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Queens of Sicily 1061-1266
Eighteen women. Eighteen stories. Each one unique. Some never told before. They are the semi-forgotten women of European medieval history. This is the first compendium of detailed scholarly biographies of the countesses and queens of the Kingdom of Sicily during the Hauteville and Hohenstaufen reigns, based on original research in medieval charters, chronicles and letters, augmented by extensive on-site research at castles, cathedrals and towns across Europe. The multicultural Kingdom of Sicily described here encompassed the island and nearly half of the Italian peninsula. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms of Europe and the Mediterranean. Its queens came from Italy, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece and elsewhere, constituting a cosmopolitan sisterhood. The book includes eighteen biographies of varying length and such details as original translations from medieval records (in Latin and Sicilian). It contains twenty pages of maps, two dozen genealogical tables, photos of royal charters and other manuscripts, pictures of places the author visited while researching this work, a detailed timeline, over seven hundred endnotes and a lengthy index. Reflecting research in several countries, this is a peer-reviewed monograph in the Sicilian Medieval Studies series. The volume is printed on off-white, acid-free paper. It is a useful, informative reference for scholars yet highly readable for armchair historians. Any chapter of this volume would be suitable as an academic paper were it published as an article in a scholarly journal. Particularly lengthy and interesting are the chapters on Judith of Evreux, Joanna of England and Constance of Sicily. The longest, most detailed chapter is the one dedicated to Margaret of Navarre, drawn largely from the author’s biography of that queen published in 2016. An insightful introduction considers Sicily’s queens in the context of Italian history and the larger field of women’s studies. This book is pure, traditional biography, always fascinating in itself. A consideration of queenship, though present, is kept to a minimum, and the feminism speaks for itself. This is not a tiresome tome but the erudite treatment of a subject that is entrancing in its own right, without the need for endless, often circular, commentary and analysis. The lives of these women were anything but boring. As regent, and the most powerful woman in Europe, Margaret jailed her suspected enemies without so much as a second thought. Joanna went on crusade, oversaw a siege, and ordered the torture of the archer who killed her brother, Richard the Lionhearted. Living in Palermo, the former kingdom’s royal capital, affords the author a closer, more personal view of the experience of these women than one gets from a historian writing thousands of miles away. While most scholars writing in English about Sicilian history undertake brief research trips to the island, Jackie Alio’s intimate familiarity with the place and its culture benefits the work and the reader at every step. It is rare indeed to read a book about Sicily written in English by somebody fluent not only in English, Italian, French and Spanish but also Sicilian. Among the wealth of material included is an original translation of the poem of Ciullo of Alcamo, the longest surviving example of the romantic court poetry of the Sicilian School, accompanied by the Medieval Sicilian text. Included with the 'extra' features is information on the crown of Queen Constance (shown on the cover) and the reliquary pendant worn by Queen Margaret. This is a landmark work. Until now, most of what has been published about most of these women, even in Italian, has been superficial. It cannot be overemphasized that this book is an epic in its field. Until now, anybody seeking to read about these women had to consult numerous books and hard-to-find articles to get this information. Has anybody in living memory met a Queen of Sicily outside the pages of a book? An unusual feature of this volume is a previously-unpublished interview of a royal princess who knew Queen Maria Sophia of the Two Sicilies, Sicily's last queen consort, who died in 1925, a detail that reminds the reader that the kingdom described in these pages survived in some form into the nineteenth century. This book is a unique, long-awaited contribution to the field of royal medieval biography. It fills a gaping void in the subfield of reginal studies and the study of southern Italy, and indeed medieval Europe generally. No other work ever published has presented such accurate, informative biographies of all of the queens of Sicily during Norman and Swabian rule. Many studies are informative. This one is an enlightening journey with some very special women.
740 pages, Paperback
Published June 11, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 13, 2019
This book is a collection of 18 biographies of queens of Sicily, told in a readable and entertaining way. It's also an incredible reference book for anyone interested in the period. 20+ genealogical tables, pages and pages of maps, 70+ pages of endnotes (which, coming at the end instead of at the foot of each page, has the space to go into the necessary details without distracting from the main text) and an extraordinary bibliography.
The author herself lives in Palermo and, relying on original sources, has done much of the translation herself. She also places an emphasis on telling the reader *what* has happened in each queen's biography without trying to work out motivations (or I should say "presumed motivations") behind the events. She tells us the facts, shows the maps and genealogies and endnote details, and leaves the rest up to the reader.
A terrific book. And not a small one, either. Mine is over two pounds.
If you're studying Sicilian history--or you just want to read about important female figures in history whose stories have been overlooked--this is the book to get. Recommended.
The author herself lives in Palermo and, relying on original sources, has done much of the translation herself. She also places an emphasis on telling the reader *what* has happened in each queen's biography without trying to work out motivations (or I should say "presumed motivations") behind the events. She tells us the facts, shows the maps and genealogies and endnote details, and leaves the rest up to the reader.
A terrific book. And not a small one, either. Mine is over two pounds.
If you're studying Sicilian history--or you just want to read about important female figures in history whose stories have been overlooked--this is the book to get. Recommended.
November 11, 2019
I LOVE THIS BOOK. 👑
February 9, 2020
Where has this book been for the last 20 years? Or the last 200? It was high time that someone finally wrote it!
I just finished reading this, and I've already read the same author's biography about Margaret, who died in 1183. Some "critics" are likely to dismiss publishers' promotions about books like this one but in this case the claims are true. This really is a milestone. It is, in fact, the VERY FIRST compendium of queens' biographies of this period of Sicilian history published as a book. It is very well researched and written. (Beware: Criticisms of this kind of book by fellow authors are sometimes motivated by envy. You'll find haters out there, including other women.)
My recommendation? Buy this book. Read it. Love it. Nothing else like it has ever been published. Dr Alio has done a great service for the field, both academic and general. One of the most amazing things about this book is that nobody thought it worth writing until the 21st century.
Now I have to admit there's a "personal" angle for me because I'm part Sicilian, I love Sicily and I'd been waiting a long time for this kind of book to be published. Think about it this way. A young woman, curious about Sicily's women, wants to learn more. She goes to the library or the internet but finds only sketchy info in encyclopedias or in a few books about general history. I was that girl.
So was Jacqueline Alio. She has done for Sicilian queens what other authors have done for English, Spanish and French queens. It was about time these biographies were finally published!
I loved every detail about this book, even the chapter on Maria Sofia, the last queen, who died in the 20th century. The court poetry, the rite of coronation and other details are the sort of thing you just don't find in most books about queens but should.
FWIW, most of the important women in regions like Tuscany and Lombardy in the High Middle Ages were not queens. The only actual kingdom was Sicily. Only a few of these queens have had biographies dedicated to them in English and much that is published about them on websites is incorrect.
Dr Alio never disappoints, and this book will probably set the standard for this subject.
If your local public library doesn't have this book, suggest it to them.
I just finished reading this, and I've already read the same author's biography about Margaret, who died in 1183. Some "critics" are likely to dismiss publishers' promotions about books like this one but in this case the claims are true. This really is a milestone. It is, in fact, the VERY FIRST compendium of queens' biographies of this period of Sicilian history published as a book. It is very well researched and written. (Beware: Criticisms of this kind of book by fellow authors are sometimes motivated by envy. You'll find haters out there, including other women.)
My recommendation? Buy this book. Read it. Love it. Nothing else like it has ever been published. Dr Alio has done a great service for the field, both academic and general. One of the most amazing things about this book is that nobody thought it worth writing until the 21st century.
Now I have to admit there's a "personal" angle for me because I'm part Sicilian, I love Sicily and I'd been waiting a long time for this kind of book to be published. Think about it this way. A young woman, curious about Sicily's women, wants to learn more. She goes to the library or the internet but finds only sketchy info in encyclopedias or in a few books about general history. I was that girl.
So was Jacqueline Alio. She has done for Sicilian queens what other authors have done for English, Spanish and French queens. It was about time these biographies were finally published!
I loved every detail about this book, even the chapter on Maria Sofia, the last queen, who died in the 20th century. The court poetry, the rite of coronation and other details are the sort of thing you just don't find in most books about queens but should.
FWIW, most of the important women in regions like Tuscany and Lombardy in the High Middle Ages were not queens. The only actual kingdom was Sicily. Only a few of these queens have had biographies dedicated to them in English and much that is published about them on websites is incorrect.
Dr Alio never disappoints, and this book will probably set the standard for this subject.
If your local public library doesn't have this book, suggest it to them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews