Bibliograph

The dark queens, the bloody rivalry that forged the medieval world, Shelley Puhak

Type

Label

The dark queens, the bloody rivalry that forged the medieval world, Shelley Puhak

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references

resource.biographical

collective biography

Illustrations

illustrationsplatesmaps

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The dark queens

Medium

text large print

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1298713314

Responsibility statement

Shelley Puhak

Series statement

Thorndike Press large print nonfiction

Sub title

the bloody rivalry that forged the medieval world

Summary

"Brunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. Yet these two strategists reigned over vast realms, and in the process laid the foundations of what would one day be Charlemagne's empire. Yet after the queens' deaths their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend. In <i>The Dark Queens</i>, Shelley Puhak sets the record straight. She resurrects two women in all their complexity, striking at the roots of some of our culture's stubbornest myths about female power." --Back cover

Table Of Contents

Author's note: Shadow Queens -- Dramatis personae -- Prologue -- A wedding in Metz -- Meeting the Franks -- The fall of Charibert -- New alliances -- A missive to Byzantium -- The slave queen -- All the king's men -- The siege -- The witch and the nun -- Back channels -- Uprising -- The laws of sanctuary -- Crime and punishment -- "Wise in counsel" -- Fredegund's grief -- Brunhild in the breach -- The regency -- Set ablaze -- Brunichildis regina -- The king is dead -- The vexations of King Guntram -- The Gundovald affair -- The diplomatic arts -- The dukes' revolt -- A royal engagement -- The defiant nuns -- Allies and assassins -- Forlorn little boys -- The fading of the kings -- The dual rule -- Brunhild's battles -- The fall -- Epilogue: Backlash

Classification