# The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World - Hardcover

by **Shelley Puhak** (Author)

**"A well-researched and well-told epic history. _The Dark Queens_ brings these courageous, flawed, and ruthless rulers and their distant times back to life."--Margot Lee Shetterly, _New York Times_\-bestselling author of _Hidden Figures_**

**The remarkable, little-known story of two trailblazing women in the Early Middle Ages who wielded immense power, only to be vilified for daring to rule.**

Brunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet-in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport-these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms, changing the face of Europe.

The two queens commanded armies and negotiated with kings and popes. They formed coalitions and broke them, mothered children and lost them. They fought a decades-long civil war-against each other. With ingenuity and skill, they battled to stay alive in the game of statecraft, and in the process laid the foundations of what would one day be Charlemagne's empire. Yet after the queens' deaths-one gentle, the other horrific-their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend.

In _The Dark Queens_, award-winning writer Shelley Puhak sets the record straight. She resurrects two very real women in all their complexity, painting a richly detailed portrait of an unfamiliar time and striking at the roots of some of our culture's stubbornest myths about female power. _The Dark Queens_ offers proof that the relationships between women can transform the world.

### Author Biography

**Shelley Puhak** is a critically acclaimed poet and writer whose work has appeared in the _Atlantic_, _Smithsonian_, _Time_, _Lapham's Quarterly_, _Virginia Quarterly Review_, and other publications. She is the author of three books of poetry, including the Anthony Hecht Prize-winning _Guinevere in Baltimore_ and _Harbinger_, a National Poetry Series selection. _The Dark Queens_ is her nonfiction debut. She lives in Maryland.

**Number of Pages:** 384

**Dimensions:** 1.26 x 9.48 x 6.56 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** February 22, 2022

## Details

- **Price:** 30.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 30.00 USD | In stock |

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