Travels With a Medieval Queen - Hardcover

Taylor Simeti, Mary

3.25

95 ratings by Goodreads

9780297607953: Travels With a Medieval Queen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297607952 ISBN 13: 9780297607953

Publisher: W&N, 2002

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Living in the second half of the twelfth century, Princess Constance of Hauteville was both witness and protagonist in what could be considered the most exciting period in medieval history. There had been a remarkable growth in the population and in the economy of western Europe and a consequent expansion of cities and commerce. With the support of the secular rulers and the Church, Knighthood had been institutionalised and the Courtly Love school of poetry was born. In 1185, the 32 year old Constance of Sicily, a princess with the most magnificent dowry Europe has ever seen, was betrothed to the 21 year old Henry, cold-hearted son of the great German Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. Eight years later, the Sicilian throne lies empty and Henry and Constance (pregnant for the first time at 40) travel south to stake their claim against the usurper, Tancredi's family. It is this journey that Taylor Simeti retraces, along the way contrasting medieval society with modern, capturing what the life of the medieval queen must have been like, exploring the idea of travel and pilgrimage, and expressing, above all, a deep empathy for her subject. This is a reflexive, imaginative and entertaining account of Constance's life and travels.

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About the Author:

Mary Taylor Simeti is a writer and scholar. She lives on a farm outside Palermo with her Sicilian husband and two children.

From the Inside Flap:

In the second half of the 12th century 31-year-old Constance, a Sicilian princess with the most magnificent dowry Europe had ever seen, was sent as an offering to 21-year-old Henry, son of the great German Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. Nine years later, now Holy Roman Empress and pregnant, Constance travelled from Germany back to Palermo to reclaim her father's crown from the usurper, Tancredi. While peppered with stories and people from the crusades including Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart, no one is more exthralling than Constance herself. Mary Taylor Simeti retraces her steps through urban sprawl and unchanged medieval Italian villages exploring magnificent churches and cloisters and dirt tracks that have become motorways to bring Constance back to life and to recreate her experiences in intimate detail. "As Constance passes Rome, Naples and Salerno her story becomes genuinely moving... meticulous reconstruction." Spectator "Simeti is a pleasingly honest travel writer... combines admirable erudition with imaginative licence... she writes feelingly... Her material may be fragmentary but the pieces glitter." Sunday Times

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