The Formidable Women who Shaped Medieval Europe (Hardback)

Register or Login now to post a review!

I have been slowly branching out in my Historical Non-Fiction journey, so was very excited to receive The Formidable Women who Shaped Medieval Europe by Susan Abernrethy.

I knew very little about the Burgundian Court and Abernethy does an excellent job with introducing and filling the me in without being overwhelming.

Highly recommend!

NetGalley, Amber Anderson

It’s ideal for history enthusiasts who want detailed accounts of medieval women’s power and patronage.

NetGalley, Laura Greenaway

This meticulously researched history reveals the powerful women who shaped the Burgundian Empire — a realm that once encompassed the Burgundy region of France, as well as parts of modern-day Switzerland and the Netherlands. The book covers an era from the late 1200s to the mid-1500s, and diagrams of family trees help the reader track the royal marriages — aka alliances — through the centuries.

NetGalley, Jennifer Freeman

I think this book is a wonderful historical resource about Burgundy and its many influential players on the world stage, especially during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. I can appreciate the time, effort, and research that went into it. It is truly unique and I enjoyed it for that reason alone.

Read the full review here

Shellie Loves Books

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I learned about it on Sharon Bennett Connolly's blog and was so excited to get this ARC. I thank the author for this truly unique book with history I can't find elsewhere :) the history of Burgundy and its major players is so overlooked! I hope she will write other, single biographies of some of the women featured. Great job! Such wonderful, unique research.

NetGalley, Shellie Johnson

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

These days, Burgundy is best known as a region in France that produces excellent wine. But in the Middle Ages, the Dukes of Burgundy ruled over a large territory that encompassed parts of modern-day France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The Dukes wielded great power, much of it through strategic marriage alliances. Whether it's their own marriages to heiresses, or the marriages they contracted on behalf of their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and cousins, these alliances gave the Burgundians a large sphere of influences.

This book provides brief biographies of all these Burgundian women, and they're a fascinating look at the lives of royal and aristocratic women in the Middle Ages. Some of these women, such as Margaret of Male and Isabel of Portugal, wielded great power as the wives and sometimes regents of the dukes. It's very interesting to see that women could wield power, as long as they were doing so on behalf of a man. The opposite was not always the case. The book contains the stories of two women, Jacqueline of Hainault and Juana of Castile, who were heiresses who had their rightful inheritances taken from them. Jacqueline fought hard for her lands, but wasn't able to regain them. Juana never got the chance to fight for her lands--the men in her life declared her insane and locked her up.

I recommend this book for anyone who's interested in the lives of medieval women. I really appreciated getting to learn about some lesser known royal women.

NetGalley, Etta Kavanagh

It’s a lot of ground to cover, but Abernethy has a way of telling the stories of women comprehensively. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Burgundy and these extraordinary women who made the duchy an empire. If you are someone who wants to learn about the Duchy of Burgundy, I would recommend you read “The Formidable Women Who Shaped Medieval Europe: Power and Patronage at the Burgundian Court” by Susan Abernethy.

NetGalley, Heidi Malagisi