Book description
The four beautiful, cultured and clever daughters of the Count and
Countess of Provence made illustrious marriages and lived at the
epicentre of political power and intrigue in 13th-century Europe.
Marguerite accompanied her husband, King Louis IX of France, on his
disastrous first crusade to the Holy Land, where straight from
childbirth she ransomed him from the Mamluks. And with her sister
Eleanor, queen of England, Marguerite engineered a sturdy peace between
France and England. Ambitious Eleanor walked a narrow line while she
struggled to build her own power base without alienating her cowardly
husband, Henry III. Beatrice's coronation as queen of Sicily was the
culmination of her long, hard-fought campaign to earn respect from her
world-famous, mightily accomplished older siblings. Sanchia wed one of
the richest men in Europe, but her reign as queen of Germany, brought
her only misery. From Goldstone's rich, beautifully woven tapestry,
medieval Europe springs to vivid life, from the lavish menus of the
royal banquets and the sweet songs of the troubadours to the complex
machinations of the Pope against the Holy Roman Emperor. This compelling
work of history gives women their due as movers and shakers in
tumultuous times.
