Synopses & Reviews
Maurer illuminates medieval queenship in a male-dominated world, and convincingly re-interprets the full records of Margaret that have survived, including a wonderful cache of her letters... She draws a picture of a highly intelligent, conscientious woman, powerless without her husband's authority, and much maligned in contemporary rumour. BBC HISTORY How did Margaret of Anjou, wife of the ineffective Henry VI and later a queen without a throne, become the most notorious of English medieval queens and help to start the War of the Roses? How did she earn her Shakespearean epithet of 'she-wolf'? In her life she achieved and maintained power in the convoluted and male-dominated world of fifteenth-century politics, something so remarkable that she is forever remembered and described as fierce, harsh, and unforgiving. This book examines not just how she gained influence, but how she exercised it and how she had to overcome the restrictions that affected all women of her time.