Review: House of Lilies by Justine Firnhaber-Baker

Synopsis: The definitive history of the Capetians, the crusading dynasty that made the French crown the wealthiest and most powerful in medieval Europe and forged France as we know it today

In House of Lilies , historian Justine Firnhaber-Baker tells the epic story of the Capetian dynasty of medieval France, showing how their ideas about power, religion, and identity continue to shape European society and politics today.

Reigning from 987 to 1328, the Capetian kings became the most powerful monarchy of the Middle Ages and established the foundations of a shared French culture. Consolidating a fragmented realm that eventually stretched from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, they were the first royal house to adopt the fleur-de-lys, displaying this lily emblem to signify their divine favor and legitimate their rule. The Capetians played a part in some of the most dramatic and far-reaching episodes in European history, including the Crusades, bloody waves of religious persecution, and a series of wars with England. The Capetian age saw the emergence of Gothic architecture, the romantic ideals of chivalry and courtly love, and the Church’s role at the center of daily life.

Evocatively interweaving these pivotal developments with the human stories of the rulers who drove them, House of Lilies is the definitive history of the dynasty that forged France—and Europe—as we know it.

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Four stars for the following reasons:

* easy to read

* informative though not dull or dry

* covers the Capetian Dynasty well, including the women

* well researched

* additional notes, maps, family trees

Covering nearly over three centuries of French history and international politicking, Firnhaber-Baker does a remarkable job at presenting one of the pivotal dynasties in French history - the Capetians. This work has all the elements: religious fervor and upheaval, crusades,scandal, warfare, adultery, ambition, family drama, politicking - and on a magnificent grandiose scale.

Each monarch has their own dedicated chapter which covers off the pivotal moments of their reign, including each monarch's relationships with France's closest neighbours - England, Normandy, Flanders, Blois, Anjou, Valois - as France as we know it today, was still very much in its infancy and only really beginning to coalesce.

Recommended reading for those with an interest in French history and royal dynasties.

CUP bags 'thrilling' Bartlett book on medieval Europe

From The Bookseller: 

Cambridge University Press has bagged a “thrilling” book on dynastic political intrigue in medieval Europe by historian and presenter Robert Bartlett.

Liz Friend-Smith, senior commissioning editor in history, bought world print and digital rights to Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe direct from the author. It will be published in July 2020.

The book explores the role played by family dynamics and family consciousness in the politics of the royal and imperial dynasties of Europe, “from royal marriages and the birth of sons, to female sovereigns, mistresses and wicked uncles”.

The synopsis explains: “Throughout medieval Europe, for hundreds of years, monarchy was the way that politics worked in most countries. This meant power was in the hands of a family—a dynasty; that politics was family politics; and political life was shaped by the births, marriages and deaths of the ruling family. Bartlett looks at how the dynastic system coped with female rule and pretenders to the throne. It expplores how the dynasties used names, the numbering of rulers and the visual display of heraldry to express their identity. And it asks why some royal families survived and thrived, while others did not.”

Bartlett is writer and presenter of several BBC documentary series including “Inside the Medieval Mind”, “The Normans”, and “The Plantagenets”. Professor Emeritus at the University of St Andrews, his books include The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change (Penguin), which won the Wolfson History Prize.

Friend-Smith said: “Robert is a master historian and a fabulous storyteller. He makes enthralling sense of the complex web of internal rivalries and loyalties of the ruling dynasties and casts fresh light on an essential feature of the medieval world. We’re very excited to be publishing his next book, it’s a tour de force.”