Blood Royal : Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe (Paperback)

Introduction. Royal Families; Part I. The Life Cycle: 1. Choosing a bride; 2. Waiting for sons to be born; 3. Fathers and sons; 4. Female sovereigns; 5. Mistresses and bastards; 6. Family dynamics; 7. Royal mortality; Part II. A Sense of Dynasty: 8. Names and numbering; 9. Saints, images, heraldry, family trees; 10. Responses to dynastic uncertainty: prophecy and astrology; 11. Pretenders and returners: dynastic imposters in the Middle Ages; 12. New families and new kingdoms; 13. Dynasties and the non-dynastic world; Conclusion; Appendices.