![]() Hugh Despenser’s execution (no sign of Isabella) ![]() I still think watching someone being castrated is pretty shocking. Isabella was argued to have left a “dark stain on the annals of female royalty” and has been traditionally viewed as an unnatural woman, although Hilton points out that in this age (like today) women were condemned for things that men would not be, such as being decisive (seen as aggressive) or being an effective landowner (seen as greedy). It is full of interesting and even shocking stories such as Isabella of France, watching Hugh Despenser (the suspected lover of her husband) being castrated and hung drawn and quartered. This book tells the history of all the English (in fact the majority of them were not English) queens between 1066 starting with Matilda of Flanders ending in 1503 with Elizabeth of York. ![]() ![]() I bought this with my Waterstones Christmas voucher as I love the medieval period and have always been particularly interested in the lives of these women who are often only mentioned as a postscript to their husband’s story. ![]()
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