The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion, seductive queens, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with romantic culture—these determined women broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill. This second volume of Alison Weir's acclaimed history of the queens of medieval England moves into a period of even higher drama, from 1154 to 1291: years of chivalry and courtly love, dynastic ambition, conflict between church and throne, baronial wars, and the ruthless interplay between the rival monarchs of Britain and France. We see events such as the murder of Becket, the Magna Carta, and the birth of parliaments from a new perspective.