Research Catalog

Title

Queens of Jerusalem : the women who dared to rule / Katherine Pangonis.

Author

Pangonis, Katherine

Publication

• London, UK : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021.
• ©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxii, 250 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), maps; 23 cm

Summary

"In 1187 Saladin's armies besieged the holy city of Jerusalem. He had previously annihilated Jerusalem's army at the battle of Hattin, and behind the city's high walls a last-ditch defence was being led by an unlikely trio - including Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem. They could not resist Saladin, but, if they were lucky, they could negotiate terms that would save the lives of the city's inhabitants. Queen Sibylla was the last of a line of formidable female rulers in the Crusader States of Outremer. Yet for all the many books written about the Crusades, one aspect is conspicuously absent: the stories of women. Queens and princesses tend to be presented as passive transmitters of land and royal blood. In reality, women ruled, conducted diplomatic negotiations, made military decisions, forged alliances, rebelled, and undertook architectural projects. Sibylla's grandmother Queen Melisende was the first queen to seize real political agency in Jerusalem and rule in her own right. She outmanoeuvred both her husband and son to seize real power in her kingdom, and was a force to be reckoned with in the politics of the medieval Middle East. The lives of her Armenian mother, her three sisters, and their daughters and granddaughters were no less intriguing. The lives of this trailblazing dynasty of royal women, and the crusading Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, are the focus of Katherine Pangonis's debut book. In QUEENS OF JERUSALEM she explores the role women played in the governing of the Middle East during periods of intense instability, and how they persevered to rule and seize greater power for themselves when the opportunity presented itself."--Dust jacket.

Subject

• Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem, -1161
• Eleanor, of Aquitaine, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of England, 1122?-1204
• 1100-1199
• Queens > Jerusalem > Biography
• Women > Jerusalem > Biography
• Nobility > Jerusalem > Biography
• Monarchy > Jerusalem > Biography
• Monarchy
• Kings and rulers
• Nobility
• Politics and government
• Queens
• Women
• Jerusalem > History > 12th century
• Jerusalem > Politics and government > 12th century
• Jerusalem > Kings and rulers > Biography
• Middle East > Politics and government > 12th century
• Middle East
• Middle East > Jerusalem

Genre/Form

• Biographies.
• History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-242) and index.

Contents

Preface -- Introduction: the birth of Outremer -- Morphia and the four princesses -- Alice, the rebel princess of Antioch -- Melisende of Jerusalem -- The second reign of Queen Melisende -- Eleanor of Aquitaine -- Constance of Antioch -- Agnes and Sibylla -- The beginning of the end -- Epilogue.

Call Number

JFE 21-6175

ISBN

• 9781474614085
• 1474614086
• 9781474614078
• 1474614078

OCLC

1226183583

Author

Pangonis, Katherine, author.

Title

Queens of Jerusalem : the women who dared to rule / Katherine Pangonis.

Publisher

London, UK : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021.

Copyright Date

©2021

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-242) and index.

Chronological Term

1100-1199

Research Call Number

JFE 21-6175