the turbulent decades at the height Continue reading
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Book Review: Edward II’s Nieces, The Clare Sisters by Kathryn Warner
The de Clare sisters Eleanor, Margaret and Elizabeth were born in the 1290s as the eldest granddaughters of King Edward I of England and his Spanish queen Eleanor of Castile, and were the daughters of the greatest nobleman in England, Gilbert the Red’ de Clare, earl of Gloucester. They grew to adulthood during the turbulent Continue reading
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Reviewed: Queens of the Conquest by Alison Weir
The story of England’s medieval queens is vivid and stirring, packed with tragedy, high drama and even comedy. It is a chronicle of love, murder, war and betrayal, filled with passion, intrigue and sorrow, peopled by a cast of heroines, villains, stateswomen and lovers. In the first volume of this epic new series, Alison Weir Continue reading
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Reviewed: Crown of Blood, The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis
A significant retelling of the often-misunderstood tale of Lady Jane Grey’s journey through her trial and execution—recalling the dangerous plots and web of deadly intrigue in which she became involuntarily tangled, and which ultimately led to a catastrophic conclusion. “Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to Continue reading
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Those Terrible Middle Ages by Regine Pernoud
As she examines the many misconceptions about the “Middle Ages”, the renown French historian, Regine Pernoud, gives the reader a refreshingly original perspective on many subjects, both historical (from the Inquisition and witchcraft trials to a comparison of Gothic and Renaissance creative inspiration) as well as eminently modern (from law and the place of women Continue reading
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Reviewed: What Regency Women Did For Us by Rachel Knowles
Regency women inhabited a very different world from the one in which we live today. Considered intellectually inferior to men, they received little education and had very few rights. This book tells the inspirational stories of twelve women, from very different backgrounds, who overcame often huge obstacles to achieve success. These women were pioneers, philanthropists Continue reading
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Reviewed: The Sister Queens, Isabel and Katherine de Valois by Mary McGrigor
Hardcover Edition Published May 1st, 2016, The History Press, 288 Pages Two sisters: born nine years apart to a mad French king during the turbulent years of the Hundred Years War, the bitter series of conflicts that set the House of Plantagenet against the House of Valois. Catherine de Valois, the beautiful young bride of Continue reading
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