Lexington Books
Pages: 266
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-4985-8498-2 • Hardback • November 2024 • $115.00 • (£88.00)
978-1-4985-8499-9 • eBook • November 2024 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
Burnam W. Reynolds is professor emeritus of history at Asbury University.
Part I: The Legacy and the Pattern
Chapter One
The Falling and the Rising
Chapter Two
The Conversation of the Wives
Chapter Three
Conversion and the Sources
Part II: Preconditions and Impediments
Chapter Four
What is Conversion?
Chapter Five
What is a “Barbarian”?
Chapter Six
No Queen Without a Kingdom
Chapter Seven
The Complications of Violence
Part III: Cases
Case One
The Eldest Daughter
Case Two
‘The Most Glorious Queen’: From Ingund to Baddo
Case Three
A Man from Kent
Case Four
The Widow’s Choice
Case Five
“Tata Goes North”
Case Six
Dueling Easters
Case Seven
“Queens in the Mist”
Case Eight
“Morta and Mindaugas”
Coda: Concluding Thoughts
"Barbarian Queens and the Conversion of Europe engages with an enduring question – what made medieval queens such staples of conversion stories? Burnam Reynolds expertly unpacks the complex web of ties that placed ruling women of the post-Roman world in a position to influence the religious, political and cultural trajectories of whole nations. Beginning with an overarching discussion of the sources and the challenging phenomenon of religious conversion, the book deftly alternates between theory and practice, discussing case by case both famous and obscure queens and their impact on their respective societies. With lucid prose, the book pans from the westernmost kingdoms of early medieval Britain to the continental Franks, Visigoths and Lombards, on to Bohemia, concluding with the latest European conversion of the Lithuanians. It is an enjoyable and illuminating read for anyone interested in the Christian conversion of Europe and the role of queens therein."
— Yaniv Fox, Bar-Ilan University