Katherine Pangonis' new book Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule sheds light on the somewhat overlooked women, queens and princesses of Outremer (the Crusader States). The book is about a dynasty of women who ruled in the Middle East during the medieval period, specifically in the 12th century during the times of the Crusades.

It starts with Morphia of Melitene. She's an Armenian Princess who marries Baldwin II to become the first crowned Queen of Jerusalem. The book looks at her life and the role she played politically during her husband's life and then also the lives of her four daughters including Queen Melisende Jerusalem and Princess Alice of Antioch and then her granddaughters, the daughters of those daughters. As well as the first queen to go on crusade, Eleanor of Aquitaine

Despite living in a quite strongly patriarchal and medieval environment, these women were able to seize real power due to the instability in the region. The fact that Morphia had four daughters was a major factor as well. There were no sons to inherit, which meant that women were able to succeed in political positions and actually wield power.

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Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule https://www.worldhistory.org/books/164313924X/

Katherine's Website https://www.katherinepangonis.com/

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— CHAPTERS —

0:00​ Introduction

0:53 What is the book all about?

1:55 Is there a gap in the scholarship around the Crusades?

4:27 Which women are focussed on in the book?

10:52 William of Tyre and other Medieval sources

16:43 Working through the bias of Medieval sources

21:00 Eleanor of Aquitaine as a Crusader Queen

30:33 Katherine favourite woman in the book

33:31 Outro

— WANT TO KNOW MORE? —

Kingdom of Jerusalem https://www.worldhistory.org/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem/

Crusader States https://www.worldhistory.org/Crusader_States/

Crusades https://www.worldhistory.org/Crusades/

Antioch https://www.worldhistory.org/Antiochia/

Edessa https://www.worldhistory.org/edessa/

Eleanor of Aquitaine https://www.worldhistory.org/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine/

Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule Book Review https://www.worldhistory.org/review/262/queens-of-jerusalem-the-women-who-dared-to-rule/

— WATCH —

Eleanor of Aquitaine: the Medieval Queen of England and France in the High Middle Ages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAP7OHmBcZY

The Crusades: A Brief History of the Medieval Religious Wars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E33qpetUCVQ

Courtly Love in the High Middle Ages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxfEMc6Z2aY

A Short History of the Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pewasA24hPs

— ATTRIBUTIONS —

The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:

https://www.ancientlyre.com

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7Dx2vFEg8DmOJ5YCRm4A5v?si=emacIH9CRieFNGXRUyJ9

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ1X6F7lGMEadnNETSzTv8A

World History Encyclopedia

www.worldhistory.org