There were many powerful female rulers during the early medieval period, but few records of them exist. Luckily a historical fluke has left accounts of two of them: the Frankish queens, Fredegund and Brunhild, as Shelley Puhak explains. On 14 April, 586, the cathedral of Rouen was crowded with the faithful, eager to celebrate the […]
The Stone Rose by Carol McGrath
London, 1350, and Agnes, daughter of a stonemason, is struggling to keep her father’s trade in a city decimated by plague. And then she receives a mysterious message from the disgraced Queen Isabella: mother of King Edward III, and widow of Edward II. Isabella has a task that only Agnes can fulfil. She wants her […]
International Trade in the Middle Ages by Hilary Green
This is a journey through the complex developing trade of the Middle Ages, which is the foundation of trade today. Taking the production of wool in the abbeys of the north of England as a starting point, she follows its journey to Flanders where it was woven into a variety of textiles in the growing […]
A Marriage of Lions by Elizabeth Chadwick
England in 1238. Raised at the court of King Henry III as a chamber lady to the queen, young Joanna of Swanscombe’s life changes forever when she comes into an inheritance far above all expectations, including her own. Now that she’s a wealthy heiress, Joanna’s arranged marriage to the King’s charming, tournament-loving half-brother William de […]
Beheld: Godiva’s Story by Christopher M Cevasco
Having survived a grave illness to become one of 11th-century England’s wealthiest landowners, Godgyfu of Coventry remains forever grateful to the town whose patron saint worked such miracles. She vows to rebuild Coventry’s abbey and better the lives of its townsfolk. But the wider kingdom is descending into political turmoil, and her husband, Earl Leofric, […]
Cecily by Annie Garthwaite
1431 is a dangerous time for a woman to be defiant. England has been fighting France for 100 years. At home, power-hungry men within a corrupt government manipulate a weak king – and name Cecily’s husband, York’s loyal duke, an enemy. As the king’s grasp on sanity weakens, plots to destroy York take root. It […]
The Dark Queens by Shelley Puhak
Brunhild was a Visigothic princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet – in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport – these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms […]
Castles of Wales by John Paul Davis
In 1277, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Gwynedd, met with Edward I of England in Aberconwy to finalise a treaty that would change the fate of both nations. His hand forced by Edward’s invasion earlier that year, Llywelyn’s acceptance of the terms confirmed not only short-term peace but also that the rule of Wales would […]