Yolande Of Aragon (1381-1442) Family And Power (the Reverse Of The Tapestry)

By (author) Rohr Zita Eva
Short description/annotation:
Yolande of Aragon is one of the most intriguing of late medieval queens who contrived to be everywhere and nowhere, operating seamlessly from backstage and center stage. She is acknowledged as having been shrewd and intelligent - an éminence grise whose political and diplomatic agency secured the throne of France for her son-in-law, Charles VII.
Description:
Yolande of Aragon is one of the most intriguing of late medieval queens who contrived to be everywhere and nowhere, operating seamlessly from backstage and center stage. She is acknowledged as having been shrewd and intelligent - an éminence grise whose political and diplomatic agency secured the throne of France for her son-in-law, Charles VII.
Review quote:
Rachel Gibbons, Professor of Early Modern History at The Open University The Reverse of the Tapestry: Yolande of Aragon, 1381-1442. A Case Study of Family and Power General This book is a much-needed scholarly assessment of an incredibly influential figure of fifteenth-century French history whom most of the reading public will probably only know (if they know her at all) as the somewhat Machiavellian Faye Dunaway portrait in ''The Messenger: the story of Joan of Arc''. Yolande of Aragon was a woman absolutely of her time and cultural milieu, who acted as lieutenant for her husband and sons, in a queen-dowager role to her inexperienced son-in-law Charles VII, and as a courtly patron to many. Project This book is rooted firmly within the growing body of queenship studies scholarship, and argues a convincing case that, over the last four or five years, is becoming more commonly accepted - that women''s utilisation of power has to be seen as it was operated in the later Middle Ages, within the interwoven ''tapestry of threads'' of their ties of kin and affinity. Conferences within monarchy studies over the last two or three years increasingly have stopped separating kingship from queenship, seeing them instead as co-dependent parts of the same monarchy. This book is an excellent example of this developing scholarship, and draws on a wide range of recent historiography to argue this point in the opening chapter. From the evidence of the text itself, I would judge that the author is absorbed within her/his subject matter and highly qualified to produce a book that will greatly enhance the broader field of royal studies as well as understanding and appreciation of the impact on familial, national and international politics of Yolande herself. The author''s bibliography is extensive, drawing on the full range of sources and historiography of medieval Aragon, France and the Italian states. From the sample chapters offered, there are no obvious omissions and no re-working on which the overall success of the project is dependent. From preliminary reading, though, I have one or two small suggestions which I hope that the author may find useful. Chapter 1 perhaps is a little overwhelming in its coverage of complex family ties, back and forth across the generations. The inclusion of one or two good genealogical tables early on in the text would assist the reader greatly, especially those unfamiliar with the cognate dynasties of the French and Aragonese royal families. Of course, these may well exist as appendices or supplementary material in the complete manuscript - so apologies if I''m raising in ignorance of the content of the rest of the book an issue that doesn''t actually exist. I found Chapter 3 to be a concise and highly-readable examination of the years of internecine conflict in France in the years following the madness of Charles VI. Regularly, focus is brought back onto the ramifications of wider events for Yolande''s new Angevin family and the rule of her father-in-law and husband. If I''m being extremely picky, I''d like the excellent point made on page 76 - about the Angevins not being simply Armagnacs but motiva