The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

by Michael Rank, Melissa Rank

The idea of a powerful woman in the Middle Ages seems like an oxymoron. Females in this time are imagined to be damsels in distress, trapped in a high tower, and waiting for knights to rescue them, all while wearing traffic-cones for a hat. After rescue, their lives improved little. Their career choices were to be a docile queen, housewife, or be burned at the stake for witchcraft.

But what if this image of medieval women is a complete fiction? It turns out that it is. Powerful female rulers fill the Middle Ages. Anglo-Saxon queen Aethelflaed personally led armies into direct combat with Vikings in the 900s and saved England from foreign invasion. Byzantine Empress Theodora kept the empire from falling apart during the Nika Revolts and stopped her husband Justinian from fleeing Constantinople. Catherine of Siena almost single-handedly restored the papacy to Rome in the 1300s and navigated the brutal and male-dominated world of Italian politics. Joan of Arc completely reversed the fortunes of France in the Hundred Years War and commanded assaults on English fortresses despite being an illiterate 17-year-old peasant.

This book will look at the lives of the ten most powerful women in the Middle Ages. Whether it is the famed scholar Anna Komnene, who wrote the first narrative history, or Ottoman Queen Mother Kösem Sultan, who ruled the Islamic empire through three of her sons – all these women held extraordinary levels of power at a time when women were thought to not have any. It will explore how they managed to ascend the throne, what made their accomplishments so notable, and the impact they had on their respective societies after their deaths. It will also describe the historical background of these women, their cultures, and what about it helped or hindered their rise.

Their stories still echo down to today. They are a testimony to the resiliency of individuals to accomplish extraordinary things, even if society puts on them enormous constraints.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Medieval History, Medieval, Biography, Womens

132 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2013

About the author

Michael Rank is a doctoral candidate in Middle East history. He has studied Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Armenian, but can still pull out a rural Midwestern accent if need be. He also worked as a journalist in Istanbul for nearly a decade and reported on religion and human rights.

He is the author of the #1 Amazon best seller “From Muhammed to Burj Khalifa: A Crash Course in 2,000 Years of Middle East History,” and “History's Worst Dictators: A Short Guide to the Most Brutal Leaders, From Emperor Nero to Ivan the Terrible.”

Reviews

[Nicole~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Featured in this book of the Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages are:

Empress Theodore (500-548)
Lady Aethelfaed of the Mercians(872-918)
Anna Komnene(1083-1153)
Eleanor of Aquitaine(1122-1204)
Saint Catherine of Siena(1347-1380)
Margaret I of Denmark (1353-1412)
Joan of Arc (1412-1431)
Isabella I (1451-1504)
Elizabeth I ( 1533-1603)
Kösem Sultan (1590-1651)

Unquestioningly, this was a disappointing book filled with uninspiring, superficial, abridged biographical content, which could just as well have been Googled or quickly researched off Wikipedia for all the information it presented. It seemed as if the authors picked a handful of notable women between 500 a.d. to 1651 to write a quality high school term paper. Outside of Saint Catherine of Siena ( 1347-1380) and Joan of Arc (1412-1431), the rest of these "powerful" women were queens - either born or married into royal positions - and therefore were able to wield significant dominion over their state and countrymen.
Were they successful in upholding their own will in a period generally governed by a male monarchy? Certainly, for they were intelligent, cunning and ruthless when need be and knew how to manipulate the system. Their lives were privileged from the start, their wealth and power were predestined.
The singular stand-out among these women was Joan of Arc, who was born a peasant, and rose to greatness by leading French armies against the English, managing war strategies and winning numerous battles without prior war training, or any regal entitlement that would have given her advantage. Her accomplishments were vast; it's in this respect that I find her "power" most remarkable, the enormity of which far exceeded the rest of the above-mentioned. Apart from well organized chapters and easy reading, there was nothing earth-shattering within this report that has brought any new or brilliant revelations to light. Quite a let-down.

[Samantha]

'Elizabeth of Tudor'?

Based on the title and the stellar reviews, I'm going to pass. It is 99c on Kindle right now if anyone else cares to give it a try.

[Paloma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una serie de ensayos interesantes sobre mujeres independientes y poderosas durante la Edad Media. No conocía a muchas de estas figuras históricas, salvo a Juana de Arco, Leonor de Aquitania e Isabel Tudor, por lo cual este libro resulta novedoso al presentar las vidas de otras líderes que han permanecido en la oscuridad por siglos. La introducción es también interesante porque pone a estas mujeres en su contexto histórico, señalando que no podemos verlas como feministas bajo los parámetros de nuestro siglo: ellas mismas no se veían como modelos de independencia ni pensaban en términos de empoderamiento femenino. En este sentido, puede resultar algo impactante saber que algunas de estas mujeres no pensaban en términos de "igualdad" ni buscaban las mismas condiciones para todas pero, de nuevo, se debe entender en su contexto y en las ideas de la época.
Con todo, las historias resultan inspiradoras e ilustran que las mujeres también buscan y pueden ejercer el poder de una manera justa pero al tiempo que cumplen sus ambiciones. Sin duda, tuvieron que sobrepasar muchos obstáculos, incluso atropellando a otros en su camino, pero nada que fuera distinto a sus contemporáneos masculinos.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me say that I have spent a good portion of the last year reading strictly for academic purposes as I arrive at graduation. I have picked apart theories and essays and sources and rebuilt them into my own knowledge. I would NOT call this book in ANY way academic. There are no citations, there are multiple grammatical errors. Really? You want to call Henry VIII a "serial monogamist"? Trust me, there was NO hint of sarcasm, and it was appalling. As far as I am concerned, this is a book of assumptions and dates, lists and comparisons that are dead end. Lady Gaga would be jealous of Queen Elizabeth's wig collection? Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand made the Gates' look like Spears and Federline?
This is not academic writing. How do you pare down some of the greatest women in history to a paltry 10 pages apiece? As a history major, I do not even feel like this would be a good recommendation for a novice, let alone an academic.

[Iset · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up on kindle lending library, my interest piqued by the title. Unfortunately it wasn't as good a read as I had hoped.

The book covers several interesting figures, some well-known, others less so, and was easy to read, however that pretty much encapsulates its positives. The negatives? Well, by "cover" I really mean "provides an extremely brief overview of each individual's life and deeds, regurgitating myths and misconceptions wholesale without questioning them, and not bothering to reference at all". It was rather like clicking on a Wikipedia article... without Wikipedia's footnotes... but about the same level of summarisation and dubious assertions.

Ho hum. Not an awful read, but not really much of a read at all.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Needed an editor, and, more importantly, a fact checker. Not giving the correct Mary as the mother of James I? Implying Henry V married someone other than who he actually married? It's disgraceful.

[Elnora Romness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take a gander at screen portrayals of medieval women, and you'll often find the picture of a woman who is completely steam-rolled by the culture of the time, destined for a life of frilly dresses and servitude to men. Is this really how it was...or were there women who would have made Susan B. Anthony proud? Well, let's see....

The Good
If my history books had been this interesting, I would have been far less bored and paid a lot more attention. = )

This book was just plain fun to read. Rank (both of them) covered a whole bunch of stuff about each of the women here presented. We learn a bit about their culture, history, familial history, etc. We learn a smidge about their personality and what made them tick. We learn scads about their accomplishments and why those accomplishments were such a gosh-darned big deal!

When we picture women in the middle ages, we often get a picture of some frilly lady who would rather die than squash a bug with her bare hands. Rank posits that this image is rather fictitious, and then presents 10 women who defy even modern standards of female behavior and expectations (let's face it, suffrage still has a long way to go...but I'll stay off that soap box for now). One woman led armies at that "delicate" young age of 17. Another ruled through sons and grandsons in a culture where women today are treated very poorly. yet another influenced culture even today!

Rank has produced a book here that delves into the personal, sociological, political, and geographical history of some of the most influential women in the middle ages. They have done so in way that is entertaining without being dismissive, interesting without losing impact, and engaging without dancing around the facts. Their writing style flows extremely well, contains an appropriate level of snark, and kept me reading despite the fact that there is little plot to speak of (c'mon...this is, after all, a history book).

Were I to teach a history class that included these women, I'd include this book as required reading.

The Bugly (bad/ugly)
As much as I like the book, I didn't like everything about it.

I get that it is a short work meant to introduce the women who are featured, but it felt like this was a buzz-by. You know that feeling when you meet someone, feel like you've known them for ages, talk for about 5 minutes, and then never see them again despite the fact that they were intensely interesting? This is how I felt at the end of each chapter. I had just gotten to know enough about the person to want to continue our "conversation" and then was introduced to someone else (not a feeling unlike that I'm sure some experience during speed-dating). This reader wanted longer chapters...more character development. :P More details, please (keep in mind that everywhere in life I'm often the one asking for more details...during a job performance review, one supervisor stated that her major complaint was that I'm too detailed)!!

How was this list formulated? Surely a list putting forward "the most powerful women in the middle ages" was debated. We get a little bit of the story about how this list was made, but again - more details, please! (Okay, maybe I'm just getting a tad pedantic).

Finally, there were typos/obvious missing words. Enough that I was derailed a bit. Not too badly, but this is an editing issue.

OVERALL - I give this book a 4 out of 5!!

[Carolina Casas · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing I enjoyed a lot was deconstructing the myth that these women set the bar for breaking gender barriers having this in mind when they did. They didn't. These women were more progressive than most of their peers, but they still upholded patriarchal law and none of them believed that gender barriers should be destroyed. Some tried to do more for others but within the framework (and having the mentality) of the time they lived in. One example is Joan of Arc who inspired the French people to rise up against the English and take up the cause of the Dauphin whom she later helped crown in Rheims as Charles VII, but in no way she believed women should serve in the military or have more liberties -she believed that she was a special case because god talked to her. Most of the women in this book were among the same lines.
My nitpick is that some of the last women in this book are still within the myths that ruled their era without their reigns being given much more exploration such as Elizabeth I, who we are not given the darkest aspects of her reign. Either way it was a good read and for any history enthusiast this will be a good and quick read.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a lover of history I was already familiar with the lives of most of the women mentioned in this book. However, I was surprised by some interesting facts I had not heard of before. Not to mention the fact that I was introduced to a few women in history I had never heard of before.

This is a very informative book and I would definitely recommend it to any lover of history.


This book was won through Goodreads giveaways.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brief introduction to some very interesting historical figures. Unfortunately, it lacks citations and is riddled with grammatical errors, and as other reviewers have mentioned, the pop culture references are really annoying.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting facts, but as others have said, a few things questionable.

Categorizing Elizabeth I as a woman of the Middle Ages is unusual, in my opinion, especially if you believe the Middle Ages to have begun at the fall of Rome and ended at the Renaissance/Reformation. Elizabeth I lived during the Renaissance, not the Middle Ages, the late period of which concluded well before her birth.

As another example, Jeanne d'Arc was involved in many battles, and was wounded in battle on more than one occasion, but she never actually fought with a sword herself (which is not necessarily made clear in this text). That is not to say she didn't live an incredible and heroic life, but the authors mix some fact and legend when discussing her.

And the pop culture references do date the book somewhat, in a bad way (a mention of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline as a married couple being a major example).

Overall, however, still some interesting facts in the book. They discussed at least two people mostly unfamiliar to me. I also can't fault the authors necessarily for not including references as this may have been up to their publisher (sometimes publishers want references and bibliographies removed, even if to the detriment of the authors and their work's credibility).

[Reem is reading · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars for the overall experience, 0 stars for ignorance.
I enjoyed this book and it inspired me to look up each one of the women mentioned to dig deeper.
However, I cannot ignore this quote :

.The images that come to mind are not positive: peasant women completely shrouded in black and forced to walk ten paces behind their husband, resembling the condition for women in Saudi Arabia today.

Today?
Today?
This book was published in 2013, the product of 2 authors and still they included such an ignorant stereotype that is often the product of the lack of proper research. I don't think I'm going to read other books of Middle Eastern history by this author unless my curiosity takes over me. Some part contained witty humor which I usually enjoy, but I cannot get over how stupid this comparison is.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a real history but read more like a tabloid. Very superficial with no real sources or citations used. There were factual errors in the history as well (quite a few and Elizabeth OF Tudor...really???) and I don't consider someone born in 1591 to be in the middle ages. The only reason why I gave 2 stars instead of 1 was that some more obscure women were included and it might inspire someone with enough interest to pursue the subject in a proper history.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small encapulation of historical figures that intrigues

This book enables you to see an overview of many female leaders in several countries over 1000 years of history. I was not aware of most of them, so this is a great jumping off point to learn more about these powerful women.

[Julieta Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

If a short book with brief stories of some of the great woman of the middle age, just as tittle.
It s not very deep but I think this would be great for young readers to have some ideas of how few women also had power before, the how and the why.

[Sole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad read per se, but it has several glaring errors and lists several queens from the Renaissance.

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read. Very eye opening and filled with pertinent information.

[adam moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book talks about women of history in the middle ages of you like history this book is for you really good read

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 1 out of 5]

Det krävs en amerikan eller en groteskt okunnig person för att kalla 1650-talet för medeltid.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and Short History

This book has lots of interesting anecdotes. I was pleasantly surprised to learn about women who don't often appear in other histories of women.

[Heather Mims · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book's more positive attributes are nullified by three glaring problems:

1.) Needs a fact checker.
I can overlook more minor things, such as the author's claim that Edward VI became King of England when he was 10 years old (he was 9). However, claiming Henry VIII was a PROTESTANT? No. Henry broke with Rome and established himself as Supreme Head of the Church, yes. But he remained a Catholic for the rest of his life.

2.) Analogies to modern pop culture are obnoxious.
This is already a simplified, extremely abridged version of the lives of historical figures. Does the author really think comparisons to Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, etc. are necessary for readers to relate to the material? I don't know about anyone else, but I found this insulting. On top of that, if I'm reading a book about the Middle Ages, I WANT to be absorbed in the Middle Ages. References to hip-hop stars and modern politicians is both jarring and unwelcome.

3.) Desperately needs an editor.

On a positive note, the cover art is lovely.

[Leta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, fun, and easy to read, this book features women of great power in their time most of whom are unknown to the average person today. Of necessity, the biographies are fairly brief and will probably send history buffs in search of longer works to learn more about one of the women to whom they were introduced here. I, myself, will be looking for more opportunities to bring Aethelflaed up in conversation.

I enjoyed it a lot but think that it would have benefited from one more read for small errors (word substitutions, incorrect spellings, and the occasional sentence that goes off the rails).

[Lori D Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read with subtle masculine bias

Eight women who changed the world from the dark ages to the reformation. The women picked for the review are fascinating in their own right, but fused through the narrative is a subtle bias indicating that they did this by not taking on "masculine traits. It is not clear that drive, a sense of knowing and grit are strictly masculine traits, or ones that in a very rare occasion, a woman could aspire to these and still remain female. Raises interesting questions.

[Aishuu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly light read, with basic essays about each of the ten women. There was no bibliography and I noticed a couple of minor historical nitpicks in Elizabeth and Joan of Arc's sections, so I'm not sure how accurate this is. I wouldn't rely on it.

That said, it was a good primer for some powerful women and entertaining to read. There were a couple of women I wasn't familiar with, and I may seek some more serious studies of them. The author's selection of subjects was well done.

[Izaias Zacca · Rating 2 out of 5]

A temática do livro é super interessante, surpreendente e importante para esse início do século XXI quando a importância da mulher na sociedade tem sido tão discutida. Contudo, a tradução e edição deixam a desejar com vários erros de digitação e a escrita do autor por ser bem simplória e pobre até, por vezes senti que un artigo na Wikipedia tinha mais qualidade narrativa que esse livro.

[Elisabeth Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this book had been more in-depth! I enjoyed it a lot, even the parts on women I had read biographies on. There were a few women I didn't know anything about (like Catherine of Siena) and that added a lot for me. Girl power!!!

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deeply Flawed

Interesting topic but burdened by terrible scholarship and a desperate need for editing. Gratuitous pop culture references further demonstrate that this work lacks credibility .

[Tony Parsons]

1 of my fav periods 2 read study
luv 2 win/read/review/rate this book

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great information, interesting stories, a wide variety of known and unknown... And in needs of a good editor.