Somewhat Dry Recital of Revisionist History

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	• Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England Alison Weir Ballantine Books, 2006 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 39 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Somewhat Dry Recital of Revisionist History

I really tried to like this book. Inasmuch as I am an avid student of history and enjoy the tangled web of early to mid twentieth century English history, this book seemed right up my alley.

I can't say that it is a bad book, but upon reflection, perhaps the most telling fact is that it took me so long to finish it. A book of this size generally takes me about a week to finish, reading for an hour or so each night before bed. Most nights, however, found me nodding off in less than half the time. Weir's style can best be described as a dry recitation of historical facts with frequent asides in which she injects her own analysis. Hardly scintillating entertainment and simply not lively enough to keep me awake.

From the standpoint of substance, I can't say that I agree with her efforts to rehabiltate the universally condemned Queen Isabella, the wife of Edward II of England. Isabella conspired against, overthrew, cheated on and likely participated in the murder of her husband and sovereign. According to Weir, she was simply misunderstood and unfairly judged. To my knowledge, she is the only one that believes so.

In order to back up her position, Weir not only spins facts to the benefit of the Queen, but she weaves many out of whole cloth and disregards the numerous facts which clearly implicate her in the crimes for which history has condemned her. In an attempt to absolve the Queen of the crime of murder, she even trots out the old, roundly rejected canard that Edward II escaped from his captors and lived the remainder of his life as a hermit in France. This despite the public, state funeral in which the body and face of the King were clearly displayed and visible to thousands. As if an escape somehow lessens the crime of ordering the murder in the first place.

Even in the cases where she concedes guilt on the part of the Queen, such as her adulterous relationship with Mortimer, she pardons the Queen, holding her to current standards as opposed to those in which she lived. In this regard, she clearly states that were Queen Isabella alive today, she would be viewed as a strong, independent woman, deserving of praise and not scorn (You go, girl). Nice theory, except for the fact that she didn't live in current times. In her day, regicide was perhaps the greatest crime and sin of the day, and adultery by a royal woman was universally punishable by death.

I've read several of Weir's works and to date am not impressed. She seems to be on a personal crusade to rehabiltate the reputations of various women of the Middle Ages that for some reason or another have been judged harshly by history. I've never been a fan of revisionist history and particularly when the revisions are politically or socially motivated. This book is not only not particularly entertaining, but it's not even good history.

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Isabella - She Wolf or Victim of Mortimer?

Alison Weir as always shows her thorough research in this fine biography. Isabella, the daughter of the French King, married Edward II at the age of 12. Brought up to respect the awe and majesty of the throne, she was sorely disappointed in her father's choice of a husband. Edward was a week king and leader, apparently, easily led by others. Weir chronicles Isabella's change from girlhood to womanhood as she asserts herself as Queen. She is fair in her treatment of Isabella, acknowledging her weaknesses as well as her strengths, documenting her relationship with her husband Edward II, Roger Moritmer, and her son Edward III. The one fault I have are the leaps of logic she makes in her assertions she makes regarding Edward's murder and her relationship with Mortimer.

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Quen Isabella by Alison Weir

The book is heavily laced with facts to establish a place in the Medieval World. While the character of the heroine stands out clearly, sometimes the factual context surrounding events is daunting.
It's a good read although a little too heavy on historical detail particularly in lists of "guests" or of "persons in attendance."

Queen Isabella

Alison Weir gives a detailed account of the life of Queen Isabella and illustrates that even though Isabella had a priveleged life it did not save her from her husband's jealous favourite who tried to crush her. Weir outlines the woman's point of view and the female role in Medieval society where 'rights' we given by the husband. When Queen Isabella witnesses everything she is entitled to as Queen removed she tactfully polts to regain her freedom and ultimate revenge. Alison Wier shows that Queen Isabella was the more powerful character and ruler compared to her husband and how this role was viewed in Medieval society.

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great read for european political junkies

This was a great read. For those who have read the author's other books on British monarchy this one will not disappoint. It is a compelling and engaging narrative that sheds light on a historical character I knew very little about. The story of Queen Isabella's reign in England is well worth the effort.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Isabella arrived in London in 1308, the spirited twelve-year-old daughter of King Philip IV of France. Her marriage to the heir to England?s throne was designed to heal old political wounds between the two countries, and in the years that followed, she would become an important figure, a determined and clever woman whose influence would come to last centuries. But Queen Isabella?s political machinations led generations of historians to malign her, earning her a reputation as a ruthless schemer and an odious nickname, ?the She-Wolf of France.?

Now the acclaimed author of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alison Weir, reexamines the life of Isabella of England, history?s other notorious and charismatic medieval queen. Praised for her fair looks, the newly wed Isabella was denied the attentions of Edward II, a weak, sexually ambiguous monarch with scant taste for his royal duties. As their marriage progressed, Isabella was neglected by her dissolute husband and slighted by his favored male courtiers. Humiliated and deprived of her income, her children, and her liberty, Isabella escaped to France, where she entered into a passionate affair with Edward II?s mortal enemy, Roger Mortimer. Together, Isabella and Mortimer led the only successful invasion of English soil since the Norman Conquest of 1066, deposing Edward and ruling in his stead as co-regents for Isabella?s young son, Edward III. Fate, however, was soon to catch up with Isabella and her lover.

Many mysteries and legends have been woven around Isabella?s story. She was long condemned as an accessory to Edward II?s brutal murder in 1327, but recent research has cast doubt on whether that murder even took place.

Isabella?s reputation, then, rests largely on the prejudices of monkish chroniclers and prudish Victorian scholars. Here Alison Weir gives a startling, groundbreaking new perspective on Isabella, in this first full biography in more than 150 years. In a work of extraordinary original research, Weir effectively strips away centuries of propaganda, legend, and romantic myth, and reveals a truly remarkable woman who had a profound influence upon the age in which she lived and the history of western Europe.

Engaging, vibrant, alive with breathtaking detail and unforgettable characters, Queen Isabella is biographical history at its finest.

From the Hardcover edition.

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