A deeply engaging and hugely enjoyable history of four women who ruled England before female monarchs became acceptable with the accession of Mary followed by Elizabeth. The women that Helen Castor writes about have been overshadowed by their male relatives and successors. Helen Castor gives them their rightful due and shines a very welcome light on them, their circumstances, and their struggles to grasp and retain royal power.
The acceptable face of female authority was as a wife or mother, exercising power on behalf of a male relative who was the “real” ruler. Eleanor was the most successful in managing this role, Matilda directly confronted it and found herself fighting a civil war based on the assertion a male right to rule. Isabella and Margret fought for their children and found themselves viewed as being too ambitious for themselves.
Helen Castor writes vividly about these extraordinary women; she has an eye for telling detail and most importantly is very sensitive to the context in which they lived. Each of these women was a threat to the established order, a woman in authority was a significant problem for the society. They implicitly, and frequently, explicitly, challenged fundamental ideas that shaped and supported the structure of the society and the understanding of power.
She-Wolves includes my absolute favorite moment of English Royal history, something that I was stunned is not as common as the story of Charles II hiding in an oak tree to avoid being captured. When Matilda reached for the crown of England she was greeted with the utmost hostility, creating a space for Stephen to claim the crown because he was male. A civil war resulted, it was brutal and lengthy. At one point Matilda was besieged, it was late winter and there was heavy snow. Realising that she was defeated Matilda and four knights walked out of the castle and on foot in the snow crossed the enemy lines to escape. This is the type of exploit, which would usually become the source of legend and be embedded in popular history and memory as an example of audacious courage. The fact that it is not speaks directly to the unwillingness of historians to credit audacious courage to a female other than the most begrudging manner. The term She-Wolf is the primary example.
Helen Castor gives these women their due, is unafraid to examine their mistakes and happy to celebrate their triumphs. A pleasure to read.
