Review: The Lost Heirs of the Medieval Crown by JF Andrew

Synopsis: When William the Conqueror died in 1087 he left the throne of England to William Rufus ... his second son. The result was an immediate war as Rufus's elder brother Robert fought to gain the crown he saw as rightfully his; this conflict marked the start of 400 years of bloody disputes as the English monarchy's line of hereditary succession was bent, twisted and finally broken when the last Plantagenet king, Richard III, fell at Bosworth in 1485.

This will make a nice little addition to anyone's history shelf. It is, as I mentioned, a very readable narrative on those who came so close and yet lost it all .... "there are very few happy endings ...".

" .... every game of thrones has its losers too .." and they are here in spades. The author is quite upfront when stating that the focus is on "genuine contenders not imposters" - so this means those, who in different circumstances, could have legitimately inherited the English throne.

We begin with the reign of the Normans in England, and the battle for the throne between the sons of William the Conqueror, and finish up with the tragic sons of the York brothers. 

A Brief Who's Who:

(1) Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, and Robert's son, William Clito.

(2) William Adelin and Matilda, children of King Henry I.

(3) Eustace, William and Mary, children of King Stephen.

(4) Henry the Young King, son of King Henry II.

(5) Arthur and Eleanor of Brittany, children of Geoffrey, son of Henry II.

(6) Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III.

(7) Edmund Mortiner, son of Roger Mortimer, grandson of Edward III. 

(8) Richard Duke of York, nephew of Edmund Mortimer.

(9) Edward of Lancaster, son of King Henry VI.

(10) Edward V, son of King Edward IV; Edward of Middleham, son of Richard III, Edward of Warwick, son of George Duke of Clarence and brother of Edward and Richard.

Each chapter begins with the family tree - so you know who is who in the scheme of things - followed by a history of events. Then we conclude with a brief exploration and analysis of how and why they failed, and an assessment of each claimant's potential as a ruler based on what is known about each. 

The chapters are easy to read and the narrative not overly cumbersome or dry. There are extensive notes for those who wish to read further - I have quite a few of these resources myself! Even though I was familiar with all of the stories, I was happy to revisit them again.

note: whilst I took over a week to read, had I not been distracted by life, I could quite easily have read this in one day.