The Autumn throne : a novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine / Elizabeth Chadwick

The Autumn Throne is the third and final instalment of Elizabeth Chadwick’s Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy. Eleanor – or Alienor as she would have been known in her lifetime, and as Chadwick calls her – is one of history’s most fascinating and formidable characters, ruler of vast lands in her own right, Queen both of France and of England and the mother and grandmother of kings and queens across Europe. This book covers the last thirty years of Alienor’s life, following her from captivity at the hands of her second husband, Henry II of England, through her role as regent and Queen Dowager for her sons, two of England’s most controversial kings, Richard the Lionheart and John. The story follows Alienor as she crosses the Alps in winter to bring Richard his bride, raises a king’s ransom to free him from his enemies, mediates between her warring sons, is besieged by her own grandson, rekindles emotional ties and mourns children killed in war, in sickness and the childbed.

English