February Wrap Up 2022!

Wow! What a month — it has absolutely flown by and I can see my year only getting more busy! I am so thrilled that Melbourne has come alive again (and honestly, so have I). There is this buzz of excitement constantly around and it has been so infectious. I haven’t posted much on my blog this month, but I am far more active over on my Instagram so be sure to check that out if you’re after more frequent posting!

I started this month off on a little getaway to one of my favourite places in Victoria, and it was genuinely the best way I could have possibly started this month. I have been so busy since returning home — my weeks have been filled with work and brunches and dinners and little adventures with friends. We have truly been making up for all that lost time. I also started tennis lessons on a whim. I’m three lessons in and I’m thoroughly enjoying it (although I haven’t quite figured out how to aim yet!) So with all that being said, I guess it isn’t surprising that I didn’t get quite as much read this month as I did last!

In February I finished listening to The Folk of the Air series with The Queen of Nothing and How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories. This entire series ended up being a solid ☆☆☆.5 — I definitely enjoyed listening to them and I was certainly invested in the story but I didn’t love them. They were the perfect books to listen to though, not only was the narrator great but I think they were perfectly suited for listening rather than the physical books. I have a feeling I may not have enjoyed them as much as I did if I read the physical book — I honestly don’t know. Maybe one day I will give them another go reading the physical. Overall I was entertained with the story and the characters, although I don’t love Jude all that much and I only like Cardan more now that I’ve read the novella from his point of view. I can’t really say much at all without ruining it, but overall it’s an easy series to read, the world is rich and well developed and its an entertaining story.

☆☆☆☆.5

Other than the two audiobooks I finished this month, I also read Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule by Medievalist Katherine Pangonis (** I was gifted the PDF of this book, but I have since gone out and purchased it myself). This book was such a brilliant read! Not only was it written in a really accessible way, but it was also incredibly enjoyable. Queens of Jerusalem focusses on the lives of the royal women who ruled in the Medieval Middle East (or Outremer) from 1099 to Saladin’s conquest of Jerusalem in 1187. These women have been consistently overshadowed by the kings and leaders of the crusades, and this book strives to change that. The women Pangonis writes of in this book are simply remarkable, what they achieve during their lives and how they work the system of Outremer politics is fascinating. A most interesting discussion that is carried through the book is the difference between having power and having authority and it made me reflect on other women in history and the balance of authority and power that they juggled with. This book will make you rethink the way modern readers and scholars approach ancient, medieval and renaissance women, and it fills the women shaped gap in Crusader history.

I still haven’t finished Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb, but I’ll just keep going with it until I do. I am also currently in the midst of reading River Kings by Cat Jarman and The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours by Gregory Nagy. I am also re-reading House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas because it has been about a year and a half since I first read it, and I remember nothing from it. I am also listening to Graceling by Kristin Cashore with I am really enjoying - plus the narrator is fantastic! Ideally in March (my birthday month, yay ✨) I will finish River Kings, Graceling and House of Earth and Blood but my new job is very reading-heavy so I have a feeling my recreational reading will drop a bit… but we shall see!

I would love to hear all about the books you read in February, so either let me know what you read and if you loved it in the comments below, or come find me over on Instagram ✨

Review: Queens of Jerusalem - The Women Who Dared To Rule by Katherine Pangonis

★★★★☆.5 | ebook | book eleven of 2022 — I was provided a free PDF copy of Queens of Jerusalem from Pegasus Books

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Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared To Rule by Katherine Pangonis is a non-fiction book focussed on the lives of the royal women who ruled in the Medieval Middle East (or Outremer) from 1099 to Saladin’s conquest of Jerusalem in 1187. These women have been consistently overshadowed by the kings and leaders of the crusades, and this book strives to change that. By putting the Queens of Jerusalem, the Princesses of Antioch, and the Countesses of Tripoli and Edessa to the fore, readers not only get a brand new look into the history of Outremer during the early crusades but they are reminded that women were present and active during this time in history. It is about time these strong, ruling ladies were brought to the forefront of history, and Queens of Jerusalem does just that.

They have been remembered as the wives, mothers, daughters and sisters of powerful men, not as autonomous individuals and active leaders with their own political agency (Pg. 22)

Pangonis begins with Morphia of Melitene, Queen of Jerusalem and mother of four more influential women in Outremer history; Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, Princess Alice of Antioch, Countess Hodierna of Tripoli and Abbess Yvette of Bethany and describes the lives, events and obstacles overcome by all of these women and their daughters, nieces and step-daughters including Princess Constance of Antioch, Agnes of Courtenay and Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem among others. Of course, Pangonis hasn’t failed to include probably the most well known Queen during this time period, and that is Eleanor of Aquitaine. Although Eleanor of Aquitaine wasn’t a ruling woman of Outremer but instead Queen of France, and then Queen of England, Pangonis makes a very convincing argument that Eleanor’s time with her husband during the Second Crusade in Outremer affected her in later life and shaped her into the woman she has been remembered as.

As someone who has learnt about the Crusades and Medieval Europe, I was embarrassed to admit the only name I recognised in this list of influential women was Eleanor of Aquitaine, but now that has all changed. Pangonis has done an exceptional job relating the history of Outremer and the Holy City of Jerusalem from the coronation of Queen Morphia of Jerusalem to the resilient Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem who defended her city and her people against Saladin. Her writing style is accessible, entertaining and clear. At times, I forgot I was reading a non-fiction account of real people, such is Pangonis’ talents at recounting the lives of these women. Often embroiled in scandal the lives of the elite of Outremer read like a Medieval sitcom with whispers of affairs and men choosing to marry the daughter instead of the mother. It is equally surprising (given how interesting these women were) and unsurprising (given the time period in which they lived) that the main chronicler of the time, William of Tyre, gave so little mention to the queens, princesses and countesses of Outremer. William began the trend of excluding the women of Jerusalem from the records, but this book works tirelessly to undo his shortsightedness.

He [William] does not give much credit to the notion that the women he writes about were individuals as complex as the men, and he prefers to cast women as literary tropes rather than depict them as living, breathing humans (Pg. 36)

A most interesting discussion that is carried through the book is the difference between having power and having authority. For example, Constance the rightful princess of Antioch had authority as the daughter of Bohemond II, the granddaughter of Bohemond I and the mother of Bohemond III but only half of the surviving charters her husband Raymond issued were with her consent (158-9). This suggests that although she was a princess and held that position of authority in her own right, she didn’t seem to wield any political power. Pangonis demonstrates this difference between power and authority numerous times throughout her book, and often brings in the other women to make comparisons with, such as Constance and Raymond compared to the reigning couple her aunt Melisende and Faulk.

Queens of Jerusalem truly gives the voice back to the ruling women of Outremer from 1099 to Saladin’s conquest of Jerusalem in 1187 and is a wonderful read for lovers of medieval history, revisionist history and books on the lives of women. It has been written with care and consideration of both bias from the medieval chroniclers, and the issues involved in modern terminology and views of feminism and misogyny.

The way women are presented within chronicles may not actually reflect the reality of their standing in society. With this in mind, the word ‘misogyny’ can only be uncomfortably applied to medieval society, but it may be more comfortably applied to medieval chronicles (Pg. 35)

This was a wonderful and incredibly insightful read, filling a gap in the literature of the Medieval Ages that has been empty for too long. If you have read this book, I would love to hear your opinions! Make sure to let me know in the comments or you can find me @kell_read on Instagram ✨