She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor see more by Helen Castor Studio Faber and Faber Non FictionLabel Faber and Faber Non Fiction

Closer Look From: Faber and Faber Non Fiction From: Faber and Faber Non Fiction Salesrank: 7365 Released: 2010-10-07 Released: 2010-10-07 Lowest New Price: Click Here  Pages: 496 Format: Kindle Edition Also Shop International: (Not all items available internationally)          She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth Editorial Review: Now a BBC4 series showing in March 2012. When Edward VI - Henry VIII's longed-for son - died in 1553, extraordinarily, there was no one left to claim the title King of England. For the first time, all the contenders for the crown were female. In 1553, England was about to experience the 'monstrous regiment' - the unnatural rule - of a woman. 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 Conquerer, came tantalisingly close to securing her hold on the power of the crown. And between the 12th and the 15th centuries three more exceptional women - Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou - discovered, as queens consort and dowager, how much was possible if the presumptions of male rule were not confronted so explicitly. The stories of these women - told here in all their vivid humanity - illustrate the paradox which the 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 a woman be king, how could royal power lie in female hands? Related Categories: >> >>Books >>Subjects >>Biography >>British Royalty >>General AAS