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Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England
Until the mass hysteria of the seventeenth century, accusations of witchcraft in England were rare. However, four royal women, related in family and in court ties—Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville—were accused of practicing witchcraft in order to kill or influence the king.
Some of these women may have turned to the “dark arts” in order to divine the future or obtain healing potions, but the purpose of the accusations was purely political. Despite their status, these women were vulnerable because of their sex, as the men around them moved them like pawns for political gains.
In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives and the cases of these so-called witches, placing them in the historical context of fifteenth-century England, a setting rife with political upheaval and war. In a time when the line between science and magic was blurred, these trials offer a tantalizing insight into how malicious magic would be used and would later cause such mass hysteria in centuries to come.
Some of these women may have turned to the “dark arts” in order to divine the future or obtain healing potions, but the purpose of the accusations was purely political. Despite their status, these women were vulnerable because of their sex, as the men around them moved them like pawns for political gains.
In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives and the cases of these so-called witches, placing them in the historical context of fifteenth-century England, a setting rife with political upheaval and war. In a time when the line between science and magic was blurred, these trials offer a tantalizing insight into how malicious magic would be used and would later cause such mass hysteria in centuries to come.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews
May 18, 2022
2022 reread: I forgot how much I loved this!
This isn't about Witcgcraft at all.
It's mostly a history or biography of the 4 women covered in this text.
Exceptionally well done.
Original review:
This was exceptionally well done.
I would say this is first a biography of these women and the times they lived in.
Witchcraft of the era is a very minor player.
This is about politics
I loved it.
This isn't about Witcgcraft at all.
It's mostly a history or biography of the 4 women covered in this text.
Exceptionally well done.
Original review:
This was exceptionally well done.
I would say this is first a biography of these women and the times they lived in.
Witchcraft of the era is a very minor player.
This is about politics
I loved it.
December 5, 2019
In the fifteenth century, four women at the very highest levels of society were accused of witchcraft. While it is not impossible these women were ‘guilty’ of turning to folkloric charms and rituals or using the then-accepted science of astrology, these accusations all had clear ulterior methods. A cash-strapped king in desperate needs of funds, a court party wanting to discredit their popular rival, an alienated earl looking to discredit the queen and regain his position, a king looking for ways to explain his usurpation of his nephews’ throne. Gemma Hollman explores the lives of and accusations against Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville.
I was very excited when I first heard about this book and even pre-ordered it months ahead of its release (I was heartbroken when my bookshop had issues getting stock and I ended up getting it two weeks after the publication date). I’m interested in these four women, but especially Eleanor Cobham, and after reading about them in bits and pieces across a wide range of books, Royal Witches was a concentrated effort to tell their story in detail and explore the links between each woman. What’s more, judging from Hollman’s blog, this was going to be an account sympathetic to these women that explored these women from the perspective that they were not necessarily guilty.
Royal Witches is beautifully written, clear and readable yet obviously with a wealth of research behind it. It is more of a narrative history than an academic study of the sources but Hollman’s goal seems to be to present these women to a wider audience, to tell their stories in a way that will appeal to a wide range of readers.
There are a couple of little inaccuracies or simplification of some complicated historical issues. And there is some speculation, particularly in the early chapters dealing with Joan of Navarre, and guesswork which I feel may be the result of an author dealing with a paucity of evidence and trying to extract as much meaning as possible from what little evidence there is.
I did particularly enjoy the chapters focusing on Eleanor Cobham’s tenure as the Duchess of Gloucester. Although she is a shadowy figure, I felt as Hollman worked hard to find glimpses of the real woman rather than blindly accepting the narratives about her as fact. This is not a reading of Eleanor as a stupid, arrogant whore whose extreme ambition proved her undoing but, rather a woman who suffered for being married to a man others wanted to discredit and alienate.
Overall, what I really appreciated was that Hollman is interested in telling these women’s stories by delving beyond the accusations and narratives that have dominated our understanding of these women. Hollman wants to locate the real women behind the witches and show them to the world.
Highly recommended.
I was very excited when I first heard about this book and even pre-ordered it months ahead of its release (I was heartbroken when my bookshop had issues getting stock and I ended up getting it two weeks after the publication date). I’m interested in these four women, but especially Eleanor Cobham, and after reading about them in bits and pieces across a wide range of books, Royal Witches was a concentrated effort to tell their story in detail and explore the links between each woman. What’s more, judging from Hollman’s blog, this was going to be an account sympathetic to these women that explored these women from the perspective that they were not necessarily guilty.
Royal Witches is beautifully written, clear and readable yet obviously with a wealth of research behind it. It is more of a narrative history than an academic study of the sources but Hollman’s goal seems to be to present these women to a wider audience, to tell their stories in a way that will appeal to a wide range of readers.
There are a couple of little inaccuracies or simplification of some complicated historical issues. And there is some speculation, particularly in the early chapters dealing with Joan of Navarre, and guesswork which I feel may be the result of an author dealing with a paucity of evidence and trying to extract as much meaning as possible from what little evidence there is.
I did particularly enjoy the chapters focusing on Eleanor Cobham’s tenure as the Duchess of Gloucester. Although she is a shadowy figure, I felt as Hollman worked hard to find glimpses of the real woman rather than blindly accepting the narratives about her as fact. This is not a reading of Eleanor as a stupid, arrogant whore whose extreme ambition proved her undoing but, rather a woman who suffered for being married to a man others wanted to discredit and alienate.
Overall, what I really appreciated was that Hollman is interested in telling these women’s stories by delving beyond the accusations and narratives that have dominated our understanding of these women. Hollman wants to locate the real women behind the witches and show them to the world.
Highly recommended.
November 25, 2019
This is a very well-researched, well-written book. It was also about a subject that I didn't really know much about and therefore found it fascinating. It handles the women's lives very well and never seems to lose sight of who they were as people. This is a brilliant history book that I would recommend to everyone.
April 23, 2021
Reads like a grad school paper that has been thoroughly researched but poorly written, and draws shaky (if enthusiastic) conclusions. So many assumptions & speculations—everyone “certainly” felt this way or “clearly” thought this thing.
Very, very little about witchcraft so if you’re interested based on the title and aren’t into dense stories of medieval nobility, walk away.
I muddled through because I am into dense stories of medieval nobility :)
Very, very little about witchcraft so if you’re interested based on the title and aren’t into dense stories of medieval nobility, walk away.
I muddled through because I am into dense stories of medieval nobility :)
June 23, 2021
3.5 stars
I didn't actually have plans to read this book at this exact moment, but as my library has decided that they will be discontinuing their Hoopla service at the end of the month, I moved it (and 2 other books) up in order to not lose access to it. (Of course, only later do I learn that my mom had it on Audible, which I can access through our linked accounts. DERP.)
Anyway. So, this book was not really what I expected. For one, I expected more... witchcraft. Or at least more accusations of witchcraft. But this was more multi-subject historical biography than anything, and the accusations of witchcraft there were only played into the political machinations of the time. But, really, I shouldn't be surprised about that, since that's pretty much what all witchcraft allegations were about - politics and power.
The interesting thing here is that these allegations were made in a very short period of time, and very specifically, and to four women who knew or were related to each other, all tied to the English throne in some way, and all used as political pawns in the civil wars in England over said throne.
Joan of Navarre, 1368 – 10 June 1437
Eleanor Cobham, 1400 – 7 July 1452
Jacquetta of Luxembourg, 1415 or 1416 – 30 May 1472
Elizabeth Woodville, 1437 – 8 June 1492
I quite enjoyed learning about these women and learning about this period of history. I can appreciate the amount of research that went into writing about their lives, and by Hollman's own account, it was quite difficult to find information on their childhoods, and certain periods of their lives. I very much appreciated the tone of the book, clearly showing them as human women who were raised and prepared for lives of high position, but not preternaturally cunning or malevolent. These were women who had to be in the public eye and who had a measure of power and authority and wealth, but at all times lived under the thumb of the throne and the church and the people. The ways that they handled the accusations and charges against them showed that they were intelligent and shrewd, but also that they were human and fallible and vulnerable, and no amount of power or intelligence can save you when the whole system is stacked against you.
This book has definitely inspired me to read more about this period, because what was here was interesting, but I also feel like I didn't really get a full picture of the political environment of the time, because with each new woman brought into the story, the history and perspective shifted a bit to make the history relevant to how it would have affected her specifically.
While I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, and these women are the real focus, it did make it a bit confusing to follow the timelines and events when they would sometimes repeat and overlap in different perspective storylines. Perhaps this would have been easier to follow in print (maybe with genealogy maps or family trees? That would be nice.) but as I listened to the audiobook, I didn't have anything like that. My loss.
I also didn't love the audiobook reader for this one. While I appreciated the serious tone and respect for these women and this period of history, I felt like her cadence was a bit staccato and impersonal and almost cold. I don't know, I definitely wouldn't want someone sensationalizing or dramatizing the reading, but I also would have liked it to feel a bit more than like someone reading a list of statements.
Part of that is due to the writing itself though. The writing here was very tell-y. The sentences were short, direct, statement heavy, with a follow-up usually starting with 'however' or containing some type of adverb. For example: "Joan gave birth to at least 9 children. However, only 7 of them survived to adulthood." or "Moreover, Elizabeth would have understood her position at court." etc.
Once I noticed the adverbs, especially the trend of using 'however' to begin a sentence, I couldn't NOT hear it every time, and it was used frequently. I wish that would have been a little less prevalent, and that the writing was smoothed out a bit, but even as it was, the info that it conveyed was solid and interesting.
So, I liked this pretty well, and really liked the humanizing of women who generally are seen as evil, conniving, power-hungry seductresses. Honestly, listening to the lives these women led, I don't know if I could have done it. Sure, it would have been much easier at the time to have servants and nice things and fancy clothes and whatnot, but the pressure of being responsible for securing legitimacy of your husband's kingship by providing a male heir, and of likely being constantly pregnant sounds like the 9th circle of hell to me... so ALL of the kudos to these women for surviving that and not straight up murdering their husbands after finding out that they were pregnant for the 8th time or whatever.
I know I likely would have EARNED that prison time. Just saying. O_O
I didn't actually have plans to read this book at this exact moment, but as my library has decided that they will be discontinuing their Hoopla service at the end of the month, I moved it (and 2 other books) up in order to not lose access to it. (Of course, only later do I learn that my mom had it on Audible, which I can access through our linked accounts. DERP.)
Anyway. So, this book was not really what I expected. For one, I expected more... witchcraft. Or at least more accusations of witchcraft. But this was more multi-subject historical biography than anything, and the accusations of witchcraft there were only played into the political machinations of the time. But, really, I shouldn't be surprised about that, since that's pretty much what all witchcraft allegations were about - politics and power.
The interesting thing here is that these allegations were made in a very short period of time, and very specifically, and to four women who knew or were related to each other, all tied to the English throne in some way, and all used as political pawns in the civil wars in England over said throne.
Joan of Navarre, 1368 – 10 June 1437
Eleanor Cobham, 1400 – 7 July 1452
Jacquetta of Luxembourg, 1415 or 1416 – 30 May 1472
Elizabeth Woodville, 1437 – 8 June 1492
I quite enjoyed learning about these women and learning about this period of history. I can appreciate the amount of research that went into writing about their lives, and by Hollman's own account, it was quite difficult to find information on their childhoods, and certain periods of their lives. I very much appreciated the tone of the book, clearly showing them as human women who were raised and prepared for lives of high position, but not preternaturally cunning or malevolent. These were women who had to be in the public eye and who had a measure of power and authority and wealth, but at all times lived under the thumb of the throne and the church and the people. The ways that they handled the accusations and charges against them showed that they were intelligent and shrewd, but also that they were human and fallible and vulnerable, and no amount of power or intelligence can save you when the whole system is stacked against you.
This book has definitely inspired me to read more about this period, because what was here was interesting, but I also feel like I didn't really get a full picture of the political environment of the time, because with each new woman brought into the story, the history and perspective shifted a bit to make the history relevant to how it would have affected her specifically.
While I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, and these women are the real focus, it did make it a bit confusing to follow the timelines and events when they would sometimes repeat and overlap in different perspective storylines. Perhaps this would have been easier to follow in print (maybe with genealogy maps or family trees? That would be nice.) but as I listened to the audiobook, I didn't have anything like that. My loss.
I also didn't love the audiobook reader for this one. While I appreciated the serious tone and respect for these women and this period of history, I felt like her cadence was a bit staccato and impersonal and almost cold. I don't know, I definitely wouldn't want someone sensationalizing or dramatizing the reading, but I also would have liked it to feel a bit more than like someone reading a list of statements.
Part of that is due to the writing itself though. The writing here was very tell-y. The sentences were short, direct, statement heavy, with a follow-up usually starting with 'however' or containing some type of adverb. For example: "Joan gave birth to at least 9 children. However, only 7 of them survived to adulthood." or "Moreover, Elizabeth would have understood her position at court." etc.
Once I noticed the adverbs, especially the trend of using 'however' to begin a sentence, I couldn't NOT hear it every time, and it was used frequently. I wish that would have been a little less prevalent, and that the writing was smoothed out a bit, but even as it was, the info that it conveyed was solid and interesting.
So, I liked this pretty well, and really liked the humanizing of women who generally are seen as evil, conniving, power-hungry seductresses. Honestly, listening to the lives these women led, I don't know if I could have done it. Sure, it would have been much easier at the time to have servants and nice things and fancy clothes and whatnot, but the pressure of being responsible for securing legitimacy of your husband's kingship by providing a male heir, and of likely being constantly pregnant sounds like the 9th circle of hell to me... so ALL of the kudos to these women for surviving that and not straight up murdering their husbands after finding out that they were pregnant for the 8th time or whatever.
I know I likely would have EARNED that prison time. Just saying. O_O
May 27, 2020
The medieval period was a man's world, but that does not mean that women did not continue to be of central importance and could not influence the course of history.
This book is incredible. There, I said it.
Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville have, to varying degrees, all been reduced down until their story is contained within a single word: witches. But they were more than the accusations that dominate their stories. Their stories are larger and more varied and complex than the words hurled by men for their own political purpose. This book shows us the women behind the words; the lives of these four extraordinary women before, during, and after these accusations are revealed.
In terms of Jacquetta and Elizabeth Woodville, this book did not tell me anything spectacularly new. It did, however, present the events of the Wars of the Roses from a slightly different perspective, showing that accusations of witchcraft stuck, even despite parliament dismissing the claims against Jacquetta. Where this book really excelled was in telling the stories of the earlier two women: Joan of Navarre and Eleanor Cobham. I knew very little about Joan, but this book showed me a woman who married a man she genuinely appears to have loved after her first husbands death, who was an "ideal queen", but who was ultimately betrayed and exploited for her money by step-sons she had grown to trust.
As for Eleanor, she is the sole reason I picked up this book. I was researching her husband's palace at Greenwich as a haven for scholars, and whilst pages upon pages upon pages have been dedicated to Gloucester and his cultivation of the new learning, almost nothing has been written about Eleanor. There are no biographies. No articles save the ones that are focused entirely on her downfall. She was a complete enigma to me, despite the fact that I knew she must have had more influence than she has been given credit for. So I ordered this book, and after reading the Eleanor section I was hooked. It gave me almost everything I needed to know. Eleanor Cobham was a woman who was intelligent, charming, fashionable and evidently commanded the respect of the people, just like her husband. She was attacked and her reputation ruined, her life essentially taken away from her, all because her husband's enemies in government wanted to damage him. That she was forcibly divorced from the man she loved and never set eyes on him again, dying alone in Beaumaris, is tragically sad. This book gives Eleanor all the credit she deserves, and gives her back her story. This book is an important work that highlights how accusations of witchcraft were used as a political tool in the fifteenth century. It shows that no matter how strong and powerful a woman could be, no matter how high she rose, she was still, after all that, vulnerable to the words of men.
This book is incredible. There, I said it.
Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville have, to varying degrees, all been reduced down until their story is contained within a single word: witches. But they were more than the accusations that dominate their stories. Their stories are larger and more varied and complex than the words hurled by men for their own political purpose. This book shows us the women behind the words; the lives of these four extraordinary women before, during, and after these accusations are revealed.
In terms of Jacquetta and Elizabeth Woodville, this book did not tell me anything spectacularly new. It did, however, present the events of the Wars of the Roses from a slightly different perspective, showing that accusations of witchcraft stuck, even despite parliament dismissing the claims against Jacquetta. Where this book really excelled was in telling the stories of the earlier two women: Joan of Navarre and Eleanor Cobham. I knew very little about Joan, but this book showed me a woman who married a man she genuinely appears to have loved after her first husbands death, who was an "ideal queen", but who was ultimately betrayed and exploited for her money by step-sons she had grown to trust.
As for Eleanor, she is the sole reason I picked up this book. I was researching her husband's palace at Greenwich as a haven for scholars, and whilst pages upon pages upon pages have been dedicated to Gloucester and his cultivation of the new learning, almost nothing has been written about Eleanor. There are no biographies. No articles save the ones that are focused entirely on her downfall. She was a complete enigma to me, despite the fact that I knew she must have had more influence than she has been given credit for. So I ordered this book, and after reading the Eleanor section I was hooked. It gave me almost everything I needed to know. Eleanor Cobham was a woman who was intelligent, charming, fashionable and evidently commanded the respect of the people, just like her husband. She was attacked and her reputation ruined, her life essentially taken away from her, all because her husband's enemies in government wanted to damage him. That she was forcibly divorced from the man she loved and never set eyes on him again, dying alone in Beaumaris, is tragically sad. This book gives Eleanor all the credit she deserves, and gives her back her story. This book is an important work that highlights how accusations of witchcraft were used as a political tool in the fifteenth century. It shows that no matter how strong and powerful a woman could be, no matter how high she rose, she was still, after all that, vulnerable to the words of men.
September 7, 2020
2.5 stars
This was... not what I expected.
I thought I would find the lives of women marked by an accusation on witchcraft, with facts and information about their respective trials.
I did not. What I found was a compilation of this women's regal lives. Especially the political altercations they lived and or influenced. A great concept, if executed correctly. Sadly, it turned out rather messy when trying to explain a very complicated situation, such as the Wars of the Roses, shortly.
But, in my opinion, the first two accused royals in this narrative deserve a read. Information about their lives is generally vague, and their trials, or absence of, did reasonably influence their lives.
This was... not what I expected.
I thought I would find the lives of women marked by an accusation on witchcraft, with facts and information about their respective trials.
I did not. What I found was a compilation of this women's regal lives. Especially the political altercations they lived and or influenced. A great concept, if executed correctly. Sadly, it turned out rather messy when trying to explain a very complicated situation, such as the Wars of the Roses, shortly.
But, in my opinion, the first two accused royals in this narrative deserve a read. Information about their lives is generally vague, and their trials, or absence of, did reasonably influence their lives.
November 4, 2020
Historical rendition for the times and life particulars for these four women. Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham (Duchess of Gloucester), Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and Elizabeth Woodville.
Not as much about any particular methods or forms of practice for actual witchcraft as the title suggests is included. It's more about mores and societal perceptions of reprisals for manipulative events or accusations for women very near to the throne.
In all cases, regardless of their falls from power or not- it still seems immensely pivotal in true outcomes (for these women) to the relationship or status insured by their very birth placements. Far more than it does to their marriages or anything else. (It must be harder to murder your cousin? Or when highly jealous of their success- you don't want to make them a martyr?)
Elizabeth Woodville being somewhat the exception, but considering her family influences and infiltrating nearly every avenue of associative power? Not really.
I've read much about 3 of them previously. But this has the best Eleanor Cobham details and context for her life that I have come across. And the others were good too- but you need to know the period well to grasp most location or nuance.
To me, when women get too close to actual power- at this time it was just exactly like a made up phony collusion or impeachment accusation is today. It was a means to get them out of the picture without having to execute them or their offspring. But even more importantly it transferred their wealth (VERY HUMONGOUS in two of these cases, still huge in both others) to the King for war or alliance purposes of monarchy need.
Redistribution of wealth is most probably first and strongest reason in two of these cases.
I don't recommend this book for those who don't know European 15th century core oppositions, drives, culture, religious and economic cores. It's a difficult, dense read and some of their placements and especially their childhoods are often murky.
Not as much about any particular methods or forms of practice for actual witchcraft as the title suggests is included. It's more about mores and societal perceptions of reprisals for manipulative events or accusations for women very near to the throne.
In all cases, regardless of their falls from power or not- it still seems immensely pivotal in true outcomes (for these women) to the relationship or status insured by their very birth placements. Far more than it does to their marriages or anything else. (It must be harder to murder your cousin? Or when highly jealous of their success- you don't want to make them a martyr?)
Elizabeth Woodville being somewhat the exception, but considering her family influences and infiltrating nearly every avenue of associative power? Not really.
I've read much about 3 of them previously. But this has the best Eleanor Cobham details and context for her life that I have come across. And the others were good too- but you need to know the period well to grasp most location or nuance.
To me, when women get too close to actual power- at this time it was just exactly like a made up phony collusion or impeachment accusation is today. It was a means to get them out of the picture without having to execute them or their offspring. But even more importantly it transferred their wealth (VERY HUMONGOUS in two of these cases, still huge in both others) to the King for war or alliance purposes of monarchy need.
Redistribution of wealth is most probably first and strongest reason in two of these cases.
I don't recommend this book for those who don't know European 15th century core oppositions, drives, culture, religious and economic cores. It's a difficult, dense read and some of their placements and especially their childhoods are often murky.
February 7, 2021
I found this frustrating, and upon reflection that is because the title set expectations for a book it simply is not.
What it is not: A book about witchcraft and the nobility in fifteenth-century England.
What it is: A collection of staggeringly impressive research into the finances, marriages, and wars among Medieval nobility, with a lot of political backstabbing, lies, and finger-pointing to steal other nobles' money or get them out of power.
The Good: The writing is technically wonderful. For what is essentially 304 pages recounting that "this noble disliked that noble and did these things to undermine them," it's not as dry as it might easily have been. The structure is well-planned; I disagree with other reviewers who disliked how long the first section is compared to the other accused subjects, given that her case set the legal precedent. I genuinely loved learning so much about Joan of Navarre and think the world deserves a movie about her, perhaps with Hollman as a historical advisor. We learn so much just from conclusions drawn from financial records, and in that regard this book is a triumph of academic research.
The Frustrating: There is practically zero discussion of witchcraft, even in the sections directly addressing the accusations against the subjects. Were I to compare it to another piece of media, it is like the 2014 Godzilla film in which Godzilla himself appears in under 8 out of 123 minutes of the film's runtime. If you're going to name it "Royal Witches," it will be a disappointment if that's not actually what you give us, no matter how impressive a feat of research the book might be.
About 3/4 through the book, I realized that this should have been a documentary series. I think the sheer volume of historical data would be much more easy to consume and digest in that format.
What it is not: A book about witchcraft and the nobility in fifteenth-century England.
What it is: A collection of staggeringly impressive research into the finances, marriages, and wars among Medieval nobility, with a lot of political backstabbing, lies, and finger-pointing to steal other nobles' money or get them out of power.
The Good: The writing is technically wonderful. For what is essentially 304 pages recounting that "this noble disliked that noble and did these things to undermine them," it's not as dry as it might easily have been. The structure is well-planned; I disagree with other reviewers who disliked how long the first section is compared to the other accused subjects, given that her case set the legal precedent. I genuinely loved learning so much about Joan of Navarre and think the world deserves a movie about her, perhaps with Hollman as a historical advisor. We learn so much just from conclusions drawn from financial records, and in that regard this book is a triumph of academic research.
The Frustrating: There is practically zero discussion of witchcraft, even in the sections directly addressing the accusations against the subjects. Were I to compare it to another piece of media, it is like the 2014 Godzilla film in which Godzilla himself appears in under 8 out of 123 minutes of the film's runtime. If you're going to name it "Royal Witches," it will be a disappointment if that's not actually what you give us, no matter how impressive a feat of research the book might be.
About 3/4 through the book, I realized that this should have been a documentary series. I think the sheer volume of historical data would be much more easy to consume and digest in that format.
June 29, 2021
How can a book with this title be so dry and dull? I needed about 800% more witchcraft.
Also: the audiobook narrator was pretty terrible.
Also: the audiobook narrator was pretty terrible.
December 1, 2020
An excellent piece of history telling of four women who were accused of using witchcraft to further their and their families ambitions. Three of the women have been all but forgotten by history. Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jaquetta of Luxemborg and her daughter Elizabeth Woodville, were all alleged to have used their knowledge of witchcraft to get close to the throne and in the case of Eleanor suffered badly for it. A wonderful piece on these forgotten women.
November 5, 2020
This book held all sorts of promise, but disappointed me on many levels.
The stories of four royal women - Joan of Navarre, Henry IV's second wife; Eleanor Cobham, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester's wife (Henry V's brother); Jacquetta of Luxemborg, Duchess of Bedford (another sister-in-law of Henry V); and Elizabeth Woodville, Jacquetta's daughter and wife of Edward IV - accused of witchcraft w/ varying degrees of seriousness, should have been fascinating. Especially since I just finished Dan Jones" The Wars of the Roses," this time period was fresh in my mind. But this reads like a chatty gossip magazine. The paucity of primary sources regarding Joan leads to a lot of speculation on why she was accused of witchcraft: according to the author, it was b/c the King wanted to give the Queen Dowager's (Joan's) dower to his new wife, Catherine of Valois. The country was broke from Henry V's war in France and he needed to provide for his new wife. Interesting theory.
Much more is known about Eleanor Cobham's accusation of witchcraft in primary sources. She states that she was using simple, old-time methods to try to become pregnant so that Humphrey would have an heir, as opposed to maliciously trying to estimate how much longer the king would live(as her husband was the primary heir at the time). Poor Eleanor was forcibly divorced from her husband, whom she never saw again. She was also forced to walk down streets of London, dressed only in her shift and barefoot, on three consecutive days. This was very humiliating for a noblewoman. She was kept in confinement in various castles for the rest of her life.
Jacquetta and her daughter, Elizabeth, were accused of witchcraft at times when it was convenient for the various claimants in the Cousins' War (the Wars of the Roses). Jacquetta was accused to cast
Dispersions upon her “upstart” husband and large family, conceived w/ her second husband, a knight. Her family rose to great heights fighting for the Lancastrians, until Fortune's Wheel turned, and her husband and one of her sons were killed after a battle against Edward IV’s forces. Interestingly, her daughter, Elizabeth Woodville, secretly married the new, young King, Edward IV "for love." She was later accused of using witchcraft to ensnare him into marriage. Apparently, youth and beauty weren't enough to explain why a king would want to marry a knight's widow instead of a Princess of France. The witchcraft accusation was thrown against her as one of the reasons why her children w/ Edward IV weren't legitimate, making it OK to murder her sons in the Tower, as supposedly ordered by Richard III, ,who usurped her son's crown. It all worked out for Elizabeth, as her eldest daughter married Henry Tudor, and thus became the matriarch of the Tudor clan.
Now, for my problems. This book was apparently self-published, or Pegasus Books doesn't have high publishing standards. The print, and the entire book really, looks cheap and there are multiple typos. There was NO editing, as the writing was extremely awkward, and as above, descended into a gossipy tone many times. In the acknowledgements, the author admits that the book started out as a Masters' Thesis. If so, I could have done a better job writing her Masters' Thesis for her. But the worst sin, to me, was that the bibliography is filled w/ tertiary sources - including novels! She even cites Phillipa Gregory in her discussion of Jacquetta's family origins in Luxumborg! If she was going to mention Jacquetta's descent from Melusine, the Mermaid Queen, she might as well have mentioned the curse that Jacquetta and Elizabeth placed on whomever murdered the little boys in the Tower - that their first-born son would die. This could have applied to either Richard III or Henry Tudor, BTW. We'll never know. I have a hard time believing that a supposedly serious book started as a thesis would quote a novelist, no matter how historically accurate that novelist attempts to be.
So, either read Philippa Gregory's "Women of the Cousins' War" series of novels, or read an actual history of the Wars of the Roses. This book was just a disappointment. I give it three stars, b/c I was intrigued by the subject matter, and the author really did bring home the all the losses of husbands and sons of the Woodville women in the various battles.
The stories of four royal women - Joan of Navarre, Henry IV's second wife; Eleanor Cobham, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester's wife (Henry V's brother); Jacquetta of Luxemborg, Duchess of Bedford (another sister-in-law of Henry V); and Elizabeth Woodville, Jacquetta's daughter and wife of Edward IV - accused of witchcraft w/ varying degrees of seriousness, should have been fascinating. Especially since I just finished Dan Jones" The Wars of the Roses," this time period was fresh in my mind. But this reads like a chatty gossip magazine. The paucity of primary sources regarding Joan leads to a lot of speculation on why she was accused of witchcraft: according to the author, it was b/c the King wanted to give the Queen Dowager's (Joan's) dower to his new wife, Catherine of Valois. The country was broke from Henry V's war in France and he needed to provide for his new wife. Interesting theory.
Much more is known about Eleanor Cobham's accusation of witchcraft in primary sources. She states that she was using simple, old-time methods to try to become pregnant so that Humphrey would have an heir, as opposed to maliciously trying to estimate how much longer the king would live(as her husband was the primary heir at the time). Poor Eleanor was forcibly divorced from her husband, whom she never saw again. She was also forced to walk down streets of London, dressed only in her shift and barefoot, on three consecutive days. This was very humiliating for a noblewoman. She was kept in confinement in various castles for the rest of her life.
Jacquetta and her daughter, Elizabeth, were accused of witchcraft at times when it was convenient for the various claimants in the Cousins' War (the Wars of the Roses). Jacquetta was accused to cast
Dispersions upon her “upstart” husband and large family, conceived w/ her second husband, a knight. Her family rose to great heights fighting for the Lancastrians, until Fortune's Wheel turned, and her husband and one of her sons were killed after a battle against Edward IV’s forces. Interestingly, her daughter, Elizabeth Woodville, secretly married the new, young King, Edward IV "for love." She was later accused of using witchcraft to ensnare him into marriage. Apparently, youth and beauty weren't enough to explain why a king would want to marry a knight's widow instead of a Princess of France. The witchcraft accusation was thrown against her as one of the reasons why her children w/ Edward IV weren't legitimate, making it OK to murder her sons in the Tower, as supposedly ordered by Richard III, ,who usurped her son's crown. It all worked out for Elizabeth, as her eldest daughter married Henry Tudor, and thus became the matriarch of the Tudor clan.
Now, for my problems. This book was apparently self-published, or Pegasus Books doesn't have high publishing standards. The print, and the entire book really, looks cheap and there are multiple typos. There was NO editing, as the writing was extremely awkward, and as above, descended into a gossipy tone many times. In the acknowledgements, the author admits that the book started out as a Masters' Thesis. If so, I could have done a better job writing her Masters' Thesis for her. But the worst sin, to me, was that the bibliography is filled w/ tertiary sources - including novels! She even cites Phillipa Gregory in her discussion of Jacquetta's family origins in Luxumborg! If she was going to mention Jacquetta's descent from Melusine, the Mermaid Queen, she might as well have mentioned the curse that Jacquetta and Elizabeth placed on whomever murdered the little boys in the Tower - that their first-born son would die. This could have applied to either Richard III or Henry Tudor, BTW. We'll never know. I have a hard time believing that a supposedly serious book started as a thesis would quote a novelist, no matter how historically accurate that novelist attempts to be.
So, either read Philippa Gregory's "Women of the Cousins' War" series of novels, or read an actual history of the Wars of the Roses. This book was just a disappointment. I give it three stars, b/c I was intrigued by the subject matter, and the author really did bring home the all the losses of husbands and sons of the Woodville women in the various battles.
July 29, 2021
When women held power in the fifteenth century and used that power to stand in the way of a man’s ambition in the fifteenth century the easiest charge to be used against them was witchcraft. This book explores four women across the fifteenth century who were interrelated by family or marriage and shows how charges of witchcraft created the fall of their power during periods when men most needed to demote the power they each held in order to ensure the rise of his own power. Very well researched and documented. The book would be of interest to the general public from a historical perspective as well as historians.
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One person found this helpful
November 12, 2020
This might have been a case of right book wrong time, but I was so bored trying to get through this.
May 22, 2022
This was such a fantastic read! Hollman tells a really compelling narrative of 4 royal women, whose reigns overlapped, and all happened to be accused of witchcraft. If anyone is looking to read this book for in-depth accounts of these women doing witchcraft/claiming to be witches, this is not the book for you. This is an insightful look into how the accusation of witchcraft could be weaponized politically to gain wealth, and power, while discrediting/ disposing of court rivals, and how these women had to navigate these accusations during very tumultuous times. Hollman managed to tell a cohesive story without muddling the details, even though everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE during this roughly 50 year period was named Joan, Eleanor, Elizabeth or John, Edward or Henry. My favorite woman was Jacquetta of Luxembourg, not only because she had a name that stood out, but because of her second marriage to the “lowly” knight Richard. I know we cannot know the motivations as to their relationship 100%, but I agree that it had to have been a love match. But overall Hollman really fleshed out all these women’s stories, and I really sympathized with all of them, especially for Eleanor Cobham and Elizabeth Woodville.
January 11, 2022
Another history book where I find the title misleading to its actual content - not sure if that's the author or the publisher who is marketing the book? This is more about 15th century politics than witchcraft but having said, I really enjoyed it. The author writes an engaging narrative and I was fascinated to learn about Joan of Navarre and Eleanor Cobham (who are largely forgotten now) and how accusations of witchcraft was a political tool to gain wealth and/or destroy the men around them.
Where the title dosen't reflect the content is the sections on Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville. These sections were more a narrative of their lives and witchcraft accusations was such a small part and not written about in-depth, likely because they didn't suffer like Joan and Eleanor because Jacquetta and Elizabeth had politics on their side? Perhaps if the political factions that accused them of witchcraft, hadn't failed the consequences for Jacquetta and Elizabeth may have been very different?
What would have made this book a five star read for me would have been more content about the context of witchcraft at that time, as it was at the beginning of the 1400's that witchcraft was beginning to gather credibility as a "crime" and lead to the witch trials and terrible burnings and hangings of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Where the title dosen't reflect the content is the sections on Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville. These sections were more a narrative of their lives and witchcraft accusations was such a small part and not written about in-depth, likely because they didn't suffer like Joan and Eleanor because Jacquetta and Elizabeth had politics on their side? Perhaps if the political factions that accused them of witchcraft, hadn't failed the consequences for Jacquetta and Elizabeth may have been very different?
What would have made this book a five star read for me would have been more content about the context of witchcraft at that time, as it was at the beginning of the 1400's that witchcraft was beginning to gather credibility as a "crime" and lead to the witch trials and terrible burnings and hangings of the 16th and 17th centuries.
January 26, 2020
How do you stop a powerful woman? Call her a witch.
Witchcraft was used against influential women throughout history and in this book Gemma Hollman discusses the lives and fates of four royal women accused of witchcraft: Joan of Navarre (wudow of Henry IV and stepmother of Henry V), Eleanor Cobham (wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester), Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville (mother-in-law and wife of Edward IV).
Hollman discusses why witchcraft accusations were levelled at these women and what happened to them. Some, like Joan of Navarre, lived comfortably and were eventually pardoned but others were less lucky. Eleanor Cobham, for instance, died in prison.
I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to my fellow history enthusiasts.
Witchcraft was used against influential women throughout history and in this book Gemma Hollman discusses the lives and fates of four royal women accused of witchcraft: Joan of Navarre (wudow of Henry IV and stepmother of Henry V), Eleanor Cobham (wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester), Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville (mother-in-law and wife of Edward IV).
Hollman discusses why witchcraft accusations were levelled at these women and what happened to them. Some, like Joan of Navarre, lived comfortably and were eventually pardoned but others were less lucky. Eleanor Cobham, for instance, died in prison.
I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to my fellow history enthusiasts.
January 3, 2020
Very, very well researched and informative. Although I’ve read a lot on the Woodvilles and the Wars of the Roses, I leaned many new things with this book, which is always a plus. And I didn’t know anything about Joan of Navarre and Eleanor Cobham, so it was awesome to read about them for the first time. Congrats to the author on this novel book!
October 27, 2020
Interesting but far too much speculation about thoughts and feelings. I suppose it's to humanise these historical figures, rather than just drily relating the few facts we have, but I'm not a fan. Also, the section on Elizabeth Woodville doesn't quite join thematically with the rest.
Enjoyable, though.
Enjoyable, though.
February 25, 2021
Boring. When I see "witchcraft and nobility" I'm looking for some real drama but this is page after page of dates and names and more names. Zero pitch forks, no angry villagers, no heavy metal.
October 7, 2021
I found the book well written if a little light on substance. I say this as a medieval historian whose thesis was on 15th century England. She knows her stuff and maintains the premise of the book well through the sections of Joan of Navarre and Eleanor Cobham, detailing the accusations of witchcraft levelled against them, and talking about what the consequences were for these women. I found, however, that her sections on Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville were more about their lives and the times they lived through rather than any of the allegations of witchcraft with which they were accused. I take the point that the accusations were apparently more rumour and innuendo than the actual charges Eleanor Cobham faced, for example, but if this Ms Hollman could have explored these more in depth. I felt as though she was more interested in setting the historical scene than in pursuing the title of her book. Even the subtitle, “Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England” was misleading with respect to Jacquetta and Elizabeth; it actually sounds more like her thesis title (and more like mine too, “Law and Order in Fifteenth-Century England with Particular Reference to the Paston Family”, TBH), which is not a bad thing but leads to expectations of a more in-depth examination of the concept of witchcraft in the 15th century (as opposed, for example, to the 16th or 17th centuries). In her introduction, she makes the point that the idea of witchcraft was less well developed in the 15th century but does not really expand on that idea. In my opinion, while the content is readable and interesting, the title could be reworked to reflect this.
October 31, 2022
I don't know if I would say that any of these women's histories were particularly enlightened by this book. She still has to deal with a dearth of surviving documentary evidence, and even when focusing on the women she still has to spend most of her time discussing the politics and therefore, necessarily, the men of the time. I don't know how much she manages to stand out from other histories other than tracing the women's lineage and connections to each other more directly. That being said, I greatly enjoyed this. It was a new view onto women that propaganda has historically labeled as greedy or treacherous or whathaveyou. The author makes good points about the way the women were most likely viewed at the time versus how they are viewed in later centuries. Either way, it very much sucked to be a women during the middle ages and nothing is going to change that. I ended up loving these "witches" in some way by the end.
January 6, 2021
There were some sections that I thought had quite a bit of speculation in it, but the author did say that there wasn’t a lot about these women in documents to understand parts of their lives.
I learned a lot about these four ladies who were used as pawns in the men’s political games.
I learned a lot about these four ladies who were used as pawns in the men’s political games.
April 10, 2025
Amazing concept, very well researched, I found the narrator to be really soothing vocally. Rating it 3.75 stars because I found it super dry and didn’t retain a lick of it— that’s definitely more a me problem I’m sure.
March 4, 2025
An in-depth look at several noble women accused of witchcraft, through the War of the Roses. I appreciated these women being humanely recentered in their stories.
January 22, 2025
Perfect audiobook listen for the Wars of the Roses girlies, available on Spotify 💅
December 7, 2024
Men fr be accusing any woman they don’t like of being a witch.
October 9, 2024
Extremely well researched. It is clear Hollman deeply cares about her subject matter. We LOVE women reclaiming the stories of other women.
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December 15, 2020Royal Witches is a well researched dive into the lives of four noble women accused of witchcraft. I liked the first half of this book better than the last half. I think my lukewarm opinion has more to do with my ignorance of this time period than Hollman’s book. I was really hoping to learn more about witchcraft from a historical and moral panic perspective. However, the main purpose of Royal Witches was to show how witchcraft accusations against noble women were strategically made by powerful men. For that reason, Hollman focuses on the political atmosphere existing around these four women, and does not delve into any history about witchcraft in general. This feels intentional since Hollman herself mentions that witchcraft accusations were not very common in the 15th century, nor was there a lot of societal panic about witches. But alas, the lack of witchcraft history coupled with the very detailed history lesson resulted in a miss for me. That being said, I imagine others would enjoy this book. Since the book was well written, but not my cup of tea, I have no idea how to rate it.
February 10, 2021
This was good and very thorough but not as focused on the witchcraft accusations as the title implies. It's much more of a historical record of the lives of these four women with the accusations a footnote in the political maneuverings of the time. I thought the author would go more in depth with whether there was any evidence of spells etc - not that they actually successfully performed any - but if there were goings on that led to those rumors and accusations. It seemed like mostly it was just a convenient claim to make against someone you didn't like.
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