Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England

by Helen E. Maurer

Margaret of Anjou was a vengeful and violent woman, or so we have been told, whose vindictive spirit fuelled the fifteenth-century dynastic conflict, the Wars of the Roses. In Shakespeare's rendering she becomes an adulterous queen who mocks her captive enemy, Richard, duke of York, before killing him in cold blood. Shakespeare's portrayal has proved to be remarkably resilient, because Margaret's queenship lends itself to such an assessment. In 1445, at the age of fifteen, she was married to the ineffectual Henry VI, a move expected to ensure peace with France and an heir to the throne. Eight years later, while she was in the later stages of her only pregnancy, Henry suffered a complete mental collapse that left him catatonic for roughly a year and a half: Margaret came to the political forefront. In the aftermath of the king's illness, she became an indefatigable leader of the Lancastrian loyalists in their struggle against their Yorkist opponents. Margaret's exercise of power was always fraught with difficulty: as a woman, her effective power was dependent upon her invocation of the authority of her husband or her son. Her enemies lost no opportunity to charge her with misconduct of all kinds. More than five hundred years after Margaret's death this examination of her life and career allows a more balanced and detached view.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Medieval, British Literature, European History, Academic

252 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2003

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maurer paints Margaret of Anjou as an intelligent woman and capable queen whose agency and exertion of power were shaped by Margaret's marriage to Henry VI and by the accepted gender roles in 15th century England. Maurer also attacks the assumption that Margaret was a vengeful "she-wolf" bent on York's destruction very early in her reign as queen. According to Maurer, Margaret's enmity for York manifested in an overtly violent way only after the First Battle of St. Albans. Despite having grown suspicious of York and his lust for power during the protectorate, Margaret operated within her traditional female (and queenly) role as intercessor and representative of the king- not as an independent political actor. Maurer effortlessly engages both primary and secondary sources, while pressing forward with a fascinating narrative leading up to the Wars of the Roses. Maurer's writing style is clear, and with little to no knowledge of the reign of Henry VI, I found this book neither tedious nor confusing.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Married off at fifteen to the weak-minded and ineffectual Henry VI, Margaret — daughter of the glittering Duke René of Anjou — was one of the most powerful (and complex) personalities of the period called the "Wars of the Roses." Shakespeare’s depiction of her as the "she-wolf of France" probably was closer to the truth than many of his characterizations. But in addition to explaining the details of her life, Maurer is interested in exploring the motivations that drive a woman placed in power by circumstances — and she’s careful to distinguish "power" from "authority," for Margaret’s world depended on hierarchy and rank; public power wielded by a woman required subtlety, even in a queen. A first-rate, thoughtful analysis of the circumstances under which "queenship" becomes "kingship."

[Sarah W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent study of queenship through an examination of Margaret of Anjou's career. The author clarifies much of why Margaret earned such a dismal reputation in her own time by examining how Margaret used and misused the traditional methods of power exercised by medieval queens. The only thing disappointing about this study is that it fails to follow Margaret in her later years, when she lived in exile in France and attempted to restore the Lancasters to the English throne.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England is a re-examination of the infamous “she-wolf” of history, the vengeful and violent woman who transgressed gender lines and emerged as one of history’s greatest villainesses. Helen E. Maurer challenges this popular image, digging past the Yorkist propaganda to look at Margaret of Anjou and how she exercised power as queen during the various stages of Henry VI’s ill-fated reign.

This is not a strict biography as such and familiarity with Margaret of Anjou and the Wars of the Roses is advised. I wished my knowledge was more complete reading this but I never felt completely lost. It’s also worthwhile to note that this can be quite dry and academic in tone, though that’s the nature of Maurer’s study.

Regardless, this is one of those books that I feel like anyone who wants to write or talk about a historical figure should read, not necessarily because I agree with everything said in them but because they offer up useful counterpoints to a heavily mythologised figure (or, at least, facets to them). Maurer seems even-handed in her approach – Margaret isn’t a saintly, whitewashed, did-no-wrong figure but intelligent and painstaking, limited in the ways she could exercise power due to her position as a woman and as a queen and sometimes making mistakes – and it’s worthwhile trying to get to the historical Margaret rather than the one through the lens of Yorkist propaganda and Shakespeare.

4 stars.

[Kate Parr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a beast of a book, but absolutely fascinating from beginning to end, which is strange given that it is definitely an academic text. I think it comes down to the woman at the centre of the action and the dynamic period she lived through. I found the main idea at the centre, the difference between authority and power and how a woman, a queen, could or could not use them, really well developed and explored. I was a little disappointed that the last decade of Margaret's life was brushed past so quickly, but essentially, once Henry VI was dead, she had neither authority nor power to wield. I will be reading other more populist books about Margaret, but I'm so glad I gave this one a try.

[Annm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched. My only wish is that the author had included a little more narrative of the events for those readers, like myself, who are not well-versed in the history of that time.

[tuhseen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Wars of the Roses or Margaret of Anjou. The book is well written, engaging and manages to not be dry or boring. There are also some letters that Margaret wrote herself, and stories about her arrival in England, which I knew little about before picking this up. I'd never read anything she's written herself. Maurer is right when she says what's remarkable about M of Anjou is how hard she tried to conform to England's ideas of of an ideal medieval queen before her husband's complete inability to protect their son and his dynasty forced her to act. She was a fierce woman who had the misfortune of being with a weak man (yes, I know he was mentally ill), and her son's death meant she had a tragic end. She deserves to be more known.

[Stevie Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing my investigation into important but sometimes overlooked women in history, particularly where they intersect with Shakespeare and the history plays, I picked up this volume on Henry V's 'she-wolf'. This gave an excellent overview of Margaret's expected role and how and when she kept within those bounds or didn't. Highly informative, but (necessarily) a little dry in places. Well worth reading, though a little heavy going at times.

[Munderoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read for everyone who is interested in the term of power in late medieval England. Maurer introduces a different perspective to Margaret of Anjou's kind of power and analyses very clear every aspect of her Queenship. As she says: a concept less manly connotated than the discourse that has taken place before.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book about Margaret and late medieval queenship. Just brilliant

[Susan Abernethy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Link to my review of this book:

https://flhwnotesandreviews.com/2016/...