She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth

by Helen Castor

Overview

"Exhilarating. . . . A precise yet imaginative reading of the past. . . . Readers will love this book, finding it wholly absorbing and rewarding." —Hilary Mantel, Booker Prize winning author of Wolf Hall
Prize-winning historian Helen Castor delivers a compelling, eye-opening examination of women and power in England, witnessed through the lives of six women who exercised power against all odds—and one who never got the chance.
With the death of Edward VI in 1553, England, for the first time, would have a reigning queen. The question was: Who?
Four women stood upon the crest of history: Katherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary; Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Lady Jane Grey. But over the centuries, other exceptional women had struggled to push the boundaries of their authority and influence—and been vilified as "she-wolves" for their ambitions. Revealed in vivid detail, the stories of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda expose the paradox that England's next female leaders would confront as the Tudor throne lay before them—man ruled woman, but these women sought to rule a nation.
"Full of beautiful, imperiled ladies; fearless knights; and remarkable, often unbelievable turns of fortune." —Cleveland Plain Dealer
"[Helen Castor is] an accomplished and elegant historian." —Miranda Seymour, New York Times Book Review
"Gripping. . . . A superb history." —Simon Sebag Montefiore, Daily Telegraph, London
"Fascinating." —Kirkus Reviews
"[The] turns of fortune will fasten royalty readers to Castor's lively narrative." —Booklist
"Castor's. . . . tight storytelling makes this unusually fine royal history enjoyable reading." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062065780
Publisher:	HarperCollins e-books
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	491
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

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 and won the English Association's Beatrice White Prize. Her second book, She-Wolves, was selected as one of the books of the year by The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Financial Times, and BBC History Magazine. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Preface xiii

Part I Beginnings

1 July 6, 1553: The King Is Dead 5

2 Long Live the Queen? 25

Part II Matilda: Lady of England

3 This Land Grew Dark 39

4 Mathilda Imperatrix 51

5 Lady of England 73

6 Greatest in Her Offspring 100

Part III Eleanor: an Incomparable Woman

7 An Incomparable Woman 133

8 The War Without Love 164

9 By the Wrath of God, Queen of England 184

10 Surpassing Almost All the Queens of This World 194

Part IV Isabella: Iron Lady

11 One Man So Loved Another 231

12 Dearest and Most Powerful 256

13 "Someone Has Come Between My Husband and Myself" 283

14 Iron Lady 303

Part V Margaret: A Great and Strong Laboured Woman

15 Our Lady Sovereign 329

16 A Great and Strong Laboured Woman 347

17 Might and Power 362

18 The Queen Sustains Us 388

Part VI New Beginnings

19 July 6, 1553: Long Live the Queen 415

20 Not of Ladies' Capacity 430

21 A Queen and by the Same Title a King Also 451

Note on Sources and Further Reading 461

Index 469

What People are Saying About This

Simon Sebag Montefiore

“A gripping book . . . She-Wolves is a superb history of the powerful women who have surrounded England’s throne, combining blood-drenched drama, politics, sex and swordplay with scholarly analysis, symptahy for the plight of women and elegant writing.”

Miranda Seymour

“[Helen Castor is] an accomplished and elegant historian.”

Jenny Uglow

“Castor skillfully combines this analysis with driving narratives, using vivd details from contemporary chronicles to bring those distant days alive. She-Wolves makes one gasp at the brutality of medieval power struggles—and at the strength and vitality of the women who sought to wield royal power.”

Editorial Reviews

Helen Castor has an exhilarating narrative gift. Without selling short the complex circumstances she describes, she brings to her narratives the kind of clarity that is a sign of absolute mastery of the material. . . . She-Wolves offers a precise yet imaginative reading of the past. I think readers will love this book, finding it wholly absorbing and rewarding.” — Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall

“Helen Castor’s very readable She-Wolves is . . . full of beautiful, imperiled ladies; fearless knights; and remarkable, often unbelievable turns of fortune. . . . Castor is a fine scholar and an equally fine storyteller.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer

“[Helen Castor is] an accomplished and elegant historian.” — Miranda Seymour, New York Times Book Review

“A gripping book . . . She-Wolves is a superb history of the powerful women who have surrounded England’s throne, combining blood-drenched drama, politics, sex and swordplay with scholarly analysis, symptahy for the plight of women and elegant writing.” — Simon Sebag Montefiore, Daily Telegraph (London)

“A fascinating biography of four powerful English queens…An insightful look at issues still relevant today, related by an accomplished historian and storyteller.” — Kirkus Reviews

“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 (starred review)

“She-Wolves makes for exceptional, even inspirational reading.” — BookPage

“Beautifully narrated . . . learned and exciting. This is medieval history at its best.” — Evening Standard

“Castor skillfully combines this analysis with driving narratives, using vivd details from contemporary chronicles to bring those distant days alive. She-Wolves makes one gasp at the brutality of medieval power struggles—and at the strength and vitality of the women who sought to wield royal power.” — Jenny Uglow, Financial Times

“Castor 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

From the Publisher

Exceptional, even inspirational reading.

BookPage

Beautifully narrated . . . learned and exciting. This is medieval history at its best.

Evening Standard

[Helen Castor is] an accomplished and elegant historian.

Miranda Seymour

Helen Castor’s very readable She-Wolves is . . . full of beautiful, imperiled ladies; fearless knights; and remarkable, often unbelievable turns of fortune. . . . Castor is a fine scholar and an equally fine storyteller.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

A gripping book . . . She-Wolves is a superb history of the powerful women who have surrounded England’s throne, combining blood-drenched drama, politics, sex and swordplay with scholarly analysis, symptahy for the plight of women and elegant writing.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Castor skillfully combines this analysis with driving narratives, using vivd details from contemporary chronicles to bring those distant days alive. She-Wolves makes one gasp at the brutality of medieval power struggles—and at the strength and vitality of the women who sought to wield royal power.

Jenny Uglow

Cambridge research fellow Castor follows up her history of the 15th-century Paston family (Blood and Roses: One Family's Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses, 2006) with a fascinating biography of four powerful English queens who attempted without success to rule England before the coronation of Elizabeth I.

Taking as a point of departure the unexpected death of young king Edward VI, in 1553, and the accession to the throne of Elizabeth I five years later, the author examines a 400-hundred year sweep of history when females were barred from ruling in their own name. During this period, England was in constant turmoil, and the monarchy had limited power over the feudal lords, who frequently contested his rule with military force. While Henry VIII could successfully determine his successors, Henry I failed in his effort to place his daughter Matilda on the throne after his death. Outraged at the notion of a woman as "king," the nobility rebelled. A woman might take over the reigns of government temporarily in the name of her husband or as regent for an underage son, but she could not assume power in her own name. In the following centuries, similar circumstances confronted Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen Isabella and Margaret of Anjou, whom Shakespeare described as the "She-wolf of France." Quoting Shakespeare, Castor writes, "[t]he visceral force of this image drew on a characterisation of female power as grotesque and immoral." Nevertheless, as the author ably demonstrates, these women managed to succeed in wielding significant power and, in doing so, laid the groundwork for Elizabeth's successful rule as a monarch who, in her own words, had "the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too."

An insightful look at issues still relevant today, related by an accomplished historian and storyteller.

Kirkus Reviews