Description
Book SynopsisThe Encomium Emmae Reginae is a political tract in praise, as its title suggests, of Queen Emma, daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy, wife of King Ethelred the Unready from 1002 to 1016, and wife of the Danish conqueror King Cnut from 1017 to 1035. It is a primary source of the utmost importance for our understanding of the Danish conquest of England in the early eleventh century, and for the political intrigue in the years which followed the death of King Cnut in 1035. It offers a remarkable account of a woman who was twice a queen, and of her determination to retain her power as queen-mother. This reprint, which contains the definitive text and translation of the Encomium Emmae Reginae first published in 1949, traces the basic outline of Queen Emma's career and transports us to the heart of eleventh-century politics by defining as clearly as possible the historical context in which the Encomium was written.
Trade Review"This reprint of the Encomium Emmae Reginae is most welcome. not only does it make an important eleventh-century source of English and women's history more readily available, but Simon Keynes' supplementary introduction provides a helpful and thorough discussion of the historical issues raised in this work." The Medieval Review
Table of ContentsPreface to the 1998 reprint; Introduction to the 1998 edition; Abbreviations and bibliography; Introduction; Encomium Emmae Reginae; Appendices; General index; Index to the text of the Encomium; Glossary.
