Kings and Queens of the Medieval World: From Conquerors and Exiles to Madmen and Saints

by Martin J. Dougherty

The Great, the Pious, the Fair; the Wise, the Lame, the Mad. Imprisoned, deposed, exiled. Excommunicated, assassinated; devout, debauched; loved, loathed — the Middle Ages produced a fascinating array of monarchs. From Britain to Russia, from Scandinavia to Sicily, from the 9th century CE to the completion of the Reconquista of Spain in 1492, Kings & Queens of the Medieval World explores the captivating stories of monarchs from all across Europe.

Arranged thematically, the book groups the kings and queens by their achievements – military leaders, law-makers, religious reformers, patrons of the arts. These are stories of monarchs leading their armies into battle to expand or defend their territory, and of kings – and queens – going on crusade – both within Europe and to the Holy Land. These, too, are stories of, on the one hand, countries united by marriage, and, on the other, sons scheming against fathers in an effort to gain – and maintain – power. And yet these are also the stories of the people who constructed beautiful cathedrals, who founded universities and supported artists, of religious kings who were later canonised, of kings who created more just legal systems, established parliaments and permanent armies, and laid the foundations for more modern governments and societies. Featuring the major European dynasties,

Kings & Queens of the Medieval World is a lively account of monarchs from Charlemagne to Alexander Nevsky to Ferdinand and Isabella. Illustrated with 180 colour and black-and-white artworks, photographs and maps, this is a colourful, accessible history.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Medieval History, Medieval

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2018

About the author

Hailing from northeast England, Martin J Dougherty is a professional writer specialising in military history. He has been at times a games designer, an engineer, a self-protection instructor, a teacher and a defence analyst. Martin has published a range of books covering topics as diverse as self-protection, medieval warfare and space flight, and has addressed international conferences on anti-shipping missiles and homeland security issues.

Martin's interests include martial arts and fencing. He has coached Fencing, Ju-Jitsu, Self-Defence and Kickboxing for many years at the University of Sunderland, and has competed to national level as a fencer. As a martial artist he holds black belts in Combat Ju-Jitsu, Nihon Tai-Jitsu and Self-Defence. Martin is a Senior Assessor with the Self-Defence Federation and an IL1 instructor/assessor with the Britsh Federation for Historical Swordplay, specialising in the Military Sabre and the Smallsword.

Reviews

[Maja - BibliophiliaDK ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

AN ORIGINAL BIOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION WITH FLAWS

Actual rating: 2.5 ⭐

Being a historian specialized in medieval queenship this book instantly spoke to me. There were some things that I liked and at first I was very positive, but as I got further on, flaws started to appear and it pulled down the overall experience for me.

👍 WHAT I LIKED 👍

Categories: The kings of this book was organised into categories such as military leaders, lawmakers and crusaders. It showed off the characters favorably and I enjoyed reading about the different kings in this kind of context.

Writing: Being a historian myself I especially admired how easily Dougherty managed to convey these very complex stories in such a short, informative and concise way.

👎 WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE 👎

Queen category: Yes, I liked that the kings were arranged by categories. But I VERY MUCH disliked that the queens had a category of their own - to me, it conveyed that queens couldn't be military leaders (like Empress Matilda), lawmakers (like Margaret of Denmark) or crusaders (like Eleanor of Aquitaine). And to that I can only say humbug!

Anglo centric: I am very pro-English and have focused primarily on English history. However, that wasn't the general idea of this book - it was supposed to deal with European king- and queenship. Even so, it dealt A LOT with English kings, a few French ones and the odd Italian, Dane, German and Russian. It felt off when considering the overall scope of the books.

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Eugenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great coffee table book or maybe high school textbook, not something I would recommend to any amateur history buffs such as myself. It was well written, and I especially loved the illustrations throughout the book. It ended rather abruptly so I was not a fan of that and there was some repeating of individuals named with some stories essentially repeated when it could have just been listed as a reference note (aka, for mor window go to page xx),

[Kimberly Tierney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic addition to the library of any fan of royal history. What a reader finds is a brief summary of many lesser-known figures who played large roles along with well-known names. They are listed by name, what they are famous for, and the dates they lived. if you are beginning your journey of learning about the royal figures of medieval times or needed a research book for a paper this is a wonderful place to start.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great for those who do have an interest in Medival England. Get a lot of introductions to a number of royalty during the Middle Ages. Other information is introduced with gray backgrounds separating it a bit from the king or queen.

[Emy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it was really enlightening to read about royals that we don't normally hear about.

The only thing is that I read it as an ebook and it was harder to see the pictures properly, this was clearly meant to be read as a hardcover book.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although informative, the same information was repeated through out the book and often veered off topic from the historical figure that particular section should have been focusing on.

[Aleksandar Todorovski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great point of departure if you want to go on a Journey about the Key characters which forged Medieval History. As someone who is a Medieval Aficionado, I must point out how much I loved the well organized and structured way in which the Books describes the Monarchs of the era by their significant contributions, qualities, and flaws respectively ( Warriors, Crusaders, Lawmakers, Reformers).

What I noticed though, is the underrepresentation of the Byzantine Empire ( Literally not a single Ruler is mentioned, except Tsaritsa Zoe, ( Who changed her name into Sofia when she married Ivan the Great), no Balkan rulers ( The Serbian Empire of Emperor Dusan the Strong which was one of the strongest states in Europe during the second half of the 14th century, as well as the Bulgarian Empire which was a cultural hub of learning and art, as well as a military Juggernaut able to defy even the Byzantine empire.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is an easy read, but it's somewhat superfluous. It also has some errors.

Halfway the book Mad Charles VI of France is described as the son of Jean II, although he was his grandson. In the 4th section (of 4) Jean II and his son Charles V are described in subsequent chapters. The image next to the chapter of Charles V of France, is Renaissance King Francois I of France, but has a label describing Charles V of France.

The first two sections are mainly about English Kings, alas. The 4th section has more rulers from other parts of Europe.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the legacies of well-known (and some not so well-known) rulers of the Middle Ages, told through short summaries and arranged by category (warriors, legislators, religious rulers, etc.). While the categories was an interesting way to group them, I wonder if chronological would've been better - made a more congruous path for better understanding? I also would've loved a map of Europe from the Middle Ages that showed the various territories with the names they went by then (Bohemia, Anjou, etc.). And more artwork please!

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm fascinated by Medieval world and I liked this well researched and well written book.
It was an engrossing and informative read.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Nazire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to some of the Medieval Kings and Queens and also helps to understand some of Medieval basic information throughout the introductions of each chapter.

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

Great factual book on all the past kings and queens in Medieval times. 4 stars!

[untothehills]

Sentence structure was so odd! It made the book difficult to get through because I was stumbling over something every paragraph