The Bad Queen by Carolyn Meyer

History and Women. com

     The Bad Queen follows the numerous rules that governed Marie Antoinette's life and her attempts to escape their confining grasp. The story begins when the infamous queen is still a young archduchess living in Austria. One of fifteen children, she is mostly ignored until the fateful moment when it is decided that Antonia, as the future queen is then called, must marry the Dauphin of France. Antoinette has lived a relatively care free life until this point with almost no restrictions. As she enters the French royal court at Versailles, this freedom is replaced by the rigid, all confinnig etiquette. It is no wonder that Marie Antoinette chooses to rebel in little ways, constantly struggling to be herself and escape the pressure of constant expectations from her mother and the French people. A lonely, flighty girl she spends endlessly in an attempt to fill the vast emptiness created by her unsuccessful marriage. As the country is on the brink of revolution and ruin, poor Marie must deal with a situation that is not of her own making, but that will irreversably change her life.

      Meyer's Marie Antoinette is not the evil queen of the French Revoutiona, but a young woman inadequately prepared for her future role. Her spending is a result of loneliness and lack of knowledge. Antoinette has no real grasp of expense, because everything has been given to her. She is in many ways innocent of the ways of the world. As Meyer makes clear, the troubles of France were a culmination of many factors while Marie Antoinette just proves an easily available scapegoat. Antoinette is a loveable heroine who wishes only to be free and see others happy. In many ways she does what she can to fulfill her duty even if it makes her unhappy. Ultimately, it is easy to pity this helpless wife and mother as she witnesses the end of her world while desperately trying to save the ones she loves.

   

Caesars' Wives

Merecal

Caesars'Wives by Annelise Freisenbruch is an excellent read. It is full of rich historical detail. The author is able to recreate the stories of the women behind the imperial throne despite the fact that there is very little information available and the reconstruction of these women's lives requires a lot of reading between the lines. Freisenbruch's account is neither stuffy or boring, but most importantly it tries to clear up a lot of historical misconceptions. She relates the myths told about Roman's numerous empresses, but also expertly discusses which ones have some credibility. Finally, this is an overall historical account covering not only the lives of Caesars' wives, but also the art and conditions of their respective time periods.

The Forever Queen Review

So I'm finally done with The Forever Queen. It really was an excellent book and I'm looking forward to the US release of its sequel. This book as I mentioned before deals with the life of Emma of Normandy. She was the wife of two kings and the mother of another two. When Emma arrived in England she came as the bride of a cruel man who cared nothing for her or her feelings. her only friends died young and she had no one to turn to. However, Emma was a survivor and extremely clever. She was able to get the love and support of the people, who passionately hated her weak husband. Emma braved exile and returned to England in triumph. Then when everything seemed lost Emma found true happiness with the man who was once her greatest enemy, Cnut, king of Denmark. Cnut appreciated Emma's spirit and character. Their marriage was a time of great happiness for her and his unexpected death left her heartbroken. All her hopes now went into their son. Her goal became seeing him made king of England, a positon he didn't want.Yet, at the end of the novel Emma's plans are destroyed by her son's death and the ascension of her eldest son by her first husband, Edward known to history as the Confessor. Throughout the novel, Emma's hatred for her children from her previous marriage is explained through her feelings towards their father. even the conception of the children was a source of pain. Finally, Emma never really got a chance to know the boy who was sent to Normandy for his safety. AT the conclusion of Forever Queen, Emma may be down, but she's not out. This powerful matriarch is not yet willing to give up her power and crown. 

The Forever Queen

Hellen Hollick.net

Have just started this book, but it seems great, one of the best reads in a while. The story is about the life of Emma, queen of England and sister of the duke of Normandy. I have always found her a fascinating woman and have questioned what it was that made her choose her second family over her first, in essence abandoning her own son to fate.  For me reading a book written from the perspective of a woman of power is really fascinating since so much of history seems to focus on men. This way the reader gets to see the other side of the story sometimes allowing so biases to be corrected. Hopefully the rest of the book doesn't prove to be disappointing, but it's definitely off to a good start.

HBO Series Rome

The  Full Wiki

Monsters and Critics

From CamMag

For some reason this series has been coming up in conversation so I thought it would be a good idea to blog about it. Rome which spans from the rise of Julius Caesar to the rise of Augustus, is told not from the view of the aristocracy, but from the common man. Two soldiers Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo by a stroke of luck or some might think misfortune, are noticed by Caesar and later develop close connections with his grand-nephew and his second in command. This series shows Rome not as an ideal society, but drags it from its pedestal revealing the rampant corruption and the scheming that occurs behind closed doors.   It makes the empire more relatible and its leaders more human. It's full of passion and lots of action plus there are some twists on historical mysterious such as was Caesar really the father of Cleopatra's son. For me the most interesting part was the relationships between the characters and the transformation of Octavian from a child to an authoritarian dictator as well as the way that his experiences led him down that path. Finally, the show highlights the power and ambition of Roman women. They are the movers of many key events and can be quite vicious. These are not submissive wives and mothers, but power brokers each lusting to be on top. In essence it is the actions of women like Atia of the Julia and Servilla of the Juni that help shape the course of history. Supporters of powerful women may at times be shocked, but definitely not disappointed.

Santa Sophia

From viajes.es

       It's really strange when something you think of as important only to you turns out to have a much greater meaning. I was born in Kiev and spent a part of my childhood there. The church of Santa Sophia was and still is one of the most ancient as well as beautiful religious buildings in the city. I went there several times as a child and it left a lasting impression on me. The church has an other worldly quality, you could tell instantly that it was a sacred space. Yet, for many years I believed that outside of the Ukraine it was a virtual unknown. Recently, I discovered that this was not the case, in fact Santa Sophia was a prime example of the influence Byzantium had on Kievan Rus. Seeing a photo of this church from the country of my birth just gave me a warm feeling. It made me realize that Ukraine is not as forgotten by the world as it often seems.

The Red Queen

From English Monarchs

From About.com

Philippa Gregory's newest book The Red Queen is definitely worth checking out. It is a rare autobiographical account of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King Henry VII. The book deals with Margaret's childhood, how she lacked warmth and attention as a child along with her fierce devotion to God and her only son Henry. Although at times Margaret is a difficult heroine in that she comes out as high and mighty as well as allowing her jealousy to get the best of her you have to respect her as a mother. She is willing to do anything for her son, no matter what the cost is to herself. Margaret Beaufort can be petty, but she is extremely driven and doesn't know the meaning of the word defeat. She is a very powerful and Philippa Gregory does an excellent job getting that point across as well as how Margaret's experiences help shape who she is. The thing that made this novel resonate with me is that Gregory is able to show through Margaret's point of view, why she did everything that she did, good or bad.  This novel also showed how humans are able to justify almost everything they do as being for a good cause. It's definitely worth reading if only to be able to get a not often told story of a woman whose actions had an impact on the history of an important country.

Doomed Queens

Doomed Queens by Kris Waldherr tells the stories of various, often times, little known queens who have suffered terrible fates due to their exalted status. Many died quite young or had their lives shortened by those closest to them. Some were noble while others seemingly deserved their fates. Ms. Waldherr's is able to portray these tragic lives in a light that makes them seem important to the reader. Despite the gravity of the topic the author is able to add humor through the "cautionary morals" at the end of each queen's tale. Still the specter of death is never far, represented by the skeletons that constantly shadow these royal women. The book is richly illustrated with images of the doomed queens, some actual portraits while others are a breathtaking representation of what the author thinks they would have looked like. The book is only 172 pages but included into these pages are quizzes that test your knowledge of these royal ladies. All in all Doomed Queens is a quick, but insightful read that will definitely encourage the reader to further look into the lives of these unfortunates. I know it certainly made me do some research of my own.

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Intro

Hi, I've created this blog as a way to get in touch with other history lovers. I'll be periodically posting reviews or comments on a bunch of books that deal with history or random facts on the royals of the world that I find interesting.

From Wikipedia

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