Emma Marriott - Long Live the Queens

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First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2019

FIRST EDITION

Text © Emma Marriott 2019

Illustrations © Stuart Patience 2019

Cover layout design by Andrew Davis © HarperCollins Publishers 2019

Cover illustrations © Stuart Patience 2019

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Emma Marriott asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008355524

Ebook Edition © October 2019 ISBN: 9780008355531

Version: 2019-09-12

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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008355524

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Note to Readers

5 Contents

6 Introduction

7 TRAILBLAZERS

8 Matilda of Flanders

9 Wu Zetian

10 Margaret Tudor

11 Arwa al-Sulayhi

12 Seondeok of Silla

13 Tamar of Georgia

14 FREE-THINKERS

15 Henrietta Maria of France

16 Queen Nzinga

17 Elisabeth of Austria

18 Empress Theodora

19 Caroline of Brunswick

20 Sayyida al-Hurra

21 WARRIORS

22 Boudica

23 Eleanor of Provence

24 Trung Trac

25 Queen Amina

26 Yaa Asantewaa

27 REBELS

28 Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi

29 Zenobia

30 Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar

31 Christina of Sweden

32 Anacaona

33 Joanna of Castile

34 Queen Liliuokalani

35 SURVIVORS

36 Katherine Parr

37 Margaret of Anjou

38 Cartimandua

39 Marie Leszczyńska

40 Catherine of Aragon

41 Queen Anne

42 IMAGE-MAKERS

43 Elizabeth I of Russia

44 Empress Irene of Athens

45 Hatshepsut

46 Sammu-ramat

47 Cynethryth

48 GUIDING LIGHTS

49 Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen

50 Margaret Drummond

51 Nur Jahan

52 Queen Elfrida

53 Emma of Normandy

54 Acknowledgements

55 Bibliography

56 About the Publisher

Landmarks CoverFrontmatterStart of ContentBackmatter

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Throughout history, queens have wielded significant power and influence, and yet surprisingly few have received the kind of attention or fame they deserve. This book shines a light on these lesser-known sovereigns, many of whom proved themselves as shrewd politicians, able administrators or mighty commanders of armies, whilst others were as flawed or as brutal as their male counterparts.

Here are queens who have been long forgotten, overlooked, unfairly maligned or simply dismissed as mere bit-players on the world stage. Some ruled as queens in their own right whilst others were crowned queen consorts to kings. Many ruled on behalf of young heirs, fiercely protecting their offspring’s right to succeed, whilst others took over the reins of power when their kings were away for months, if not years. And some queens were forced to usurp power from inept husbands, when it was clear they had strength of character and were far better equipped to rule.

Not that ruling as Queen was all that easy: top of the tick-list of requirements for many queens was to produce the all-important heir to the throne (and preferably a couple of spares). Queens were also expected to be the model of subservience and virtue, no matter how badly their husbands behaved, whilst also acting as the ‘human face’ of the crown, giving alms to the poor, patronising religious institutions, smoothing over family and dynastic disputes and sponsoring artistic and literary endeavours.

Fulfilling all the expectations for a queen was indeed a tricky balancing act, for which they have always been harshly judged. Toe the line, produce a batch of sons, behave modestly and smile nicely at court and history may well forget you. Fail to produce an heir and you might be replaced or despatched (the nasty way). Refuse to submit to your husband or rail against his infidelities and you’ll be judged wilful or even mad. And should you wield power and maybe punish your rivals as men have done for centuries, then chances are you’ll be labelled as an evil tyrant/monster (but, then again, at least you might not be entirely forgotten …)

The queens covered in this book may have been cast into the shadows in some way, but they all have extraordinary stories to tell. Some, like Boudica, were once entirely forgotten, only to surface centuries later. Many queens are famous in their homelands but decidedly not famous elsewhere in the world; some names might trigger a twitch of recognition but many would draw a blank. There have also been deliberate attempts in the past to wipe some queens from memory, almost as if they were seen as an embarrassment, an anomaly best forgotten in the male-to-male succession. (Thankfully, archaeologists have unearthed the truth about the likes of ancient Egypt’s Hatshepsut, but are there other queens we know nothing about?) There are also those queens who have been defined largely by the exploits of their husbands (Catherine of Aragon and Katherine Parr step forward) or have made handy ‘withered hags’ in works of fiction (cue Margaret of Anjou) but whose portrayals bear little reality to their actual lives.

Forgotten, glossed over or much maligned, the queens in this book lived from as long as ago as 1500 BCE right up to the early twentieth century, and cover the globe from Europe to Africa, the Americas and the Middle East. They are grouped into seven chapters, loosely defined by their style of rule or deeds. The queens represented as trailblazers mark some of the sovereigns who were the first of a kind, whose reigns marked a zenith of a particular empire or set in motion a later momentous event. History is awash with free-thinking queens, those who were led by their own convictions and ideas regardless of what was expected of them. The warrior queens are an impressive group, although history tends to treat them with either awe or disgust, a surprising number of them supposedly having voracious sexual appetites or bumping off their lovers before the bedsheets were even cold.