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A review by laileanah
Bloodline by Conn Iggulden
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I didn't like this installment.
The sexist treatment of Elizabeth Woodville is gross.
It's also historically inaccurate.
Elizabeth Woodville grew up at Court. Her mother, The Duchess of Bedford was a leading lady in Queen Margaret of Anjou's Court. Queen Margaret was related to Jacquetta, perhaps only by marriage but that was sufficient in that time period for strong kinship ties. As a result Jacquetta's children were able to make fairly decent marriages based on the status of their mother and their ability to leverage the family's closeness to the Queen. This is before Edward IV is King, just under Henry VI & Margaret of Anjou.
The Woodville's weren't simple country squires at all. Lord Rivers was already a Baron under Henry VI.
The research by the author is poor and likely biased.
While it's true that Elizabeth Woodville's father was simply a Baron and the 1st Baron Rivers to boot, her mother was not. Her mom was Jacquetta of Luxembourg a part of the French Royal family. Jacquetta comes to England as a teenage bride to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford who was the Uncle of King Henry VI and highly placed at Court in England. Jacquetta keeps her Royal title as The Duchess of Bedford during her marriage with Richard Woodville.
Jacquetta's connections to Luxembourg via the Duke of Burgundy are why Edward IV makes deals with Burgundy over the King of France. At this time dealing with the Duke of Burgundy is probably a stronger position that dealing directly with the King of France who is already protecting and housing Queen Margaret and her son, Edward the former Prince of Wales. With that in mind it's easy to see why Edward IV chose to make deals with Burgundy instead. It doesn't excuse him embarrassing Warwick but would bolster my belief that Warwick was trying to control Edward IV.
This is a very complicated time in politics and the author chooses to totally omit the French Civil War taking place at this time and instead just pretend that Edward IV made poor choices while chasing his penis. There's strategy at play here and the French Civil War would need make this story much more complicated but also much more historically accurate.
Edward IV was never faithful to Elizabeth so it's doubtful that sex with her was why he made the choices he made.
In fact there's little evidence that Edward IV was influenced by Elizabeth Woodville in regards to her family. Weakening The Neville family's hold over Edward IV and Court made sense and was most likely why Edward IV promoted The Woodville's like he did.
Also Iggulden's research is faulty as fuck because Anthony Woodville had already made a good marriage and become Lord Scales BEFORE Elizabeth became Queen. Anthony Woodville was also highly educated, extremely religious and well respected across Western Europe. He had traveled to multiple Royal European Courts and even spent time in Rome. He was highly educated and deeply respected in his time.
This series mostly focuses on battles and it's mostly very slow because of this.
The sexist treatment of Elizabeth Woodville is gross.
It's also historically inaccurate.
Elizabeth Woodville grew up at Court. Her mother, The Duchess of Bedford was a leading lady in Queen Margaret of Anjou's Court. Queen Margaret was related to Jacquetta, perhaps only by marriage but that was sufficient in that time period for strong kinship ties. As a result Jacquetta's children were able to make fairly decent marriages based on the status of their mother and their ability to leverage the family's closeness to the Queen. This is before Edward IV is King, just under Henry VI & Margaret of Anjou.
The Woodville's weren't simple country squires at all. Lord Rivers was already a Baron under Henry VI.
The research by the author is poor and likely biased.
While it's true that Elizabeth Woodville's father was simply a Baron and the 1st Baron Rivers to boot, her mother was not. Her mom was Jacquetta of Luxembourg a part of the French Royal family. Jacquetta comes to England as a teenage bride to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford who was the Uncle of King Henry VI and highly placed at Court in England. Jacquetta keeps her Royal title as The Duchess of Bedford during her marriage with Richard Woodville.
Jacquetta's connections to Luxembourg via the Duke of Burgundy are why Edward IV makes deals with Burgundy over the King of France. At this time dealing with the Duke of Burgundy is probably a stronger position that dealing directly with the King of France who is already protecting and housing Queen Margaret and her son, Edward the former Prince of Wales. With that in mind it's easy to see why Edward IV chose to make deals with Burgundy instead. It doesn't excuse him embarrassing Warwick but would bolster my belief that Warwick was trying to control Edward IV.
This is a very complicated time in politics and the author chooses to totally omit the French Civil War taking place at this time and instead just pretend that Edward IV made poor choices while chasing his penis. There's strategy at play here and the French Civil War would need make this story much more complicated but also much more historically accurate.
Edward IV was never faithful to Elizabeth so it's doubtful that sex with her was why he made the choices he made.
In fact there's little evidence that Edward IV was influenced by Elizabeth Woodville in regards to her family. Weakening The Neville family's hold over Edward IV and Court made sense and was most likely why Edward IV promoted The Woodville's like he did.
Also Iggulden's research is faulty as fuck because Anthony Woodville had already made a good marriage and become Lord Scales BEFORE Elizabeth became Queen. Anthony Woodville was also highly educated, extremely religious and well respected across Western Europe. He had traveled to multiple Royal European Courts and even spent time in Rome. He was highly educated and deeply respected in his time.
This series mostly focuses on battles and it's mostly very slow because of this.