Queen and the Mistress

The riveting story of two women whose divergent personalities and positions impacted the court of Edward III, one of medieval Englands greatest kings.There were two women in Edward IIIs life: Philippa of Hainault, his wife of forty years and bearer of twelve children, and his mistress, Alice Perrers, the twenty-year-old who took the kings fancy as his ageing wife grew sick. After Philippas death Alice began to dominate court, amassing a fortune and persuading the elderly Edward to promote her friends and punish her enemies. In The Queen and the Mistress, Gemma Hollman brings the story of these two women to life and contrasts the perfect medieval queenthe pious, unpolitical, steady Philippawith the impertinent youththe wily, charismatic, manipulative Alice. One died a royal, adored, while the full force of the English court united against Alice, wresting both money and power from her and leaving her with nothing but a mission to try to reclaim all that was lost. Both women had wealth and power but used vitally different methods to dispense it. In The Queen and the Mistress, Hollman brings to the fore their differences and similarities in a unique look at women and power in the Middle Ages.