My First Book: Trailblazing Medieval Women

In July 2026, my first book, Trailblazing Medieval Women, was published by Pen & Sword. Bringing a book into the world for the first time has been an incredibly exciting experience, particularly as someone who has spent years researching and writing about medieval history. It has also given me the opportunity to share the stories of women whose achievements deserve far greater recognition.

The book explores the lives of women who challenged expectations, exercised political authority, commanded armies and produced remarkable written works. Some are familiar names, while others remain relatively unknown outside academic circles. All have something important to tell us about the medieval world.

But how did I decide which women to include, and what inspired me to write the book in the first place?

From PhD Research to Published Author

My interest in medieval women developed during my doctoral research at the University of Huddersfield, where I completed my PhD in medieval history in 2017. My research centred on William of Tyre, a twelfth-century cleric whose chronicle provides a detailed account of the Crusades and the rulers of Jerusalem.

As I explored the history of the kingdom of Jerusalem, I became increasingly interested in the women who occupied positions of authority within its ruling dynasty. These were women who acted as political leaders, influenced the direction of their kingdoms and sometimes assumed responsibilities that were conventionally associated with men.

Their stories encouraged me to look beyond the familiar narratives of medieval history and consider the opportunities available to women across different periods and societies.

My subsequent work as a university lecturer allowed me to explore these themes further. Teaching medieval history introduced me to countless examples of women who had made their mark on the political, military, cultural and religious life of the Middle Ages. The more I discovered, the more convinced I became that their experiences deserved a wider audience.

Writing Trailblazing Medieval Women gave me the opportunity to bring some of these stories together in one book.

An Unexpected Inspiration: SIX the Musical

Choosing which women to feature was one of the biggest challenges. There were far more remarkable candidates than I could possibly accommodate in a single volume.

Interestingly, one of the ideas that helped shape the book came from an evening at the theatre.

My daughter, Aurelia and my friend joined me to watch SIX the Musical, the hugely popular production that reimagines the six wives of Henry VIII as a group of modern pop stars. During the show, a question about the wives of Henry VI and Henry VII prompted a realisation: these queens were far less familiar to the audience than Henry VIII’s wives.

When I asked my fellow theatre-goers whether they could name these earlier queens, I encountered much the same lack of recognition.

It struck me as extraordinary that so many people could identify all six of Henry VIII’s wives, yet the names of women who had helped shape England’s history remained largely forgotten. Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth of York, in particular, had played significant roles in some of the most turbulent years of the late medieval period.

I wanted to help bring their stories to a wider audience. Their experiences also illustrated a central theme of my book: medieval women were not simply passive observers of events, but could be influential participants in them.

The Women Who Shaped the Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses provided some of the most compelling examples of women exercising political power in difficult circumstances.

Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, became a determined defender of her husband’s interests and the rights of their son, Edward of Westminster. Henry’s recurring periods of mental illness left the monarchy vulnerable to competing political ambitions, and Margaret found herself increasingly involved in the struggle for the throne. She worked to defend her family’s position, forged political alliances and took an active role in the military conflict. Although she ultimately failed to secure the crown for her son, her determination made her one of the most formidable figures of the fifteenth century.

Elizabeth of York presents a different story. As the wife of Henry VII, she became queen following the Tudor victory at Bosworth in 1485. Her marriage united the houses of Lancaster and York, helping to establish the new dynasty and bring the Wars of the Roses towards their conclusion. As the mother of Henry VIII, she occupies an important place in the Tudor story, yet her own life and contribution to the monarchy often receive less attention than those of her famous son.

Her mother, Elizabeth Woodville, was another essential inclusion. A widowed mother of two when she married Edward IV, Elizabeth’s unexpected rise to queenship provoked controversy and helped reshape the political landscape. Her children became central to the dynastic struggles that followed Edward’s death, particularly the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower.

Elizabeth Woodville also played a part in the negotiations that brought her daughter and Henry Tudor together in marriage. Margaret Beaufort, meanwhile, worked tirelessly to advance the interests of her only son, the future Henry VII. Having given birth to Henry at just 13, Margaret went on to become a formidable political operator whose efforts helped secure the Tudor dynasty.

These women demonstrate that dynastic politics was not exclusively a male preserve. Queens, mothers and noblewomen could influence succession, cultivate alliances and shape the future of the kingdom, even when their ambitions were constrained by the society in which they lived.

Women Who Ruled Kingdoms

Some of the women in my book went beyond influencing kings and became rulers in their own right.

Emma of Normandy has long fascinated me, and a modern television portrayal in Vikings: Valhalla renewed my interest in her extraordinary life.

Emma married Æthelred II of England in 1002, becoming the mother of the future Edward the Confessor and Alfred Ætheling. Viking attacks eventually forced the royal family into exile in Normandy. Following Æthelred’s death, Emma married Cnut, the Scandinavian conqueror who became king of England. Through her successive marriages and her relationships with her sons, Emma remained closely connected to the English monarchy during a period of profound political change.

She later exercised authority alongside her son Harthacnut, but her position became more precarious when Edward the Confessor succeeded to the throne. The changing fortunes of her family illustrate just how dependent even a powerful queen could be on the political circumstances surrounding her.

Empress Matilda offers another fascinating example of a woman who challenged the conventions of her age. Daughter of Henry I, she was recognised as her father’s intended successor after the death of her first husband, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. However, following Henry I’s death in 1135, her cousin Stephen seized the English throne.

Matilda’s determination to claim her inheritance led to a prolonged civil war known as the Anarchy. Although she never secured a coronation as queen of England, she ultimately helped establish the position of her son, Henry II, whose accession in 1154 brought the conflict to an end.

Henry’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152 created one of the most powerful royal partnerships of the twelfth century. Eleanor was already a wealthy and influential duchess in her own right, and she continued to exercise political authority throughout her life. Her sons included Richard the Lionheart and John, both of whom would become kings of England.

Isabella of France was another woman whose political career challenged conventional expectations. Married to Edward II in 1308, she became increasingly frustrated by the influence of the king’s favourites and the political difficulties of his reign. In 1326, Isabella returned to England with an invading force supported by Roger Mortimer and other opponents of Edward II. The campaign led to the king’s deposition in favour of their son, Edward III.

Isabella subsequently exercised considerable influence over the government during her son’s early reign. Her story reveals both the possibilities available to a determined royal woman and the dangers of wielding power in a hostile political environment.

Women Who Took Up Arms

The idea of the medieval female warrior has always interested me. Women were generally excluded from the formal military roles available to men, yet the historical record contains striking examples of women who participated in warfare or exercised military leadership.

Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great, is one of the most remarkable. As Lady of the Mercians, she helped defend and expand Mercian territory during the struggle against Viking armies in the early tenth century. She was involved in the construction and strengthening of fortified settlements and played a significant role in the military campaigns that helped secure parts of England against Scandinavian expansion. Following her husband’s death, she continued to rule in her own right, making her one of the most important female political and military leaders of the Anglo-Saxon period.

On the continent, Sikelgaita, wife of the Norman ruler Robert Guiscard, was associated with military campaigns and was reported to have taken up arms in battle. Matilda of Tuscany, meanwhile, used her considerable wealth and resources to support the papacy during the Investiture Controversy. She raised and commanded armies in support of her political and territorial interests, becoming one of the most powerful women in eleventh-century Italy.

No book on trailblazing medieval women could reasonably omit Joan of Arc. During the Hundred Years’ War, the young Frenchwoman became convinced that she had a divine mission to help Charles VII secure his crown. Her presence inspired French forces during a series of important victories, and she played a crucial part in the events leading to Charles’s coronation at Reims in 1429.

Joan’s subsequent capture, trial and execution reveal another dimension of her story. Her religious convictions, courage and determination brought her into direct conflict with powerful political and ecclesiastical authorities. Her life remains one of the most extraordinary examples of a woman challenging the expectations of her time.

Women Who Wrote Their Own Stories

Medieval women did not only influence events through political or military action. Some also left written accounts that provide invaluable insights into their experiences and the societies in which they lived.

Margery Kempe was a natural choice for my book. I first encountered her work as an undergraduate, and her distinctive voice has remained with me ever since. A fifteenth-century Englishwoman who described herself as a mystic, Margery experienced intense religious visions and undertook pilgrimages while attracting both admiration and suspicion. Her encounters with religious authorities and members of the public reveal the difficulties faced by a woman who openly expressed her beliefs in a world where religious conformity could be fiercely enforced.

Her account, now known as The Book of Margery Kempe, is particularly valuable because it preserves a rare female perspective on medieval life.

Anna Komnene, the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, was another obvious candidate. Her Alexiad recounts her father’s reign and provides an important perspective on the political and military upheavals of the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, including the arrival of the First Crusade. Anna’s education, access to the imperial court and understanding of Byzantine politics enabled her to produce one of the most significant historical works written by a medieval woman.

Christine de Pizan offers a further example of female authorship. Writing in late fourteenth-century and early fifteenth-century France, Christine produced poetry, political works and writings on women’s position in society. She supported herself through her literary activities, making her an exceptional figure in a period when professional writing offered few opportunities for women.

These authors remind us that women were not merely subjects of history. They could also interpret, record and challenge the world around them through their own words.

The Women I Couldn’t Include

One of the hardest aspects of writing the book was deciding which women to leave out. The medieval period is filled with fascinating figures whose lives could easily sustain a book of their own.

Cecily of York, mother of Edward IV and Richard III, is someone I would particularly like to explore in greater depth. Her life encompassed dynastic upheaval, family conflict and the extraordinary transformations of the Wars of the Roses. As the grandmother of Henry VIII, she also occupied an important place in the story of the English monarchy.

I would also like to devote more attention to Ælfgifu of Northampton, the first wife of Cnut. Her life raises intriguing questions about royal marriage, political alliances and the position of women in early eleventh-century England.

Both women offer possibilities for future research, and I hope to return to their stories in my subsequent work.

What’s Next?

Trailblazing Medieval Women was an important milestone in my career as a historian and writer, but it is far from the end of my journey.

I am currently working on two further book projects. One explores the lives of the medieval queens of England, from Matilda of Flanders to Anne Neville. The other examines the queens who were married to the Norman kings, offering an opportunity to investigate the women who helped shape the monarchy in the generations following the Norman Conquest.

Both projects build on my longstanding interest in medieval women and the ways in which they exercised power, navigated political expectations and left their mark on history.

Writing history books allows me to bring together my academic research and my enthusiasm for communicating the past to a wider audience. I hope that my work encourages readers to look beyond the familiar names and discover the remarkable individuals who helped shape medieval society.

If you would like to explore these stories for yourself, Trailblazing Medieval Women is available now.

For enquiries about my books, writing or historical work, you can contact me at drafirth@gmail.com.