{"product_id":"the-dark-queens-the-bloody-rivalry-that-forged-the-medieval-world","title":"The Dark Queens The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A well-researched and well-told epic history. \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Queens\u003c\/i\u003e brings these courageous, flawed, and ruthless rulers and their distant times back to life.”--Margot Lee Shetterly, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e-bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHidden Figures\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe remarkable, little-known story of two trailblazing women in the Early Middle Ages who wielded immense power, only to be vilified for daring to rule.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eBrunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet-in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport-these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms, changing the face of Europe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The two queens commanded armies and negotiated with kings and popes. They formed coalitions and broke them, mothered children and lost them. They fought a decades-long civil war-against each other. With ingenuity and skill, they battled to stay alive in the game of statecraft, and in the process laid the foundations of what would one day be Charlemagne's empire. Yet after the queens' deaths-one gentle, the other horrific-their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Queens\u003c\/i\u003e, award-winning writer Shelley Puhak sets the record straight. She resurrects two very real women in all their complexity, painting a richly detailed portrait of an unfamiliar time and striking at the roots of some of our culture's stubbornest myths about female power. \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Queens \u003c\/i\u003eoffers proof that the relationships between women can transform the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43057576804388,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0743\/8657\/1300\/files\/8910833482770.jpg?v=1765642055","url":"https:\/\/volumebookshop.com\/products\/the-dark-queens-the-bloody-rivalry-that-forged-the-medieval-world","provider":"Volume Bookshop \u0026 Studio, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}