Warrior queens of the Middle Ages

Medieval women were far from historical bit players and a captivating new history puts them in their proper place.

- AMANDA MCVITTY

FEMINA: A new history of the Middle Ages, through the women written out of it, by Janina Ramirez (WH Allen) Femina is a joyful tribute to the many women - some familiar, others little-known or anonymous - who made medieval European history. As one might expect from the author's television appearances, Janina Ramirez brings all her exuberance, as well as her expertise as a scholar of medieval artistic and political culture, to bear in this riveting narrative that ranges from seventh-century Britain to 15th-century Poland, with numerous stops in between.

Each chapter opens with a clever "Discovery!" section that shows how the fragmentary evidence of medieval lives has survived and been recovered and interpreted. Some of these read like adventure novels, such as the account of how a unique 12th-century manuscript by the religious visionary and political influencer Hildegard of Bingen was smuggled out of Soviet-controlled East Germany after World War II. These vignettes draw the reader in before we dive into detail about the subjects of each chapter. A particular strength of Femina is its many beautifully reproduced images of artworks, manuscripts and architecture.

Ramirez makes excellent use of these to bring to vivid life the women she is telling us about and the cultural worlds they inhabited.