Bøger udgivet af Pen and Sword History

Edward II is one of the most unsuccessful and unconventional kings in English history, and is well-known for having passionate and probably intimate relationships with men. In modern times, he has often been considered an LGBT+ icon of sorts. Edward II: His Sexuality and Relationships looks at the men in the king's life and examines the relations he had with them in the context of medieval notions of sexuality and the famous, albeit almost certainly mythical, idea that he was murdered with a red-hot poker as punishment for having sex with men.It also investigates Edward's associations with women. Though often thought of as a gay man, it is more likely that Edward was bisexual: he fathered an illegitimate son in his early twenties, at the age of forty had an intimate encounter with a woman in London which is recorded in his household account, and might even have had an incestuous relationship with his own niece.Edward's marriage to the king of France's daughter Isabella, arranged when they were children, has often been depicted as a tragic disaster from start to finish. Edward II: His Sexuality and Relationships takes a detailed look at the royal marriage and at all the evidence that it was in fact a happy and mutually supportive partnership for many years, and at Isabella's important though over-romanticized association with the baron Roger Mortimer.Because Edward is often assumed to have been solely attracted to men, numerous modern authors have depicted him as a grotesque caricature of a camp, weak, foppish gay man. Edward II: His Sexuality and Relationships reveals him as he truly was: as a chronicler puts it, 'one of the strongest men in his realm.'

Katheryn Parr is mainly remembered today as being the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, the one who 'survived'. Katheryn was not only a wife but a queen, mother, reformer, and author. Katheryn would face a number of events in her lifetime including being held to ransom during the Pilgrimage of Grace, being placed as regent while Henry was in France, a role which only one of his five previous wives held, her namesake Katherine of Aragon, and overcame a plot which would have led to her arrest and execution. While Queen she was able to unite the Tudor family and establish some form of happiness for Henry VIII's three children.Raised by her mother Maud Parr, under a humanist education, Katheryn was intelligent enough to understand her role in life and was not afraid to do her research. Although raised a Catholic, Katheryn became a reformer and went on to write a number of religious texts, being the first female in England to ever have a book published under her own name. She was loyal not only to her family but her servants and the women of her court. She loved her stepchildren and provided them with a mother's love and a role model which her stepdaughters could learn from. Her views on what was expected of her placed her into an open conflict with her brother-in-law Edward Seymour and his wife Anne.This book explores the various roles she had in her lifetime and the passion and duty she put into them, even if it meant putting others first. It will explore her love for Thomas Seymour and how it blindsided her and led to a sad end of her life, and the book will finally look at her legacy - the influence she had on Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth I.

First of its kind, this book showcases relationships between women, as well as their individual efforts and roles during the Wars of the Roses.The Wars of the Roses were fought in England from the mid-fifteenth century, as the supporters of Lancaster and York wrestled over control of the crown. Books have analyzed the politics, battles and motives of its key characters. However, a discussion of women's roles relating to the conflict is so far missing. Forgotten Women of the Wars of the Roses highlights their involvement, their lives during wartime and the consequences of their actions.Many women lost male relatives to battle, execution, and rebellion, suffering emotional and legal consequences as rivals seized lands and livelihood. Despite the uneasy political atmosphere and challenges in marriage and parenting, women maintained the household and supported the family commercially and politically. Forgotten royal women acted as diplomats, negotiators and supporters to both York and Lancaster. Religious women were involved in the conflict and their individual experiences are examined. There is a discussion of women who fought to overcome potentially dangerous circumstances to secure safety and status and those who directly supported of the war effort. There were organizers writing lists, planning defenses and strategy and quietly supplying husbands with horses, silver and men. Defenders commanded soldiers during a siege, usually at their homes, and took active roles in family feuds. The existence of women rebels at this time is also discussed, as is women's wider, more subtle contributions and experiences to the security of the monarchy.The book demands acknowledgment of women's varied roles during the conflict at all levels of society. It draws on primary sources, aspects of their families, their daily lives, homes and fashions, thus presenting them as three-dimensional people against the backdrop of the wars.

This book is the narrative of three women of York, sisters to not one, but two kings of England. Anne, Elizabeth and Margaret Plantagenet were the daughters of Richard, Duke of York and his wife, Cecily Neville, and therefore sisters to Edward IV and Richard III. These women watched from the sidelines as their father challenged England's anointed king and lost his life, as their brothers fought together for the throne of England and then amongst themselves and as the Plantagenet dynasty fell, making way for the reign of the Tudors. But they were not just bystanders; they had their own stories to tell. Anne of York was married to the Lancastrian Duke of Exeter who sided against her father and brother, before finding later happiness, albeit briefly, with her second husband. Elizabeth of York married John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk and became the mother of eleven children who would become thorns in the side of the Tudor kings and Margaret of York became Duchess of Burgundy, a hugely influential woman in her adopted kingdom although she never stopped supporting her family back in England. Between them, they witnessed and contributed to one of the most turbulent times in English history yet they have naturally been overshadowed by their more famous brothers. This is their story.

The disastrous reign of the Emperor Commodus, which saw a great expansion of the power of the emperor, eventually resulted in his asassination, but also in a civil war, which was as revolutionary as that of 69. Though the original assassination had been in the name of a restoration of the authority of the Senate - the program of Pertinax and his supporters - the victory of Septimius Severus established a murderous autocracy, which degenerated into incompetence under his successors. It also set up a continuous tension within the government between imperial and senatorial powers and authority.The weakness of the imperial power after Caracalla was emphasised by the assassination of all emperors between 217 and 238; it also produced an increase in warfare on all frontiers from Syria to Britannia. In the later years of Alexander Severus the Senate began to recover its authority, thanks to the emperor's long absences from Rome in the east and in Germany. His frontier policy displeased the army, however, and his assassination produced the Emperor Maximinus. The recovery of the Senate was immediately stopped in its tracks and Maximinus disdained all authority apart from his own.This was a classic prerevolutionary situation, and the reaction amongst the senators was the revolution of 238, sparked by trouble in Africa under the Gordians, but also producing another civil war and the deaths of several emperors. The authority of the Senate was enhanced by the senatorial victory but in in the end the Senate proved unable to defend the empire, and the contest between imperial and senatorial power continued until the 260s when in effect Gallienus returned to imperial autocracy.This marked the end of real senatorial power, and the empire as an autocracy was finally established.

When we think of kings and queens, we conjure up illusions of a magnificent kingdom where His and Her Majesties live in the lap of luxury and want for nothing. While this may be true, life wasn't always as perfect.With the history of royal families comes a long and twisted history of genetics and family intermarriage that is often swept aside.In Ms Cummings' latest book, she takes us through the complicated spider's web of royal marriages. She tells us of the atrocities of the Ptolemy Dynasty as they continued to marry brothers and sisters to fend off political outsiders. She tells us about the centuries of intermarriage in Europe's most prominent royal family, along with the devastating results that came with it.We will learn of the devastation of mental illness that befell reigning monarchs of The Hundred Years War and plagued George III of England, Juana of Castile and the Wittlebach Empire. She will also tell us of the desperation that fell upon the Russian Royal Family as their only heir to the throne grew ill with hemophilia. She will also go into depth about the notorious Hapsburgs, the decades of physical and mental ailments that tormented them, and how their empire ended with the most inbred royal in history, Charles II of Spain.After hearing the heartwrenching stories of these great monarchs, you'll find that you can't help but sympathize with them as you read about how genetics was the ultimate game-changer in most families.