Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens - Hilton, Lisa

England's medieval queens were elemental in shaping the history of the \nnation. In an age where all politics were family politics, dynastic \nmarriages placed English queens at the very centre of power - the king's\n bed. From Matilda of Flanders, the Conqueror's queen, to Elizabeth of \nYork, the first Tudor consort, England's queens fashioned the nature of \nmonarchy and influenced the direction of the state. Occupying a unique \nposition in the mercurial, often violent world of medieval state-craft, \nEnglish queens had to negotiate a role that combined tremendous \ninfluence with terrifying vulnerability.\nLisa Hilton's \nmeticulously researched new book explores the lives of the twenty women \nwho were crowned queen between 1066 and 1503, reconsidering the fictions\n surrounding well-known figures like Eleanor of Aquitaine and \nilluminating the lives of forgotten figures such as Adeliza of Louvain. \nWar, adultery, witchcraft, child abuse, murder - and occassionally even \nlov.