#historical queens

[elephantlovemedleys]

[bad-research]

Isabella I of Castile

We all know that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred something two, but what do you know about the woman who funded that journey? Here are some fun party facts about Isabella I of Castile.

~She was the mother of one of my favorite Queen’s ever: Joanna, Queen of Castile

~She was also the mother of one of my favorite wives of Henry VIII (they are all one of my favorites, admittedly) Catherine of Aragon

~She brought the crime rate of Castile to the lowest it had been in years by funding a police force

~She and her husband were the first monarchs to be known as the Queen and King of Spain

~she had this super cool coat of arms

~Unfortunately, she was also super catholic and drove Muslim and Jewish people out of Spain 

~She established the Spanish Inquisition

~People keep trying to make her a saint, but the effort was paused from 1991 to 2020 cause of the thing with the Jews

~She was the first woman to be featured on US Postage Stamps!

Like nearly every historical person, she did some cool stuff but she was also problematic AF. But instead of remembering Columbus, lets remember the pretty badass queen who sent him on his journey.

[christinaroseandrews]

Queens of the Crusades follows the lives of five of England's Queens: Eleanor of Aquitaine (Henry II), Berengaria of Navarre (Richard I), Isabella of Angoulême (John I), Eleanor (Alienor) of Provence (Richard III), and Eleanor of Castile (Edward I) -- Yes lots of Eleanors.  The book uses primary sources and other research (mostly Mathew Paris) to tell the story of these five queens.

The majority of the book focuses on two of them: the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine and the ambiguous Eleanor of Castile. In fact, the first third of the book is devoted to Eleanor of Aquitaine which can be good or bad depending on your tastes. I personally would have liked a bit more time spent on the other queens... particularly Isabella, but that is me.

The book is told in Weir's incredibly readable style. And it's easy for the armchair historian to pick up and follow along with. While there's a lot of very interesting information in this book, readers need to be aware that there is some unstated bias in the prose and some theories/facts which are in dispute. It's a good start for people looking for more information about these queens who have exhausted Wikipedia but it's really only a start.

There were also some odd tangents at times that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the narrative and felt shoehorned in because they were interesting tidbits but didn't relate fully to the information at hand.

In all, I am torn about what to rate this book. It's readable. It's approachable. But there's a lack of context provided to some of the sources and Weir's bias is present but it's not stated or acknowledged. There's also the potential for confusion regarding the names in this book. Maud is used instead of Mathilda for Henry II's mother. Alienor is used for Eleanor of Provence. At several points, I had to pause to check to make sure that the name in question was a viable one and that lessened my reading enjoyment. I'm not a fan of fact-checking my non-fiction, and I needed to fact check much of this book. Additionally, I also felt that the book was uneven. The section on Eleanor of Aquitaine was far and away the best and most in depth. However the section on Berengaria of Navarre felt lacking.

If you're a fan of Weir's work, you're going to enjoy this. If you aren't, I'd give it a miss. If you're new to the subject, then this is a good starting point and something light and easy to read.

In all, I liked and disliked parts of this book. And for that I give this:

Three Stars

If this is your jam, you can get it here.

If you like these kind of honest reviews, please consider supporting us here!

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley

[cynicalrainbows]

I don’t believe in any ghosts except the ghosts of strong historical women who float behind us and call out ghostly encouragement as they watch us, their 21st century descendants, struggle through the same shit they had to deal with in their day.

[catherinedefrance]

Share a coke with:

your favorite historical queen

[katybirdy95]

MARIE ANTOINETTE (QUEEN OF FRANCE) (10 May 1774 – 4 September 1791)

Maria Antonia was born on 2 November 1755, at the Hofburg Palace, in Vienna. She was the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of the Habsburg Empire, and her husband Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her godparents were Joseph I and Mariana Victoria, King and Queen of Portugal; Archduke Joseph and Archduchess Maria Anna acted as proxies for their newborn sister. Shortly after her birth, she was placed under the care of the Governess of the Imperial children, Countess von Brandeis. Maria Antonia was raised with her three-year older sister Maria Carolina, with whom she had a lifelong close relationship. As to her relationship with her mother, it was difficult but both the empress and her daughter loved each other.

Maria Antonia spent her formative years between the Hofburg Palace and Schönbrunn, the imperial summer residence in Vienna, where on 13 October 1762, when she was seven, she met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, two months her junior and who was, at that time, a child prodigy.

Despite the private tutoring she received, results of her schooling were less than satisfactory. At the age of ten she could not write correctly in German or in any language commonly used at court, such as French and Italian. Conversations with her were stilted.

Under the teaching of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Maria Antonia developed into a good musician. She learned to play the harp, the harpsichord and the flute. During the family's gatherings in the evenings, she would sing, as she had a beautiful voice. She also excelled at dancing, had an "exquisite" poise, and loved dolls.

[catherinedefrance]

yea im into bdsm

Boleyn, Devonshire, Sissi and Marie Antoinette

[vardaelcntari]

I had to repaint this badass queen.

Isabella of France, Queen of England, aka The She-Wolf of France