Claudia Rubenstein
Eleanor of Aquitaine: ‘Black Legend’ or ‘Golden Myth’?
Summary
Eleanor of Aquitaine is the most famous woman of the Middle Ages: queen of France and England, crusader, mother of kings — ‘lionhearted’ Richard and ‘bad’ John — and ancestress to the royal dynasties of Europe. Yet she has been accused of incest, an affair with Saladin, of seducing priests, of riding to battle bare-breasted, and poisoning her husband’s mistress. Who was the real Eleanor - an independent and effective ruler, or an amoral villain?
Claudia Rubenstein
Claudia Rubenstein is the director of Jewish Book Week. She is an author of historical nonfiction under the pen name Claudia Gold. Her book, Women Who Ruled (2015), tells the stories of fifty of the world’s most famous—and often notorious—women rulers. The King’s Mistress (2012) is a biography of the extraordinary woman who became England’s first Georgian queen in all but name. Her latest book, King of the North Wind (2018), is a biography of Henry II, King of England and lord of much of modern day France. Claudia also writes for a number of publications, including the Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Oldie.
Tanya Gold
Tanya Gold is a freelance journalist. She writes for the Spectator, the New Statesman, Harper’s Magazine, the New York Times, and others. She won feature writer of the year at the 2009 British Press Awards and arts and culture story of the year at the 2015 Foreign Press Association Awards.