Reviews for Margaret of Anjou

The average rating for Margaret of Anjou based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-02-17 00:00:00 Robin Pulley Maurer paints Margaret of Anjou as an intelligent woman and capable queen whose agency and exertion of power were shaped by Margaret's marriage to Henry VI and by the accepted gender roles in 15th century England. Maurer also attacks the assumption that Margaret was a vengeful "she-wolf" bent on York's destruction very early in her reign as queen. According to Maurer, Margaret's enmity for York manifested in an overtly violent way only after the First Battle of St. Albans. Despite having grown suspicious of York and his lust for power during the protectorate, Margaret operated within her traditional female (and queenly) role as intercessor and representative of the king- not as an independent political actor. Maurer effortlessly engages both primary and secondary sources, while pressing forward with a fascinating narrative leading up to the Wars of the Roses. Maurer's writing style is clear, and with little to no knowledge of the reign of Henry VI, I found this book neither tedious nor confusing.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-09-18 00:00:00 Joshua Jones An excellent study of queenship through an examination of Margaret of Anjou's career. The author clarifies much of why Margaret earned such a dismal reputation in her own time by examining how Margaret used and misused the traditional methods of power exercised by medieval queens. The only thing disappointing about this study is that it fails to follow Margaret in her later years, when she lived in exile in France and attempted to restore the Lancasters to the English throne.