Queens of Jerusalem

The Women Who Dared to Rule

By: Katherine Pangonis

Narrated by: Katherine Pangonis

In 1187 Saladin's armies besieged the holy city of Jerusalem. He had previously annihilated Jerusalem's army at the battle of Hattin and behind the city's high walls a last-ditch defence was being led by an unlikely trio - including Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem. They could not resist Saladin, but, if they were lucky, they could negotiate terms that would save the lives of the city's inhabitants.

Queen Sibylla was the last of a line of formidable female rulers in the Crusader States of Outremer. Yet for all the many books written about the Crusades, one aspect is conspicuously absent: the stories of women. Queens and princesses tend to be presented as passive transmitters of land and royal blood. In reality, women ruled, conducted diplomatic negotiations, made military decisions, forged alliances, rebelled and undertook architectural projects. Sibylla's grandmother Queen Melisende was the first queen to seize real political agency in Jerusalem and rule in her own right. She outmanoeuvred both her husband and son to seize real power in her kingdom and was a force to be reckoned with in the politics of the medieval Middle East. The lives of her Armenian mother, her three sisters and their daughters and granddaughters were no less intriguing.

The lives of this trailblazing dynasty of royal women and the crusading Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine are the focus of Katherine Pangonis's debut book. In Queens of Jerusalem she explores the role women played in the governing of the Middle East during periods of intense instability and how they persevered to rule and seize greater power for themselves when the opportunity presented itself.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Katherine Pangonis (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group

Very worthwhile history to learn about

A very interesting audiobook - personally I serve as Regent within a Texas University which has provided me with numerous experiences of the need of improving understanding history from the perspective of both genders. I very much enjoyed learning more of this time and location of history and I’ve recommended this publication to many others. I congratulate the author on this thoughtful and thoroughly researched history.

Brace yourself... for a great book!

Most of what we know of Ancient Jerusalem comes from the Crusades, and the male rulers - those who were navigating through the tumultuous times.
However, there were queens that ruled, those who held power that was not seen in many other corners different kingdoms.
Katherine Pangonis has shared meticulous research, and bringing the stories of these women out of the shadows. The book begins with Melisande, touches on Empress Matilda (the Cousins War), and ends with Sibylla, a woman who managed to defend and hold Jerusalem against Saladin and the Saracen army.
I truly enjoyed reading through this book! As I stated, the research was well done, and these women are given their rightful place in history. While women are mostly relegated to the shadows, and the margins of books, the stories of these women are starting to be shared and told.

For history lovers, this is a book you need to read! Highly engaging, and there are some surprises hiding in the pages -- but I am not going to spill those here!

Amazing book

I thoughly enjoyed this book which offers up history I found no where else. I knew very little about the Crusades and the area where they took place, much less the rulers at the time. It was also great to have the focus of the book on those very impressive women of the time. Well worth the read and/or audio. I was happy to hear the author read the book. My only complaint and a minor one at that is the author’s distaste for the male historians of the time and the lack of female history. Such is history and not worth the grumble to me as a woman.

Great book!!

Really enjoyed the history of this book. I came in knowing nothing about Outremer or the crusades. Katherine does a great job tying it all together. I never knew how crazy and dramatic the crusades were. Mad stuff!

If you get lost with all figures, I do recommend pausing and just doing a quick google for their Wikipedia article. It helped me keep track of who was the relative of which person haha.

Thank you for turning this into an audiobook! You did an excellent job narrating the book.

Stellar!

This book is definitely a must for anyone who wants to learn more about the women who helped shape Jerusalem in the medieval era. Well researched, well executed, and with fascinating and compelling details that make you want to read more on these women that didn't fit the traditional narrative.

Excellent Read

This book is well written and covers the lives of the women included very well. It does help if the reader has some familiar with that time in history or the individuals covered. The book moves at a fast clip so it's important to pay attention. I loved the book and the reader. Excellent! I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend this book to those who love this period of history.

A Much-Needed Corrective

Katherine Pangonis put together a pitch-perfect piece of revisionist history on a criminally underexplored subject. Cobbling together this narrative from the sources at all is an astounding achievement. It becomes still more remarkable when you get to appreciate how riveting the stories here are, given that they necessarily can't rely on battles and bloodshed in the same way as most works about The Crusades.

New and fresh perspectives on an old story

I found the chronology a little hard to follow at times as the book jumps backwards and forwards slightly as it focuses on different characters, but that aside, a fantastic book and a great new insite into a subject that I thought I knew most things about. Highly recommend