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Legenda: Hoe vrouwen werden gebruikt in de mythevorming van Europa
De namen van middeleeuse vrouwen als Jeanne d'Arc, Lady Godiva en Isabella van Castilië zijn bei velen bekend, maar hun daden zijn in de eeuwen erna vaak vertekend geraakt door mannen met oneigenlijke bedoelingen. Aan de andere kant belanden achttiende- en negentiende-eeuwse vrouwen die in hun eigen tijd een voortrekkersrol speelden, in de vergetelheid en is hun nalatenschap al te gemakkelijk genegeerd.
In Legenda neemt Janina Ramirez ons mee naar Frankrijk, Spanje, Griekenland, België, Duitsland, Italië en Engeland, op zoek naar de echte vrouwen achter de mythevorming. daarbij laat ze zien hoe vaak geschiedenis wordt gekaapt om ideologische en politieke belangen van het heden te dienen.
Met Legenda schreef Janina Ramirez een even fascinerende als vlot geschreven ware geschiedenis van Europese koninginnen, keizerinnen, schrijfsters, heiligen en vrijheidsstrijdsters.
In Legenda neemt Janina Ramirez ons mee naar Frankrijk, Spanje, Griekenland, België, Duitsland, Italië en Engeland, op zoek naar de echte vrouwen achter de mythevorming. daarbij laat ze zien hoe vaak geschiedenis wordt gekaapt om ideologische en politieke belangen van het heden te dienen.
Met Legenda schreef Janina Ramirez een even fascinerende als vlot geschreven ware geschiedenis van Europese koninginnen, keizerinnen, schrijfsters, heiligen en vrijheidsstrijdsters.
416 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2026
About the author
Janina Ramírez
13 books256 followersJanina Sara María Ramírez (née Maleczek; 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramírez, is a British art and cultural historian and TV presenter, based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art, within their own historical context.
Ramírez went to school in Slough. She gained a degree in English literature, specialising in Old and Middle English, from St Anne's College, Oxford, before completing her postgraduate studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. She completed an art/literature PhD on the symbolism of birds, which led to a lectureship in York's Art History Department, followed by lecturing posts at the University of Winchester, University of Warwick, and University of Oxford.
Ramírez is currently the course director on the Certificate in History of Art at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education.
Ramírez went to school in Slough. She gained a degree in English literature, specialising in Old and Middle English, from St Anne's College, Oxford, before completing her postgraduate studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. She completed an art/literature PhD on the symbolism of birds, which led to a lectureship in York's Art History Department, followed by lecturing posts at the University of Winchester, University of Warwick, and University of Oxford.
Ramírez is currently the course director on the Certificate in History of Art at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education.
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August 26, 2026Legenda, like Ramírez's recent book Feminia is a great set of essays about medieval women, in this case contrasted with mostly ninteenth century women and one from the eighteenth. They are pleasent to read, well illustrated, and a nice introduction to the person.
She gives us:
France; Jeanne d'Arc with Charlotte Corday
Spain; Isabella of Castile with Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa
Greece; Anna Commene with Laskarina Bouboulina
Belgium; Maria van Oignies (and the beguines) with the Sisters of our Lady of Namur
Germany; Empress Adelheid with Lola Montez
Italy; Catherine of Siena with Anna Morisi
Britain; Lady Godiva with Queen Victoria
The issue is that Ramírez seems to have aspirations beyond just presenting the public with some essays about medieval women, the subtitle tells us that these essays are about The real women behind the myths that shaped Europe.
Shaped, I suppose can mean what ever you want it to mean, but I would only be confortable with describing Jeanne d'Arc and Isabella of Castille as shaping Europe. The women behind the myth is even more problematic, Lady Godiva first appears as a myth in a thirteenth century chronicle, possibly created by Roger of Wendover, and then retold more elaborately by Matthew Paris. In more recent times scholars have assumed that this might be a myth about Lady Godgyfu, an eleventh century nobleeoman from before the Norman Conquest. She certainly didn't shape Europe, not even Britain, Lady Godiva is a cult or heroic figure in Coventry, which since she and her husband founded a monastery there, they may have shaped. Since there is a thirteenth century legend, and an eleventh century noble woman, you can't get behind the myth without thinking about chronicles, what they are and what their writers aimed to achieve ( I would guess in this specific case tax free status for Coventry, because that us what the Godiva story is about, with a bit of the proper behaviour for a virtuous noblewoman).
There us a similar situation with Marie of Oignies and Catherine of Siena. Ramírez draws on the saint's lives written about these ladies, as though they were biographies, rather than examples of a genre of literature that had forms and conventions to which the real life of the person depicted had to conform to, and again the writers of these lives had agendas; pious, political, theological and so on. They were in the business of creating legends, they happily obscured the 'real person' when it suits their ideological agenda.
Anna Commene was herself a myth maker. She writes a book the Alexiad about her father, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius, but she is drawing on Homer, on the Bible, to present him as a heroic figure, she even writes her book in Attic Greek - ie the dialect of Classical Greece rather than in the Greek of her day, it is a work of literature, inspired by real events and personalities.
We can wonder about Jeanne d'Arc. How can we get behind the myth, when we know most about her from the trial - which was intended to demonstrate that she was a witch, and the slightly later French enquiry which was designed to show that she was a divinely sent saviour. The most comprehensive sources about her were both aiming to create myths, admittedly opposing myths -wicked witch or holy heroine. Apparently her childhood home still stands - built of stone (the family were relatively well to do) hard by the church. If you go there you might be told which room was her brother's and which one Jeanne shared with a sister. We are probably not going to get behind the myth that way either. I did very much enjoy reading that Jeanne spoke of going to France (from Lorraine), Ramírez suggests that for Jeanne, France was not a territory, it was the King. A kingdom then was not a geographival concept but a community of those who accepted the authority of that king, the boundaries of such a community might be quite fuzzy rather than the solid black lines that we are familiar with from maps. I found that a great way to think about political power.
It strikes me that one could approach these women from the present and work backwards. Take the myth and look at how and why they are formed. When they are taught in schools, who is making that decision, what drives them, what do they want to achieve, how does the empasis change over time? In place of getting behind the myth to a 'real' person, one can embrace the myth and think about how useful a myth is.
Some of her conclusions are simple, as though she wanted to assert the importance of the figures she is writing about but without thinking too much about it. So she points out that a greater proportion of the population of Belgium identify as Catholic compared to the neighbouring Netherlands, this she attributes to the foundation of a monastery by the Sisters of Our Lady of Namur. Given the independence war between the Dutch and the Spanish, and assuming that secularisation was occurring at a similar pace in both countries, wouldn't one expect Belgium to have a higher proportion of the population identifying as Catholic than in the Netherlands with or without the existence of any particular monastery?
Our author says that towns with beguinages had higher levels of women's literacy than those without, implying causation. Certainly an interesting correlation. Establishing levels of literacy in the past is a great endeavour, the further back you look in time, the less evidence there is perhaps you might assume that people writing their name rather than marking a mark on a document proves they can write. Writing your name though does not prove that you can write anything else. Equally you might be able to read, but not to write. Or we could turn the causation around and guess that more literate communities were better able, or more willing, to support a beguinage than less literate communities, particularly if literacy correlates with economic prosperity.
Ramírez did bust a myth for me about Catherine of Siena. I had accepted the idea that she was significant in arguing for the papacy to relocate from Avignon to Rome, this was possibly not so, when she met Pope Gregory IX, he could speak French and Latin, while she only spoke Italian, mentions of the need for the papacy to move back to Rome in her letters might have been the opinion of the priest who was writing them for Catherine, who apparently was illiterate.
That raises another issue, how far we can view the women championed by Ramírez as independent figures and now far were they shaped and controlled by men both in their lifetimes and post mortum. There is an example of this in Femina, Æthelflæd, lady of the Mercians. After her death her daughter briefly inherited her position before her uncle moved in and removed her - however effective Æthelflæd was, her regime existed at her father's, then at her brother's, pleasure. The Kings of Wessex had the power to support her or to remove her, apparently irrespective of how well connected she was or effective as a ruler.
At the end Ramírez writes about the idea of the women she writes about inspiring contemporary people. Of the seven medieval women, three (four if we count lady Godiva) inherited their positions, while three became saints, and possibly in their lifetimes were the despair and worry of their families and loved ones ('my God, our little girl is trying to live like a poor person, wearing a hair shirt and eating very little food!', or running off to lead an army to war against the English and getting burnt to death for standing up for her beliefs).
Anyway I have blathered on quite long enough. The long and the short of it is that that I feel these are nice essays, but keep your salt handy if you are reading them.
For extra pleasure, make a point of reading her pages of thanks and acknowledgments, I really got a strong impression of a sociable and appreciative scholar.
She gives us:
France; Jeanne d'Arc with Charlotte Corday
Spain; Isabella of Castile with Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa
Greece; Anna Commene with Laskarina Bouboulina
Belgium; Maria van Oignies (and the beguines) with the Sisters of our Lady of Namur
Germany; Empress Adelheid with Lola Montez
Italy; Catherine of Siena with Anna Morisi
Britain; Lady Godiva with Queen Victoria
The issue is that Ramírez seems to have aspirations beyond just presenting the public with some essays about medieval women, the subtitle tells us that these essays are about The real women behind the myths that shaped Europe.
Shaped, I suppose can mean what ever you want it to mean, but I would only be confortable with describing Jeanne d'Arc and Isabella of Castille as shaping Europe. The women behind the myth is even more problematic, Lady Godiva first appears as a myth in a thirteenth century chronicle, possibly created by Roger of Wendover, and then retold more elaborately by Matthew Paris. In more recent times scholars have assumed that this might be a myth about Lady Godgyfu, an eleventh century nobleeoman from before the Norman Conquest. She certainly didn't shape Europe, not even Britain, Lady Godiva is a cult or heroic figure in Coventry, which since she and her husband founded a monastery there, they may have shaped. Since there is a thirteenth century legend, and an eleventh century noble woman, you can't get behind the myth without thinking about chronicles, what they are and what their writers aimed to achieve ( I would guess in this specific case tax free status for Coventry, because that us what the Godiva story is about, with a bit of the proper behaviour for a virtuous noblewoman).
There us a similar situation with Marie of Oignies and Catherine of Siena. Ramírez draws on the saint's lives written about these ladies, as though they were biographies, rather than examples of a genre of literature that had forms and conventions to which the real life of the person depicted had to conform to, and again the writers of these lives had agendas; pious, political, theological and so on. They were in the business of creating legends, they happily obscured the 'real person' when it suits their ideological agenda.
Anna Commene was herself a myth maker. She writes a book the Alexiad about her father, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius, but she is drawing on Homer, on the Bible, to present him as a heroic figure, she even writes her book in Attic Greek - ie the dialect of Classical Greece rather than in the Greek of her day, it is a work of literature, inspired by real events and personalities.
We can wonder about Jeanne d'Arc. How can we get behind the myth, when we know most about her from the trial - which was intended to demonstrate that she was a witch, and the slightly later French enquiry which was designed to show that she was a divinely sent saviour. The most comprehensive sources about her were both aiming to create myths, admittedly opposing myths -wicked witch or holy heroine. Apparently her childhood home still stands - built of stone (the family were relatively well to do) hard by the church. If you go there you might be told which room was her brother's and which one Jeanne shared with a sister. We are probably not going to get behind the myth that way either. I did very much enjoy reading that Jeanne spoke of going to France (from Lorraine), Ramírez suggests that for Jeanne, France was not a territory, it was the King. A kingdom then was not a geographival concept but a community of those who accepted the authority of that king, the boundaries of such a community might be quite fuzzy rather than the solid black lines that we are familiar with from maps. I found that a great way to think about political power.
It strikes me that one could approach these women from the present and work backwards. Take the myth and look at how and why they are formed. When they are taught in schools, who is making that decision, what drives them, what do they want to achieve, how does the empasis change over time? In place of getting behind the myth to a 'real' person, one can embrace the myth and think about how useful a myth is.
Some of her conclusions are simple, as though she wanted to assert the importance of the figures she is writing about but without thinking too much about it. So she points out that a greater proportion of the population of Belgium identify as Catholic compared to the neighbouring Netherlands, this she attributes to the foundation of a monastery by the Sisters of Our Lady of Namur. Given the independence war between the Dutch and the Spanish, and assuming that secularisation was occurring at a similar pace in both countries, wouldn't one expect Belgium to have a higher proportion of the population identifying as Catholic than in the Netherlands with or without the existence of any particular monastery?
Our author says that towns with beguinages had higher levels of women's literacy than those without, implying causation. Certainly an interesting correlation. Establishing levels of literacy in the past is a great endeavour, the further back you look in time, the less evidence there is perhaps you might assume that people writing their name rather than marking a mark on a document proves they can write. Writing your name though does not prove that you can write anything else. Equally you might be able to read, but not to write. Or we could turn the causation around and guess that more literate communities were better able, or more willing, to support a beguinage than less literate communities, particularly if literacy correlates with economic prosperity.
Ramírez did bust a myth for me about Catherine of Siena. I had accepted the idea that she was significant in arguing for the papacy to relocate from Avignon to Rome, this was possibly not so, when she met Pope Gregory IX, he could speak French and Latin, while she only spoke Italian, mentions of the need for the papacy to move back to Rome in her letters might have been the opinion of the priest who was writing them for Catherine, who apparently was illiterate.
That raises another issue, how far we can view the women championed by Ramírez as independent figures and now far were they shaped and controlled by men both in their lifetimes and post mortum. There is an example of this in Femina, Æthelflæd, lady of the Mercians. After her death her daughter briefly inherited her position before her uncle moved in and removed her - however effective Æthelflæd was, her regime existed at her father's, then at her brother's, pleasure. The Kings of Wessex had the power to support her or to remove her, apparently irrespective of how well connected she was or effective as a ruler.
At the end Ramírez writes about the idea of the women she writes about inspiring contemporary people. Of the seven medieval women, three (four if we count lady Godiva) inherited their positions, while three became saints, and possibly in their lifetimes were the despair and worry of their families and loved ones ('my God, our little girl is trying to live like a poor person, wearing a hair shirt and eating very little food!', or running off to lead an army to war against the English and getting burnt to death for standing up for her beliefs).
Anyway I have blathered on quite long enough. The long and the short of it is that that I feel these are nice essays, but keep your salt handy if you are reading them.
For extra pleasure, make a point of reading her pages of thanks and acknowledgments, I really got a strong impression of a sociable and appreciative scholar.
November 21, 2025
I didn’t know what to expect from this book when I first received it. While this book is, at its core, an uncovering of the myths that make certain legendary female characters, it’s also about how modern politics will co-op a historical figure to suit their narrative. It was really interesting how Ramirez dives into the idea of nation-states, which didn’t exist in the medieval period.
Throughout reading this book, I kept trying to find other books to read about the women written about in this book. While figure like Joan of Arc and Catherine of Siena have other biographies, I was disappointed to find out that 18th century figures like Laskarina Bouboulina haven’t been given the same attention. This captivating book does a great job of looking deeper into the history of the real women behind the myths, whilst also bringing more sidelined women into the forefront.
Throughout reading this book, I kept trying to find other books to read about the women written about in this book. While figure like Joan of Arc and Catherine of Siena have other biographies, I was disappointed to find out that 18th century figures like Laskarina Bouboulina haven’t been given the same attention. This captivating book does a great job of looking deeper into the history of the real women behind the myths, whilst also bringing more sidelined women into the forefront.
February 1, 2026
4,6 ⭐️
So good! There have been so many women throughout history worth writing and reading about, it’s great to see more and more historians and writers bring attention to historical women. I learned about a lot of remarkable and interesting women from this book! I really like how in every chapter Ramirez juxtaposes a misrepresented Medieval woman and a near forgotten Modern woman. In these different chapters, based on country/nation/region, she shows how Medieval women’s lives and stories have been exploited centuries later; they’ve become the myths that helped shape nations and national stories, while the Modern women’s achievements and importance have largely been forgotten. The book is very well-researched and packed with information. That is maybe the only downside to an otherwise awesome book; sometimes it was a bit of an information overload while reading, or a tad lengthy.
I’m excited to start reading her other book ‘Femina’ soon, which I picked up at an event where I had the privilege of listening to a brief lecture on the role of women’s myths in nation building by Ramirez, who is truly an amazing lecturer/public speaker!
So good! There have been so many women throughout history worth writing and reading about, it’s great to see more and more historians and writers bring attention to historical women. I learned about a lot of remarkable and interesting women from this book! I really like how in every chapter Ramirez juxtaposes a misrepresented Medieval woman and a near forgotten Modern woman. In these different chapters, based on country/nation/region, she shows how Medieval women’s lives and stories have been exploited centuries later; they’ve become the myths that helped shape nations and national stories, while the Modern women’s achievements and importance have largely been forgotten. The book is very well-researched and packed with information. That is maybe the only downside to an otherwise awesome book; sometimes it was a bit of an information overload while reading, or a tad lengthy.
I’m excited to start reading her other book ‘Femina’ soon, which I picked up at an event where I had the privilege of listening to a brief lecture on the role of women’s myths in nation building by Ramirez, who is truly an amazing lecturer/public speaker!
January 6, 2026
For anyone interested in women’s history, this is a luminous look at how women as medieval saints, scholars, Queens and rebels were first inscribed into cultural memory and then one by one effaced. It compels us to rethink how history itself is written and transmitted.
Figures who survive in fragments, devotional images and rumours. Lives that were transformed into legends and those legends later sanitized, constrained and even excised to suit patriarchal ways of remembering. Anne Komene who was a Byzantine Princess, historian and author of The Alexiad, was truly one of my favourites from Legenda.
Legenda achieves so much in three hundred pages, inviting you to linger on threads long neglected by history. Ramirez reframes and reconstructs legend as evidence and not just some naïve folklore. Legends aren’t failures of history- they carry layers of moral, political, and cultural meaning across centuries.
Legenda pulls us closer to the medieval imagination, revealing not only what women did but what society imagined they could do. The women their communities chose to remember. Their histories are far more crowded, vivid, and alive than conventional, male dominated chronicles would have us believe. I now can’t imagine Medieval history without these powerful figures.
Figures who survive in fragments, devotional images and rumours. Lives that were transformed into legends and those legends later sanitized, constrained and even excised to suit patriarchal ways of remembering. Anne Komene who was a Byzantine Princess, historian and author of The Alexiad, was truly one of my favourites from Legenda.
Legenda achieves so much in three hundred pages, inviting you to linger on threads long neglected by history. Ramirez reframes and reconstructs legend as evidence and not just some naïve folklore. Legends aren’t failures of history- they carry layers of moral, political, and cultural meaning across centuries.
Legenda pulls us closer to the medieval imagination, revealing not only what women did but what society imagined they could do. The women their communities chose to remember. Their histories are far more crowded, vivid, and alive than conventional, male dominated chronicles would have us believe. I now can’t imagine Medieval history without these powerful figures.
September 26, 2026
This was a great follow-up to Femina, Janina Ramirez's other book. I really appreciated the way the author chose to approach her subjects not only from a modern feminist perspective, but also considered both mental and physical disabilities. I did notice the absence of northern and eastern Europeans (counting Greece as southern Europe), and was a little disappointed by this, but I also understand that one needs to make choices. I would like to read more about those areas from this author, though.
August 23, 2026
Audiobook
September 23, 2026
Kurzmeinung
Vielen Dank an Netgalley und Der Audio Verlag für das kostenlose Rezensionsexemplar.
Die Inhalte dieses Sachbuchs sind – wie so oft bei diesem Genre – überaus aufschlussreich, wenn auch im Detail schwer im Gedächtnis zu behalten. Was jedoch nachhallt, ist die fundamentale Erkenntnis, dass Feminismus nach wie vor notwendig ist, um Frauen gesellschaftliche Gerechtigkeit zu garantieren.
#HeldinnenHerrscherinnenHeilige #NetGalleyDE
Vielen Dank an Netgalley und Der Audio Verlag für das kostenlose Rezensionsexemplar.
Die Inhalte dieses Sachbuchs sind – wie so oft bei diesem Genre – überaus aufschlussreich, wenn auch im Detail schwer im Gedächtnis zu behalten. Was jedoch nachhallt, ist die fundamentale Erkenntnis, dass Feminismus nach wie vor notwendig ist, um Frauen gesellschaftliche Gerechtigkeit zu garantieren.
#HeldinnenHerrscherinnenHeilige #NetGalleyDE
August 4, 2026
Another brilliant book from Janina, putting women back in their rightful and well deserved place in history amongst the times and events they were witnesses to. Absolutely fascinating read!
February 27, 2026
This was more of a slog than I had anticipated. I went to see Janina Ramirez talk about her latest book and it sounded fascinating and I was excited to read it. Sadly it was muddled and some of the histories felt slight and rather repetitive.
In the introduction Janina talks of rescuing women's histories from the mythologies that have grown up around them, often obscuring the real stories. For me the only story that met this brief was the story of Godiva where the truth of the woman behind the famous myth of the naked horse ride was interesting. However, even here the source material was limited and felt stretched, requiring a framing within a narrative about Victoria and Albert and the addition of a story about an Indian freedom fighter.
A lot of the women highlighted were previously unknown to me but I struggled to relate to the stories of saints and religious fanatics who self harmed to the point of death. Again there was very little about the real women behind the religious stories and the same ideas and tropes were endlessly repeated.
The stories of those women I did know a fair bit about, Isabella of Castille and Joan of Arc, added nothing new to what I already knew. There were attempts to shoehorn them into comparisons with more modern women but those comparisons didn’t really work for me.
There was obviously a great deal of research behind this book and Janina's passion for her subjects was clear from her author's talk, but there didn’t feel like there was enough new material to make the points she tried to pull together in her conclusion.
In the introduction Janina talks of rescuing women's histories from the mythologies that have grown up around them, often obscuring the real stories. For me the only story that met this brief was the story of Godiva where the truth of the woman behind the famous myth of the naked horse ride was interesting. However, even here the source material was limited and felt stretched, requiring a framing within a narrative about Victoria and Albert and the addition of a story about an Indian freedom fighter.
A lot of the women highlighted were previously unknown to me but I struggled to relate to the stories of saints and religious fanatics who self harmed to the point of death. Again there was very little about the real women behind the religious stories and the same ideas and tropes were endlessly repeated.
The stories of those women I did know a fair bit about, Isabella of Castille and Joan of Arc, added nothing new to what I already knew. There were attempts to shoehorn them into comparisons with more modern women but those comparisons didn’t really work for me.
There was obviously a great deal of research behind this book and Janina's passion for her subjects was clear from her author's talk, but there didn’t feel like there was enough new material to make the points she tried to pull together in her conclusion.
May 19, 2026
3.5. Not in any way because this wasn't well researched or well written, purely out of subjective interest. For the most part, I like all of history and I do want to learn more about medieval history in particular, but this has a very specific lens: comparing relatively more modern women with medieval ones to show how nations claim or tarnish their reputations. I say nations, but it's medieval, so a lot of it is actually the church.
We learnt a lot about these particular women and through that, attitudes of the time, but I don't know how much I'm going to take away from it long term. On the academic to accessible scale, I feel like it's somewhere in the middle. The writing is easy to understand, but slightly dense feeling and it's packed with info.
Still glad I read it and very much wanting to read Femina tho!
We learnt a lot about these particular women and through that, attitudes of the time, but I don't know how much I'm going to take away from it long term. On the academic to accessible scale, I feel like it's somewhere in the middle. The writing is easy to understand, but slightly dense feeling and it's packed with info.
Still glad I read it and very much wanting to read Femina tho!
December 16, 2025
Interesting ideas and honestly, I’ve not read much about medieval women before so that was nice. Key learning is that lots of saints seem to be suffering from “holy anorexia”, by forgoing food in the service of god. So harrowing. And anther is that it’s quite intense to me that they still have Catherine of Siena’s head in a box which they pass around. I sort of get reliquaries that are cloths or even maybe a foreskin (in some ways removable…). But fingers and heads is a lot
December 14, 2025
Nothing about this I didn’t love. Would love to have heard the pitch to the publisher: “I want to write a book about nation building and myth-making by drawing parallels between medieval and 18th / 19th c women” - BUT IT ABSOLUTELY WORKS. She writes about medieval women with such empathy and never strays into passing judgement on their lives and stories.
December 20, 2025
The follow-up to Femina is just as excellent, offering more insightful and revisionist examples of women from the medieval period and how they challenged gender norms during a turbulent period of history. This time Ramirez widens the scope to include the legacies of figures such as Joan of Arc and Catherine of Siena, considering how they have been remembered over the centuries and the parts their lives and legends have played in building modern European nations. In this age of historical appropriation and alternative facts, it's a joy to read an account which isn't afraid to push back against received wisdom, challenging stereotypes and excavating the fascinating lives of these women. All of this is delivered in Ramirez's usual accessible yet scholarly style, resulting in an informative, enjoyable and timely journey through some of history's remarkable forgotten women.
January 16, 2026
This wouldn’t be the kind of book I would normally reach for but a friend asked if I would like to go to a book reading event/talk by the author (and I never say no!) so I figured I should probably read the book before we go.
I liked the premise of the book- looking beyond the myths and stories that make up these legendary women from history but at times it was a bit of a slog. I enjoyed the first section on Joan of Arc but found the next two chapters slightly laborious to get through. It picked up again for me with chapter 4 on the Low Countries, went down in 5 on Germany and then I enjoyed the last 2 chapters. Being honest if I wasn’t going to an event I probably would have given up or put it to the bottom of my reading pile. But I’m glad I persevered and I’m hoping that the author will speak with passion and bring the characters and the book alive 🤞🏻
I liked the premise of the book- looking beyond the myths and stories that make up these legendary women from history but at times it was a bit of a slog. I enjoyed the first section on Joan of Arc but found the next two chapters slightly laborious to get through. It picked up again for me with chapter 4 on the Low Countries, went down in 5 on Germany and then I enjoyed the last 2 chapters. Being honest if I wasn’t going to an event I probably would have given up or put it to the bottom of my reading pile. But I’m glad I persevered and I’m hoping that the author will speak with passion and bring the characters and the book alive 🤞🏻
June 19, 2026
This is such a poignant and relevant book especially in the current turbulent times we live in.
As we look to an uncertain future, there is nothing more important than looking back at the past and evaluating what we did well, and what we can do differently.
It was amazing to read about all of these forgotten women of history and how they defied the gender norms of the time and made such a difference to the lives of many and the creation of the nations! Before reading this book I had never heard of names such as Charlotte Corday, Lola Montez and Marie of Oignies - the school curriculum needs to do better and teach young children about these fascinating historical women and how they changed the world!
As we look to an uncertain future, there is nothing more important than looking back at the past and evaluating what we did well, and what we can do differently.
It was amazing to read about all of these forgotten women of history and how they defied the gender norms of the time and made such a difference to the lives of many and the creation of the nations! Before reading this book I had never heard of names such as Charlotte Corday, Lola Montez and Marie of Oignies - the school curriculum needs to do better and teach young children about these fascinating historical women and how they changed the world!
October 2, 2026
Fascinating look at medieval women who’ve passed into legendary status, juxtaposed with 19th century women whose stories echo in some way.
The amount of research involved is clear from the fact that pages 333-443 are references/bibliography but it’s a massive credit to Janina Ramirez that the text flows well and is so engaging. Like any history of the Middle Ages there is a degree of “they would have” type supposition but I didn’t feel there was too much stretching of the truth here.
A great read
The amount of research involved is clear from the fact that pages 333-443 are references/bibliography but it’s a massive credit to Janina Ramirez that the text flows well and is so engaging. Like any history of the Middle Ages there is a degree of “they would have” type supposition but I didn’t feel there was too much stretching of the truth here.
A great read
March 12, 2026
I didn’t know what to expect at all when I began this book, but it’s a beautiful exploration of the powerful medieval women behind the myths. It peels back the layers of history (…so often written by men), to reveal who these women really were. Super inspiring & feminist read.
December 11, 2025
Interesting. Explores the political uses of legendary women, both historically and today.
January 8, 2026
Misschien 3.5 :)
Interessant boek! Meer diepgang of meer verhaal verwacht misschien.
Interessant boek! Meer diepgang of meer verhaal verwacht misschien.
April 8, 2026
Ramírez never disappoints - fantastic concept, excellent final product
July 22, 2026
Overall, a good picture and an interesting choice of figures. I would have liked for there to be more of the actual myths, or more details on how the figurines have been manipulated and used in modern times. But I guess the book’s purpose was to mostly show the other side, while only briefly mentioning that. I am sure the author has more in store in this area so I am excited to see which women get written back into history next.
March 1, 2026
2.75 stars. I was really excited about this book because I loved Femina, but Legenda was disappointing. While the book is very well researched, the premise of connecting medieval women to later females felt tenuous, at best. Some chapters were interesting, like Joan of Arc, but many of the chapters were bloated and boring. I had to force myself to keep coming back to the book. Truthfully, I wish I would have DNF'd, because I don't feel like I learned much at all from this book. In addition, I was also a little horrified by how many female religious figures were glorified when they were clearly suffering from mental illness.
June 25, 2026
Went into this with high expectations, and was sadly disappointed. I have every faith that the author's research was impeccable and meticulous, which just makes it more of a shame that the end result feels like a jumbled, incoherent mess, jumping around all over the place with no real cohesive thread to pull it all together. This was neither good academic writing nor good popular non-fiction writing, but a combination of the two which failed to work as well as could have been hoped.
December 29, 2025
This had so much potential to be amazing, there has clearly been a huge amount of research and a fantastic range of both individuals and geography, however it just felt a bit jolting and a bit of a slog.
November 26, 2025
I am so sick of historians erasing Scottish and Welsh history and trying to claim only English history is British history
January 21, 2026
I always forget how much of popular history is simply effective story-telling. I don‘t think all the oarallelswork well, but it is effective story-telling.
December 16, 2025
When we think of famous medieval European women, we often think of figures like Joan of Arc and Isabella of Castile. They are seen as women who broke the mold and challenged traditional stereotypes by becoming leaders in traditionally male-dominated fields. These women would be used to craft the identities of their respective nations, but they would help shape the identities of other women from the 18th and 19th centuries. We think we know the stories about these medieval women and their lives, but what new information can we learn from their lives when we examine their lives from their eras? Janina Ramirez takes the stories of seven medieval women and their contemporaries to show how their legacies have been transformed in her latest book, “Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe.”
This is the third book that I have read by Janina Ramirez, as I have read her book “Femina” and her biography on Julian of Norwich, which I loved. So when I saw that she was writing a new book about medieval women, I knew it was an instant buy for me.
While there have been centuries worth of amazing women from all over the world, Ramirez is focusing on seven countries/areas of interest: France, the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and Britain. In each chapter, Ramirez focuses on two women or groups of women, one from the medieval era and one from either the 18th or the 19th century. For the medieval period, she has selected: Joan of Arc, Isabella of Castile, Anna Komene, Marie of Oignies and the Beguines, Empress Adelaide of Bavaria, Catherine of Siena, and Lady Godiva. For the more modern women, Ramirez focuses on Charlotte Corday, Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa, Laskarina Bouboulina, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Lola Montez, Anna ‘Nina’ Morisi, and Queen Victoria.
What is truly inspiring about this book is seeing these stories removed from the glossy veneer used to promote nationalism, to show that these women were real and they made a difference by being themselves. We get to see warriors, writers, queens, empresses, revolutionaries, and religious women. However, we also get to see them as daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers. These women did not live in a vacuum. They lived and were more than just symbols for their nations. They fought in their own ways for what they believed was right, whether it was to protect their families or their nations, or following the path set forward by their faith. These women were real, and they were not myths; they were human.
This is another sensational book by Ramirez. While I did know a few of the medieval women featured in this book, I knew nothing about the 18th and 19th-century women, which was thrilling to see how Ramirez weaved these tales together. I loved this book so much, and I am excited to see what she will write next. If you love medieval women’s history and learning more about their legacies, I highly recommend you read “Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe” by Janina Ramirez.
This is the third book that I have read by Janina Ramirez, as I have read her book “Femina” and her biography on Julian of Norwich, which I loved. So when I saw that she was writing a new book about medieval women, I knew it was an instant buy for me.
While there have been centuries worth of amazing women from all over the world, Ramirez is focusing on seven countries/areas of interest: France, the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and Britain. In each chapter, Ramirez focuses on two women or groups of women, one from the medieval era and one from either the 18th or the 19th century. For the medieval period, she has selected: Joan of Arc, Isabella of Castile, Anna Komene, Marie of Oignies and the Beguines, Empress Adelaide of Bavaria, Catherine of Siena, and Lady Godiva. For the more modern women, Ramirez focuses on Charlotte Corday, Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa, Laskarina Bouboulina, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Lola Montez, Anna ‘Nina’ Morisi, and Queen Victoria.
What is truly inspiring about this book is seeing these stories removed from the glossy veneer used to promote nationalism, to show that these women were real and they made a difference by being themselves. We get to see warriors, writers, queens, empresses, revolutionaries, and religious women. However, we also get to see them as daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers. These women did not live in a vacuum. They lived and were more than just symbols for their nations. They fought in their own ways for what they believed was right, whether it was to protect their families or their nations, or following the path set forward by their faith. These women were real, and they were not myths; they were human.
This is another sensational book by Ramirez. While I did know a few of the medieval women featured in this book, I knew nothing about the 18th and 19th-century women, which was thrilling to see how Ramirez weaved these tales together. I loved this book so much, and I am excited to see what she will write next. If you love medieval women’s history and learning more about their legacies, I highly recommend you read “Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe” by Janina Ramirez.
December 29, 2025
Bunătatea ești tu „Legenda- The real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe”, Janina Ramirez, WH Allen, 2025
„Cu femeile din Evul Mediu în calitate de călăuze, istoriile moderne ale națiunilor se dezvăluie în toată complexitatea lor dezordonată”. p.6 Janina Ramirez, „Legenda- The real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe”, WH Allen, 2025
Statuile prăfuite și legende siropoase ar putea să aibă farmecul lor uneori! Dar și mai ofertantă se dovedește realitatea lăsată de obicei în umbră de mitologia construită în jurul unei figuri istorice. Mai ales când e o figură feminină. Janina Ramirez, în „Legenda”, dinamitează miturile femeilor iconice din istoria Europei. Ea îți arată cum Ioana d'Arc, Lady Godiva sau Isabella de Castilia au fost transformate în marionete pentru interese politice mai mult sau mai puțin îndoielnice. Credeai că Ioana era doar o sfântă? Gândește-te la Jean-Marie Le Pen, care a cooptat-o pentru naționalismul său! Lady Godiva, din simbol al sacrificiului, a ajuns cadou provocator pentru Regina Victoria. Și toate caricaturizările suveraniste. Ramirez îți demonstrează că figurile istorice, infinit mai complexe și mai umane, în realitate, au fost deturnate de-a lungul secolelor pentru a construi identități naționale și pentru a servi agende ideologice, de la fascism la religie. Cartea e un masterclass de demitizare, o invitație la gândire critică. Nu doar că rescrie istoria, ci te învață să citești printre rânduri propaganda din spatele oricărui „adevăr” istoric. O lectură vibrantă, accesibilă și esențială pentru a înțelege cum funcționează manipularea și cum poți revendica poveștile reale, în toată splendoarea lor dezordonată.
„Edificarea națiunii nu e neapărat să aducă dezbinare- toți creăm națiunile din care facem parte și avem responsabilități personale și colective față de acestea, în afara preocupărilor pe care le au ce bogați și cei puternici”. p.326 Janina Ramirez, „Legenda- The real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe”, WH Allen, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmJmd...
„Cu femeile din Evul Mediu în calitate de călăuze, istoriile moderne ale națiunilor se dezvăluie în toată complexitatea lor dezordonată”. p.6 Janina Ramirez, „Legenda- The real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe”, WH Allen, 2025
Statuile prăfuite și legende siropoase ar putea să aibă farmecul lor uneori! Dar și mai ofertantă se dovedește realitatea lăsată de obicei în umbră de mitologia construită în jurul unei figuri istorice. Mai ales când e o figură feminină. Janina Ramirez, în „Legenda”, dinamitează miturile femeilor iconice din istoria Europei. Ea îți arată cum Ioana d'Arc, Lady Godiva sau Isabella de Castilia au fost transformate în marionete pentru interese politice mai mult sau mai puțin îndoielnice. Credeai că Ioana era doar o sfântă? Gândește-te la Jean-Marie Le Pen, care a cooptat-o pentru naționalismul său! Lady Godiva, din simbol al sacrificiului, a ajuns cadou provocator pentru Regina Victoria. Și toate caricaturizările suveraniste. Ramirez îți demonstrează că figurile istorice, infinit mai complexe și mai umane, în realitate, au fost deturnate de-a lungul secolelor pentru a construi identități naționale și pentru a servi agende ideologice, de la fascism la religie. Cartea e un masterclass de demitizare, o invitație la gândire critică. Nu doar că rescrie istoria, ci te învață să citești printre rânduri propaganda din spatele oricărui „adevăr” istoric. O lectură vibrantă, accesibilă și esențială pentru a înțelege cum funcționează manipularea și cum poți revendica poveștile reale, în toată splendoarea lor dezordonată.
„Edificarea națiunii nu e neapărat să aducă dezbinare- toți creăm națiunile din care facem parte și avem responsabilități personale și colective față de acestea, în afara preocupărilor pe care le au ce bogați și cei puternici”. p.326 Janina Ramirez, „Legenda- The real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe”, WH Allen, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmJmd...
September 19, 2026
Heldinnen, Herrscherinnen, Heilige : die wahren Geschichten der Frauen hinter Europas Nationalmythen von Janina Ramirez wird als Hörbuch gelesen von Rubina Nath. Sie ist u.a. die Synchronsprecherin der Schauspielerin Dakota Johnson. Warum ich das so hervorhebe? Ich liebe Dakota und ich liebe die Stimme von Rubina Nath.
Durch ihre angenehme und besondere Stimmfarbe wird die Thematik des Buches super unterstrichen. Für mich persönlich die perfekte Wahl!
Es war absolut spannend, inspirierend und auch irgendwie empowernd über all diese Frauen von früher zu erfahren und macht auch irgendwie Mut für unsere Zukunft. Ich habe fasziniert zugehört, denn mitunter war mir der Großteil der Frauen schlichtweg unbekannt. Das hat mich jetzt im Nachhinein zum Nachdenken angeregt, denn erst durch Janina Ramirez bin ich auf die Wichtigkeit von all ihnen aufmerksam geworden.
Janina Ramirez und Rubina Nath unternahmen mit mir eine unglaublich tolle Reise durch Europa Es wurden dabei in 7 unterschiedlichen Regionen immer 2 wichtige Frauen betrachtet und deren Bedeutung unterstrichen.
Von Jeanne d'Arc und Charlotte Corday in Frankreich ging es zu Isabella von Kastilien und Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa auf der Iberischen Halbinsel. Die nächsten Stationen waren dann Griechenland, die Niederlande, Deutschland, Italien und schließlich Großbritannien. Dort fand die Reise mit Lady Godiva und Königin Victoria ihr Ende.
All diese Frauen sind Heldinnen, Herrscherinnen, aber auch Heilige oder gar Kaiserinnen, Königinnen, Kriegerinnen und Vordenkerinnen.
Es hat mir unglaublich viel Spaß gemacht Rubina Nath zuzuhören und durch die Autorin mehr über die Wichtigkeit der genannten Frauen aus der Vergangenheit zu erfahren.
Vielen lieben Dank an Janina Ramirez, Rubina Nath und dem Audio Verlag für das Hörbuch- Rezensionsexemplar via NetGalley.
Dies ist meine ehrliche Rezension mit meinen eigenen Worten.
Durch ihre angenehme und besondere Stimmfarbe wird die Thematik des Buches super unterstrichen. Für mich persönlich die perfekte Wahl!
Es war absolut spannend, inspirierend und auch irgendwie empowernd über all diese Frauen von früher zu erfahren und macht auch irgendwie Mut für unsere Zukunft. Ich habe fasziniert zugehört, denn mitunter war mir der Großteil der Frauen schlichtweg unbekannt. Das hat mich jetzt im Nachhinein zum Nachdenken angeregt, denn erst durch Janina Ramirez bin ich auf die Wichtigkeit von all ihnen aufmerksam geworden.
Janina Ramirez und Rubina Nath unternahmen mit mir eine unglaublich tolle Reise durch Europa Es wurden dabei in 7 unterschiedlichen Regionen immer 2 wichtige Frauen betrachtet und deren Bedeutung unterstrichen.
Von Jeanne d'Arc und Charlotte Corday in Frankreich ging es zu Isabella von Kastilien und Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa auf der Iberischen Halbinsel. Die nächsten Stationen waren dann Griechenland, die Niederlande, Deutschland, Italien und schließlich Großbritannien. Dort fand die Reise mit Lady Godiva und Königin Victoria ihr Ende.
All diese Frauen sind Heldinnen, Herrscherinnen, aber auch Heilige oder gar Kaiserinnen, Königinnen, Kriegerinnen und Vordenkerinnen.
Es hat mir unglaublich viel Spaß gemacht Rubina Nath zuzuhören und durch die Autorin mehr über die Wichtigkeit der genannten Frauen aus der Vergangenheit zu erfahren.
Vielen lieben Dank an Janina Ramirez, Rubina Nath und dem Audio Verlag für das Hörbuch- Rezensionsexemplar via NetGalley.
Dies ist meine ehrliche Rezension mit meinen eigenen Worten.
February 2, 2026
This was a real let-down after the brilliant "Femina". To begin with, the editing was sloppy - there were spelling mistakes, grammatical errors ("the monks's way of life"), and dangling participles which actually obscured the meaning of the sentence at times. The writing was quite clunky.
But more than that, for me, it didn't hang together. The project - women who contributed to the forging of nations even if some of them lived at a time when "nation" wasn't a concept - is an exciting one, but I don't think she succeeded. The chapters about the lesser-known women were far more interesting than the litanies of royal princesses and queens - but quite often the link between the medieval woman and the 19th century woman was quite forced.
One stand-out chapter was the description of the women in the beguinages in "The Low Countries", but here a map would have helped for people who don't know the geography of Belgium. Having lived there for several years, I'm not that sure that the women she writes about really did a lot to forge the Belgian nation - and indeed, people still fall out over whether or not such a thing exists. And in Germany (where I lived for much longer) there is a lot of heart-searching about the identity of the German nation, and her chapter linking Lola Montez and Empress Adelheid didn't convince me.
When it comes to Britain, she makes the beginner's mistake of thinking that England = Britain. Lady Godiva and Queen Victoria did nothing to forge my Scottish identity.
So, three stars for the idea, and for some of the genuinely interesting parts.
But more than that, for me, it didn't hang together. The project - women who contributed to the forging of nations even if some of them lived at a time when "nation" wasn't a concept - is an exciting one, but I don't think she succeeded. The chapters about the lesser-known women were far more interesting than the litanies of royal princesses and queens - but quite often the link between the medieval woman and the 19th century woman was quite forced.
One stand-out chapter was the description of the women in the beguinages in "The Low Countries", but here a map would have helped for people who don't know the geography of Belgium. Having lived there for several years, I'm not that sure that the women she writes about really did a lot to forge the Belgian nation - and indeed, people still fall out over whether or not such a thing exists. And in Germany (where I lived for much longer) there is a lot of heart-searching about the identity of the German nation, and her chapter linking Lola Montez and Empress Adelheid didn't convince me.
When it comes to Britain, she makes the beginner's mistake of thinking that England = Britain. Lady Godiva and Queen Victoria did nothing to forge my Scottish identity.
So, three stars for the idea, and for some of the genuinely interesting parts.
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