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The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth
by Helen Castor
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 presumptions 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?
"Starred Review. Castor's deep research will please European, military, and women's historians, while [her] tight storytelling makes this unusually fine royal history enjoyable reading for casual readers." - Publishers Weekly
"[C]astor has done a masterful job of outlining the burdens these women faced...Readers of popular history of British royals will enjoy their immensely human stories." - Library Journal
"A fascinating biography…An insightful look at issues still relevant today, related by an accomplished historian and storyteller." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about She-Wolves was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo by Chris Gibbions
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 in 2005 and won the English Association's Beatrice White Prize in 2006. Her second book, She-Wolves, was selected as one of the books of the year for 2010 by the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Independent, Financial Times, and BBC History Magazine. She lives in London.
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