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Eleanor of Provence : queenship in thirteenth-century England / Margaret Howell.
Van Pelt Library DA228.E44 H69 1998
By Request
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Howell, Margaret.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Eleanor, of Provence, Queen, consort of Henry III, King of England, 1223 or 1224-1291.
- Eleanor.
- Great Britain--History--Henry III, 1216-1272.
- Great Britain.
- History.
- Queens--Great Britain--Biography.
- Queens.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Physical Description:
- xxii, 349 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Oxford, UK ; Malden, Mass., USA : Blackwell Publishers, 1998.
- Summary:
- This biography of Eleanor of Provence provides an unusually intimate and coherent picture of a woman who combined a remarkable aptitude for politics with a strong family commitment and warm friendships. For her 36 years as consort of Henry III from 1236-1272, Eleanor has been noted almost entirely for her promotion of the interests of her Savoyard relatives. However, her distinctive role and initiatives in the period of baronial reform and rebellion in England invite new appraisal. Margaret Howell draws on the range of sources available to explain the interaction of the private, familial and public facets of the queen's life and to consider the character of her queenship.
- The book explores Eleanor's changing relationships with her husband; with her eldest son, the future Edward I; and with other figures at court, such as the Montforts, the Lusignans and Richard Clare. It shows that as queen, Eleanor had a knowledgeable grasp of the workings of government and the logistics of war, and her diplomatic activity was on a European scale. The author also examines Eleanor's life following the death of her husband. Her life-long sensitivity to Franciscan spirituality was modified by a full appreciation of this world's goods, and in 1286, 14 years after her husband's death, she took the veil at the Wiltshire nunnery of Amesbury, having first obtained permission to retain most of her dower.
- The book provides a fascinating picture of the workings of medieval politics and court life, and the public and private role of queens.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [313]-327) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0631172866
- OCLC:
- 36520963
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