She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (original 2010; edition 2012)

by Helen Castor (Author)

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santhony's review

This book examines the lives of four “would be” queens of England prior to the reign of Elizabeth I. Of course Queen Mary (elder half-sister of Elizabeth) was the first female ruling monarch of England, and details of her life are presented as well. I have read extensively on English history through the years, so most of this history was not exactly new.

Having recently read the book When Christ and His Saints Slept, I was well familiar with the story of Mathilde, the presumptive heir of Henry I, whose crown was unceremoniously usurped by her nephew Stephen. There followed a twenty year civil war which was only settled by the agreement that Mathilde’s son Henry would succeed Stephen on the throne. While this account of Mathilde’s life was necessarily shorter than the full length book on the subject (which was somewhat novelized), it was probably more suitable in length and historical accuracy.

I was also familiar with the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Mathilde’s son Henry, having read Allison Weir’s presumptive biography. I say “presumptive” since there is far too little source material to fill a book on her life without an abundance of filler and presumption. Again, this book contains all you need to know about her dalliance with royal power.

The other two historical personages covered in this book were not as well known to me. My knowledge of Isabella was largely derived from the highly fictionalized portrayal in Braveheart. In some of my reading on English history, I had been exposed to a more historically accurate account of her travails, but this was a very good refresher in that regard.

The final “queen” was one of which I had very little previous exposure, Margaret of Anjou, whose husband was essentially an imbecile. Most of these women attempted to rule either in the presence of incapable or disinterested leadership on the part of their husband, in the name of their minor sons, or both. Unlike in France, where the Salic Law forbade the succession of a female ruling monarch, the problems of these women were not statutory in nature, as much as human nature of the period.

It was only with the death of Edward VI (only son of Henry VIII) and the utter absence of any possible male successor, that Queen Mary was allowed to assume the crown. In fact, the issue was more one of religion than gender, as the Protestant Edward was so desperate to avoid handing the crown to his Catholic older sister, that he designated a distant female relative (Lady Jane Grey) as his successor. Mary nevertheless survived he power struggle and paved the way for Elizabeth I to succeed her. (

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santhony | Jun 10, 2019 |

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Wonderful! Castor provides details about the queens before Elizabeth I, writing with such an engaging quality that it makes her book absolutely captivating.

The book opens with the death of Henry VIII’s young son King Edward VI in 1553 when all potential heirs were female meaning England would have a female reigning monarch for the first time. Then Castor goes back to provide biographies of Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou who were all queens in the names of their husbands or sons. And although Matilda reigned briefly, “Bloody” Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon was the first queen to rule in her own right.

Outstanding! Highly recommended. (

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VivienneR | Mar 20, 2024 |

*2.5 (

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Fortunesdearest | Feb 2, 2024 |

It took 21 hours to read this aloud to my wife in segments before bed.

I really liked this one but it's gonna take me a bit to write a decent review. (

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xaverie | Apr 3, 2023 |

When I first read this book, I hated it.

Honestly, the writing style is pretty boring, but the info is good, so i'll let it pass... (

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thereadingpal | Jun 14, 2022 |

Probably not a good choice for a Kindle book. I found myself trying to find maps from the times of each queen to try and figure out the constantly changing borders. I did alternate the 4 queens' stories with some other lighter reading. In the end, I got bored with it TBH. That is more a reflection on me than the author. The book is well researched and understanding that not much information was written about the women during these times, it is very impressive to get such detailed accounts. I'm more a fan of historical fiction, it seems. This feels more like a book you'd read in a great feminist history class. (

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Danean | May 10, 2021 |

Well, the title says it all. Very readable non-fiction about women who ruled in varying capacities in the hundreds of years before Queen Elizabeth I. While this was a good book, my excessive historical fiction reading (thank you Sharon Kay Penman) meant that there wasn't much new in this book for me. But the review was fun. (

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japaul22 | Jul 7, 2019 |

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santhony | Jun 10, 2019 |

Wow - this was a very interesting book, but it was not an easy read. It was well-researched, and the author really did make the queens come alive with her descriptions. Reading it was definitely worth the effort. (

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anitatally | Feb 28, 2019 |

I have only read one section, that on Margaret of Anjou, but it has been excellently researched and written. (

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winterslights | Jun 12, 2016 |

This was an interesting look at the steps taken over hundreds of years that led to Queen Elizabeth I peacefully ascending the English throne. The information was well organized and flowed smoothly. (

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Jen.ODriscoll.Lemon | Jan 23, 2016 |

This was an interesting look at the steps taken over hundreds of years that led to Queen Elizabeth I peacefully ascending the English throne. The information was well organized and flowed smoothly. (

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Jen.ODriscoll.Lemon | Jan 23, 2016 |

She-Wolves is a very engaging piece of nonfiction which chronicles the lives of four English queens: Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou.

The book was framed around the year 1553 when King Edward VI died and all potential heirs was female. It introduces the idea that England would for the first time have a queen, but then gave the event context by going back to the biographies of the four previous female rulers. The end of the book contains a brief section on the three queens after 1553 (Jane Grey, Mary, and Elizabeth) and examining how they presented themselves as queen and utilized power.

Matilda’s father made his lords swear that she was his heir and would rule after him. However, the throne was seized by an usurper, King Stephan, who got to the treasury before anyone else. What followed was civil war with Matilda fighting for the right to the throne. However, she eventually gave up her own claim in favor of that of her son.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was married first to the King of France but arranged an annulment to marry the King of England. She had a very long and eventful life, and her’s was probably my favorite section of the book.

Isabella of France was married to King Edward II, who ignored his duties and the war with Scotland in his obsession with his lover, a man named Piers Gaveston. This led to lasting problems with his lords and to Isabella eventually seizing the throne in name of her young son.

Margaret of Anjou was a French woman married to King Henry VI during the War of the Roses. Her husband was not a capable ruler, and Margaret believed that she should be the one filling the void.

These women were all trapped by a catch-22 that limited female rulership: women were too weak to be rulers, but if a woman was strong enough to rule then she was monstrous and unnatural. To try and avoid this, these four woman found power in their roles as wives and mothers.

I found She-Wolves fascinating and a hard book to put down. It wasn’t too academic and could be easily understood by someone without background in medieval history. The writing was likewise elegant and never became obtuse or unwieldy.

I thought the political intrigue, conspiracies, and battles for power were very interesting. I would recommend this book to history buffs, people interested in historical women, or people who enjoy books such as Game of Thrones.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. (

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pwaites | Jun 17, 2015 |

At its best when showing how the decisions and actions of the women rulers before Elizabeth set the stage for her reign. They lead fascinating, complex lives, all the more difficult for modern readers because all the people seemed to have one of only 10 or so different names! Henry, Edward, Charles, Mary, Margaret... I would have appreciated more genealogies and maps, instead of only one at the beginning of each section of the book. I think, too, that sometimes the author was caught up in the sheer volume of detail, rather than in building a case for her thesis.

I came away from the book with profound thankfulness that humans have made at least some progress from the days when thousands died because some poor queen had a girl instead of a boy.

And--sigh--the author is one of those who thinks Richard III murdered the princes in the tower. Hard for Tey fans! (

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Turrean | Feb 15, 2014 |

A well-written, easy-to-follow book about Matilda, Eleanor, Isabella, and Margert - four women who attempted to rule England before Queen Elizabeth I. The author did an excellent job explaining the times each woman lived in and the situations they found themselves in. (

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TnTexas | Jul 22, 2013 |

I can't remember the last time I spent three-plus weeks reading a book straight through. In retrospect, maybe I should have alternated queenly chapters with lighter reading, but I found this fascinating on the whole and was highly motivated by wanting to see what happened next. I found this very dense, rather than dry, and actually a lot of fun. But it was slow going keeping all the Edwards and Isabellas straight, making sure I was following which faction was on which side at any given time -- allegiances were constantly shifting, trusted allies double-crossing each other, loyalties formed and broken. The reward for paying such close attention was a truly gripping set of stories.

I wish I'd read this before Niccolò Rising, just to have a more solid understanding of the intrigues gripping Europe at the time -- I've been pretty history-impaired most of my life and catching up now, with an adult's knowledge of the world's workings, is a lot of fun. And it's got me craving the next installment of Wolf Hall.

Recommended for fans of history and politics and patient, attentive readers. (

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lisapeet | Jul 1, 2013 |

This was an enjoyable history - Ms. Castor just set forth the history as it was and made it easy to digest. Histories can sometimes be dry as dust, but her use of a prologue, i.e., the aftermath of the death of Edward VI, was great for putting the idea of a female monarch in context. We all know about Elizabeth I, her sister Mary, and Queen Jane of the 13 Days, but how many know about Matilda, also known as Maude, the woman who was Henry I's only legitimate heir after 1120, and her struggle with her cousin Stephen? The lives and careers of the celebrated Eleanor of Aquitaine and the much-maligned French queens, Isabella of France and Marguerite of Anjou, are fleshed out here, as well. I recommend this book for anyone wishing to have a primer on England's first female, and I think most fascinating, reigning monarchs. (

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ELEkstrom | Jun 6, 2013 |

Very readable history. See my reviews http://www.dnsmedia.co.uk/reviews/view/1184 (

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AnneHudson | Mar 30, 2013 |

Troubled Royalty, the unbelievable stresses and strains of marriages made of political convenience, and the grisly punishments meted out to the virtuousness.
Inept male kings, religious politics with capital punishments meted out on either side for heresy, former old friends who were in power like Despenser led to be hung drawn castrated and beheaded, an unusual punishment for a Noble.
An eye opener because us women have to take control to make our men, countries families etc prosper. (

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wonderperson | Mar 29, 2013 |

Where I got the book: my local library.

She-Wolves is an entertaining and clearly written account of English queens (well, mostly French really, but queens of England) who stood out from obscurity because they had to go the extra mile to cope with having their throne snatched out from under them (Matilda/Maud), being mom to an absentee king and his rotter brother (Eleanor), having a husband who ruled so badly that he ticked off just about every powerful aristocrat in the country (Isabella) or being wife to a low-watt bulb with a crown on his head (Marguerite d'Anjou). History, apparently, being written by men, did its best to bury these ladies but enough survives to make out a story of some pretty impressive women.

I'm not sure exactly why Castor wraps the whole account up inside the power struggle that took place to fill the royal vacancy left when Edward VI died, because she didn't, to my mind, do enough exploration of the fascinating reigns of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I. Now I know those reigns HAVE been explored many times and perhaps that's reason enough not to cover them thoroughly, but I would have liked more, especially when it came to Elizabeth. The Bad Jane part of me keeps whispering that Castor put medieval history inside a Tudor wrapping because the Tudors are way more trendy and sexy (from a book-selling standpoint) than their lesser known forebears.

Be that as it may, I enjoyed the read. Castor has a nice, clear way of telling a story with just enough detail and never too much. Recommended. (

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JaneSteen | Nov 10, 2012 |

This starts with the death of Edward VI, in 1553, and the unthinkable fact that the only heirs to the English Throne were female. Helen Castor then takes us back in history and looks at the lives of four women who, in one way or another ruled or attempted to rule the kingdom. So there are four main sections to this book Matilda: Lady of England (1102-1167); Eleanor: An Incomparable Woman (1124-1204); Isabella: Iron Lady (1295-1358) and Margaret: A Great and Strong Laboured Woman (1430-1482). Then we go back to the Tudor succession and Lady Jane Grey, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

This is a very good overview of Medieval history focusing on the four women and their lives. The social and political mores of the time meant that women were thought "lesser" than men and the idea of a woman ruling in her own right was unthinkable and unfeminine. Caught up in the political machinations of the times Castor has managed to bring these women, their lives and problems to life. A very good and readable history. (

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calm | Dec 14, 2011 |

A good introduction to the lives of these extraordinary women whose actions shaped English medieval history. Castor tries to explode the myths that surround them, concluding for example that the story of Edward II's murder with a red hot poker originated several years after his death. Castor's prose is engaging and really brings her subjects to lives. My one quibble is with the book's structure, it opens with a description of events leading up to the death of Edward VI, before jumping back several centuries to William the Conqueror's granddaughter, Matilda, and her challenge of Stephen's assumption of the crown. (

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riverwillow | Nov 17, 2011 |

An excellent book, well worth a read for those interested in European history. In addition to covering the usual suspects such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Mary I, the author also profiled relatively little-known queens like Margaret of Anjou and Matilda. (Indeed, before this book I had never even heard of Margaret of Anjou.) She makes a convincing argument that Matilda was not the "proud and arrogant" woman as generations of historians have alleged, and she accomplishes the unthinkable by making Eleanor of Aquitaine seem interesting to me. I highly recommend. (

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meggyweg | Sep 3, 2011 |

Excellent popular history, examining four English queens who tried to -- and in some cases did -- rule the country before Mary, the first recognized female head of state. Eleanor of Acquitaine is the best known; her mother-in-law Matilda (a granddaughter of William the Conquerer) was the first and two French noblewomen, Isabella and Margaret, coped with difficult marriages, trying to protect the inheritances of their sons amidst the violent and treacherous shifts in English and European balances of power. The intrigues and casts of characters could easily get confusing -- but the author does a terrific job keeping it as clear as possible (the family trees at the beginning of each section help a great deal). This is an excellent gloss on medieval English history, establishing the precedents that led to the historic rules of Mary and, more significantly, her half-sister Elizabeth I. (

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keywestnan | Jun 14, 2011 |

When Edward VI died in 1553, the extraordinary fact was that there was no one left to claim the title of king of England. For the first time, England would have a reigning queen--but the question was which one: Katherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary; Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth; or one of their cousins, Lady Jane Grey or Mary, Queen of Scots.

But female rule in England also had a past. Four hundred years before Edward's death, Matilda, daughter of Henry I and granddaughter of William the Conqueror, came tantalizingly close to securing the crown for herself. And between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries three more exceptional women--Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou--discovered how much was possible if pre-sumptions of male rule were not confronted so explicitly--and just how quickly they might be vilified as "she-wolves" for their pains.

The stories of these women, told here in all their vivid detail, expose the paradox that female heirs to the Tudor throne had no choice but to negotiate. Man was the head of woman, and the king was the head of all. How, then, could royal power lie in female hands?

RapidCityPubLib | Jun 1, 2011 |

I had eagerly awaited the release of this book and waited until I could take my time and read it slowly- taking notes if I wished. I wasn't disappointed! The book begins with a genealogy of the Tudor Succession and as Edward VI is dying. The book is an utterly fascinating, eminently readable, treatise about the tradition of female rulers prior to the time of Elizabeth I.

Included are:

Matilda: Lady of England 1102-1167
Eleanor: An Incomparable Woman 1124-1204 (long lived indeed!)
Isabella: Iron Lady 1295-1358
Margaret: A Great and Strong Laboured Woman 1430-1482

and, as the books returns to the time of the Tudors and the death of Edward VI, in "New Beginnings"
Mary and her disastrous marriage with Philip of Spain. The book ends as Elizabeth I is handed the reins of of government and becomes both the King and Queen of her kingdom.

Each section is preceded by a both a genealogy as well as a map of the Kingdom as it existed at that point in history. Very helpful while you are reading about the constantly changing boundaries of the various countries. The genealogies really made me realize how small the pool of available spouses for royal marriages really was at the time. Papal dispensations for consanguinity matters must have been a steady source of revenue for the Church! Ms. Castor has an uncanny ability to write non-fiction that reads as enjoyably as fiction. I was sorry when the book ended - wanting more of this truly riveting history. The struggle of female rulers really was the the beginning of the fight for women's rights and the fact that these amazing, talented, strong women managed to rule as they did is a wonder. I wonder how many modern women would have the tenacity and determination to breach the boundaries of proper 'etiquette' as these female rulers did. It boggles my mind at how strong and focused they must have been. No doubt they would be the sort of successful women who would, to this day, be called She Wolves, baracuddas, or another word that begins with the letter b----.

I wished that the book had more illustrations - but then I always wish that. I always want more images to pair with the words in a book. The included 8 pages of color images are well done - but more would have been better (of course!) This book will, I think, hold wide appeal to history buffs - especially those who are Anglophiles as I am, as well as for people who study women's rights and societal issues.

I will be on the pre-order list as soon as I hear about Helen Castor's next book ! (

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zquilts | May 30, 2011 |

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