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Product Description
Warwick the Kingmaker, the Earl of Warwick & Salisbury whose wealth and power was so great that he could effectively decide who would rule England during the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487), had six sisters: Joan, Cecily, Alice, Eleanor, Katherine and Margaret. They all married powerful noblemen who often found themselves on opposing sides during this turbulent period. "The Kingmaker's Sisters" examines the role that they played in late fifteenth-century England, as wives, mothers and homemakers, but also as deputies for their absent husbands, and how the struggle between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians affected them and their families. Scholarly but accessible, this is the first history of the Wars of the Roses to be written from this perspective, and will appeal to general readers, historians of the period and those with an interest in feminist history. David Baldwin is a popular lecturer who has devised and taught history courses at Leicester University for many years. He is the author of "Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower", "Stoke Field: the Last Battle of the Wars of the Roses" and "The Lost Prince: the Survival of Richard of York".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I foolishly assumed that as the title was The Kingmakers Sisters it would in fact be about the said sisters, however as the writer sums up that there is practically no information left about them I am left wondering why then write a book about them? There are tiny bits he has found but mostly it's guess work. It's also largely about what their husbands and sons did with odd references to 'this might have affected them...' which became quite irritating. The overview of the Wars of the Roses is just that and has been done far better in several other places, overall I have to say this was at best readable filler with no real fresh insights.
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is supposed to be a book about six powerful women at the time of the War of the Roses - the sisters of the legendary Kingmaker, Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick. But the book does not keep its promise!
So first who are these ladies: they were the daughters of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and Alice Montague:
- Cecily, who married Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick,
- Joan, who married William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel,
- Katherine , who married first William Bonville, 6th Baron Harington
and second William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings
- Eleanor, who married Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
- Alice, who married Henry FitzHugh, 6th Lord FitzHugh
and finally
- Margaret who married John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
Typically for the age the ladies of the peerage were married off - for the good (power and wealth) of the family - to other members of the peerage. And here the Neville family did well. They were commodities of the marriage market. During the War of the Roses the peerage was often split and changing sides. The Neville Family was right in the centre of it and their relatives got involved. But the six ladies followed the destiny of their husbands. They were no political players themselves. Of course in her roles as Duchess, Countess or Baroness they exercised their role and powers of lady of the manor, but that was domestic power, not political one. None of the ladies were players in the great drama of the time like Queen Margaret of Anjou, Queen Elisabeth Woodville or Lady Margaret Beaufort. It only mattered from whom they descended and to whom they were married. There is a line in this book which really could have been the bottom of it: We have no direct information of how the Kingmaker's sisters fared during this period of trouble, anxiety and ultimate sadness (page 79). And that simply shows: there is lots of guesswork... "may haves" are there in abundance. That is annoying and one asks oneself why writing a book if one hardly knows anything about the ladies properly. On top it is quite confusingly written. All in all it is boring. The only good bits are about women in general in this time and station, but to be honest I have read better on the situation. The passages on the War of the Roses.. well, not too bad, but there are far better book on the whole issue of the War of the Roses.
I am actually quite furious that I have spent that much money for it. I can honestly not recommend this book at all.
So first who are these ladies: they were the daughters of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and Alice Montague:
- Cecily, who married Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick,
- Joan, who married William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel,
- Katherine , who married first William Bonville, 6th Baron Harington
and second William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings
- Eleanor, who married Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
- Alice, who married Henry FitzHugh, 6th Lord FitzHugh
and finally
- Margaret who married John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
Typically for the age the ladies of the peerage were married off - for the good (power and wealth) of the family - to other members of the peerage. And here the Neville family did well. They were commodities of the marriage market. During the War of the Roses the peerage was often split and changing sides. The Neville Family was right in the centre of it and their relatives got involved. But the six ladies followed the destiny of their husbands. They were no political players themselves. Of course in her roles as Duchess, Countess or Baroness they exercised their role and powers of lady of the manor, but that was domestic power, not political one. None of the ladies were players in the great drama of the time like Queen Margaret of Anjou, Queen Elisabeth Woodville or Lady Margaret Beaufort. It only mattered from whom they descended and to whom they were married. There is a line in this book which really could have been the bottom of it: We have no direct information of how the Kingmaker's sisters fared during this period of trouble, anxiety and ultimate sadness (page 79). And that simply shows: there is lots of guesswork... "may haves" are there in abundance. That is annoying and one asks oneself why writing a book if one hardly knows anything about the ladies properly. On top it is quite confusingly written. All in all it is boring. The only good bits are about women in general in this time and station, but to be honest I have read better on the situation. The passages on the War of the Roses.. well, not too bad, but there are far better book on the whole issue of the War of the Roses.
I am actually quite furious that I have spent that much money for it. I can honestly not recommend this book at all.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Another interesting book from David Baldwin. The house of Neville were famous for marrying its daughters well in the period known as the Wars of the Roses and this book gives an insight into what that meant during this troubled period when families supported different factions. Like many other women the sisters found themselves married to men from different sides Yorkist and Lancastrian, and one, Eleanor, to Thomas Lord Stanley who managed to support the winners every time without ever really faouring any. Through the activities of their husband's David Baldwin has managed to give a good idea of what life was like for Joan the wife of William FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, Cecily, married first to Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick and later to John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, Alice to Henry, Lord FitxHugh, Katherine to William, Lord Hastings and Margaret married to John de Vere, Earl of Oxford.
It is a difficult task to write about women at this time since they tended to be kept in the background, but David Baldwin has written an interesting book from a different perspective. What a refreshing change from more soley about the men of the period.
Pauline Harrison Pogmore
Secretary. Richard III Society. Yorkshire Branch.
It is a difficult task to write about women at this time since they tended to be kept in the background, but David Baldwin has written an interesting book from a different perspective. What a refreshing change from more soley about the men of the period.
Pauline Harrison Pogmore
Secretary. Richard III Society. Yorkshire Branch.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
In the academic feud known as War of the Roses, context is everything!
As a reader who has appreciated this author's books, (I have read all but the one devoted to Elizabeth Woodville; my favorite remains The Lost Prince) I cannot bring myself to rate... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Beth E. Williams
A fresh approach to an old subject - well researched and written
David Baldwin's previous books, 'Elizabeth Woodville' and 'The Lost Prince' have concentrated on taking new approaches to old subjects and his latest is no exception. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2009 by Peter Smith
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