Lionhearted Queen

Richard the Lionheart is one of the most famous of medieval heros, but what is known about the young woman he married, in Cyprus in May 1191, on the way to the Third Crusade? History has marginalized her, and popular tradition has all but overlooked her but the early sources, sparse though they are, reveal a woman of remarkable courage and tenacity who endured loneliness and hostility both as a queen consort and during her long years of widowhood. Her life tells us much about the fortunes of women in a male-dominated era and the role of a queen in the struggle between England and France at the time.

Berengaria of Navarre was queen of England (1191–99) and lord of Le Mans (1204–30), but has received little attention in terms of a fully encompassing biography from Navarrese, Anglophone, and French perspectives. This book explores her political career whilst utilising the surviving documentation to demonstrate her personal and familial partnerships and life as a dowager queen. This biography follows Berengaria’s journey from a Navarrese infanta, raised in the northern Iberian kingdom, to her travels across Europe to marriage and the Third Crusade, venturing through Sicily, Cyprus, and on to the Holy Land in 1191. Berengaria’s reign and early years as dowager queen are examined in the context of the Anglo-French conflict and domestic disputes, before her decision to negotiate with the king of France, Philip Augustus, and become lord of Le Mans, for which she is far better known in local memory. The volume flows chronologically discussing her roles as infanta, queen, dowager, and lord, and is an ideal resource for scholars and those interested in the history of gender, queenship, lordship, and Western Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

A feisty medieval English princess finds adventure in the Sicilian royal court and the Crusades in this epic historical series opener. Joanna is the strong-willed daughter of King Henry of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Close to her brother Richard Lionheart, she grew up at courts in France and England. From jousts to the infamous Courts of Love, from family quarrels to international intrigues, Joanna’s youth was spent in the thick of it all. With her ambition to become a queen, like her much-admired mother, Joanna marries King William of Sicily and is swept away to a court that is a crossroads for Normans, Italians, Jews, Arabs and Byzantines. She is furious when she learns that her husband William possesses a harem—but she refuses to accept it in silence, acting like a true descendant of Vikings. That is only the beginning of Joanna’s adventures. When Jerusalem falls to Saladin, her husband and The Lionheart make plans to go on Crusade. And Joanna persuades Richard to let her accompany him. This historical epic introduces a strong and truly unforgettable heroine, Joanna Plantagenet, whose drive and persistence helped change the course of history. Praise for Sister of the Lionheart “Chock full of historical events and people about which much has already been written, what makes this particular Plantagenet novel so appealing and readable is Benford’s ability to create a believable, lovable and altogether dynamic character in Joanna. She is the glue that holds this marvelous, oft-told story together, this time from a new perspective. . . . I am waiting (impatiently) for the next Joanna book and highly recommend this installment.” —Historical Novel Society

Examine Lytton Strachey’s struggle to create a new homosexual identity and voice through his life and work! This study of Lytton Strachey, one of the neglected voices of early twentieth-century England, uses his life and work to re-evaluate early British modernism and the relationship between Strachey’s sexual rebellion and literature. A perfect ancillary textbook for courses in history, literature, and women’s studies, Lytton Strachey and the Search for Modern Sexual Identity: The Last Eminent Victorian contributes to the expanding field of queer studies from an historian’s perspective. It looks at homosexuality through the eyes of Lytton Strachey as opposed to the too-often analyzed Oscar Wilde and E.M. Forster. Questioning the idea that homosexuality is a “transgressive rebellion,” as Strachey as well as scholars on Bloomsbury have insisted, this volume focuses on the ongoing conflict between Strachey’s Victorian notions of class, gender, and race, and his desire to be modern. Linking Strachey’s life and work to the larger movement of English modernism, Lytton Strachey and the Search for Modern Sexual Identity examines: Strachey’s role at Cambridge before World War I how he created his version of homosexuality out of the Victorian tradition of male romantic friendship his relations with the British Empire as he constructed a rich fantasy life that rested on racial and class differences his friendships and rivalries with the women of Bloomsbury how Strachey’s use of sexuality, androgyny, and history defined (and undermined) his brand of modernism This thoughtfully indexed, well-referenced volume looks at Strachey’s life, in the words of author Julie Anne Taddeo, “to illustrate some of the issues concerning his generation of Cambridge and Bloomsbury colleagues and how they battled the Victorian ideology, often without success.” It is an essential read for everyone interested in this fascinating chapter in literary (and queer) history.

It was said that the very angels in heaven wept with envy at Richard the Lionheart's coronation. The man the world knew as the perfect king, tall, commanding, handsome. The man who was thought to speak all known languages and could play every instrument. The man who was the most perfect knight in the whole of Christendom.And yet .... there was another side to this king of kings. A darker side. A side that only the women in his life knew. The women who shaped him and made him what he was. His mother, the great Eleanor of Aquitaine. Queen of France and England. His sister, Johanna Plantagenet. Queen of Sicily. And above all, his only wife, Berengaria of Navarre, Princess of Spain and Queen of England and Cyprus. The only Queen of England never to set foot in England.The Three Queens of Richard the Lionheart.Each woman knew a very different King to that shown to the world. Each knew a different side to the man.This is their story. A story based on true events in the lives of these extraordinary women. A story of lies and intrigue and courage in the face of adversity. And above all, a story of love and the triumph of the spirit that lives inside each and every woman.There is an old Nordic proverb that says "In every woman, there is a Queen. Talk to the woman and the Queen will answer." Listen to what these three queens have to say, and make you mind up as to the truth of that proverb!Avoidance of annoyance warning! Some of the material in this book was first published under the title of "Romancing the Rose".

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “The great Crusader king Richard the Lionheart comes alive in all his complex splendor in this masterpiece of medieval tapestry.”—Margaret George A.D. 1189. After the death of his father, Henry II, and the early demise of two of his brothers, Richard is crowned King of England and immediately sets off for the Holy Land. This is the Third Crusade, marked by internecine warfare among the Christians and extraordinary campaigns against the Saracens. Richard’s surviving brother, the younger John, is left behind—and conspires with the French king to steal his brother’s throne. Only their mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, now freed from decades of captivity, remains to protect Richard’s interests and secure his destiny. In this engrossing saga, Sharon Kay Penman delivers a novel of passion, intrigue, battle, and deceit. Lionheart is a sweeping tale of a heroic figure—feared by his enemies and beloved by those he commanded—who became a legend in his own lifetime. “[Sharon Kay] Penman displays her usual grasp of sweeping historical events as well as an uncanny ability to get inside the hearts and minds of her real-life characters. Her reputation for character-driven, solidly detailed historicals is richly deserved.”—Booklist “The beautifully described settings and the characters’ interactions are simply outstanding.”—The Historical Novels Review “Penman takes historical writing to a whole new level.”—The Sacramento Bee “[A] gritty, unsentimental, and richly detailed epic.”—Publishers Weekly Don’t miss the exclusive conversation between Sharon Kay Penman and Margaret George at the back of the book.