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  • Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Her Successors

  • By: Alison Weir
  • Narrated by: Esther Wane
  • Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)

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Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Her Successors

By: Alison Weir
Narrated by: Esther Wane
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Publisher's Summary

The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, queen seductresses, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of Southern Europe - these determined women often broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill.

Alison Weir’s ground-breaking history of the queens of medieval England now moves into a period of even higher drama, from 1154 to 1291: years of chivalry, dynastic ambition, conflict with the church, baronial wars and the all-pervading bonds of feudalism. We see events such as the murder of Becket, the Magna Carta and the birth of parliaments from a new perspective. Her narrative begins with the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Henry II establishes a dynasty which rules for more than 300 years and creates the most powerful empire in Western Christendom - but also sows the seeds for some of the most destructive family conflicts in history and for the collapse, under her son King John, of England’s power in Europe. The lives of Eleanor’s successors were just as remarkable: Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard the Lionheart, Isabella of Angoulême, queen of John, and Alienor of Provence, queen of Henry III, and finally Eleanor of Castile, the grasping but beloved wife of Edward I.

Through the story of these first five Plantagenet queens, Alison Weir provides an enthralling new perspective on a dramatic period of high romance and sometimes low politics, with determined women at its heart.

©2019 Alison Weir (P)2020 W F Howes

What listeners say about Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Her Successors

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Great book, but difficult to listen to

I have the hardcopy version of the first book in this series (Queens of the Conquest), so I was conscious that there might be some difficulty with an audio version because of the large amount of quotations and footnoting. I knew that the footnotes would not be read (which is unfortunate because in the first book the footnotes often contained interesting information) but I thought there would at least be clarity about when I was listening to the main body text and quotations. Sadly that was not always the case.

I found the narrator to be very difficult to listen to. Her language was precise, but lacking in warmth or nuance. It was often only part way into a quote that I realised this was a quote, not the central text. At one stage I thought I had worked out that when she pronounced the g in king this meant it was a quote, but this was inconsistent whether it was a quote or body text. It sadly really detracted from the experience.

Not enough to stop me from buying the third audio book in the series - but this was more because I'm wanting to save trees than because I was looking forward to the 'performance'.

Whilst the content is quite dry because it is largely a recitation of primary sources, I really like that insight so for me the content was excellent.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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An interesting history

An interesting history of the royal women of the crusades. The story was a little dry but I guess you can only flesh out just so much when it is drawn from what little primary source remains. The narrator is stiff and halting and over articulates sometimes. All in all, a worthy listen.

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