Royalty History

Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Life and Legacy of Medieval Europe’s Most Famous Queen attempts to provide an unbiased look at Eleanor's life by exploring the achievements and trials of the duchess-queen and deconstructing the “black legends” and other compelling tales that continue to envelop her to this day. You will learn about Eleanor of Aquitaine like never before.

William's conquest of England arguably made him the most important figure in shaping the course of English history, but modern caricatures of this vitally important medieval figure are largely based on ignorance. William is a fascinating and complex figure, in many ways the quintessential warrior king of this period.

Queen Mary I ruled England and its territories for only five years, from 1553 to 1558, yet she has been remembered for nearly 500 years as Bloody Mary, the Catholic oppressor of a Protestant country. The truth, as usual, is more complicated than the myth. Mary grew up in a era of religious and political turmoil. Mary's life was shaped by her experience of this, and by the twisted family politics of her father, Henry VIII.

Louis Philippe (1773-1850) is France's first "constitutional monarch", having being properly elected by the National Assembly. He lived through the French Revolution, during which he saw his brother and sister-in-law, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, guillotined by extreme revolutionaries. Then, Napoleon Bonaparte seized the throne, declared himself emperor, and began the conquest of Europe; after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, France welcomed Louis Philippe back as an elected King.

Les Mérovingiens sont la dynastie qui régna sur une très grande partie de la France et de la Belgique actuelles, ainsi que sur une partie de l'Allemagne et de la Suisse, du Ve siècle jusqu'au milieu du VIIIe siècle. Cette lignée est issue des peuples de Francs saliens qui étaient établis au Ve siècle dans les régions de Cambrai et de Tournai, en Belgique (Childéric Ier).

At the climax of the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine. When the young Louis XVII, Louis XVI's son, died in prison in June 1795, Louis XVIII succeeded his nephew as titular King. His reign was marked by exile, first because of the Revolution, and then of Napoleon, who set to conquer Europe and become Emperor of the French - before a coalition defeated him and restored Louis XVIII to the throne.

Henri IV (1553-1610) fut roi de Navarre (Henri III de Navarre, 1572-1610) puis roi de France (1589-1610), premier souverain de la branche dite de Bourbon de la dynastie capétienne. Il était le fils de Jeanne d'Albret, reine de Navarre, et d'Antoine de Bourbon, chef de la maison de Bourbon, descendant du roi Louis IX et premier prince du sang.

As the heir to the Spanish Empire of his father Charles V, Philip II came into this world with some rather big shoes to fill. Eventually, Philip would prove himself in his own right even though he turned out to be a much different ruler than his father. He won a life or death struggle against a resurgent Ottoman Empire, he consolidated Spanish dominion in the Americas, and he fought to maintain Spanish holdings in Europe. He also used a ruthless Spanish Inquisition in order to keep his subjects in line with his own version of the Catholic faith.

Richard III has gone down in history as one of the most hated and vilified British monarchs of all time. His two-year-long reign as king of England ended in 1485 when he was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth by Henry Tudor, making him the last English king to die on the battlefield. Despite the brevity of his reign, Richard III managed to earn an enduring - albeit unflattering - reputation which lives on to this day. William Shakespeare painted him as a ruthless, hunch-backed usurper, who killed not only his brother but also his two young nephews to get his hands on the crown.

Henry VII was not destined to be the well-known (or perhaps better described as infamous) king that his son was after him, but his place in history remains important. With his victory over Richard III in 1485, Henry brought England out of the Middle Ages and ushered it into the modern era. His reign ended decades of bloody civil wars and provided the wealth and stability necessary for commerce and art to thrive in England. When Henry’s son, Henry VIII, ascended the throne in 1509, it marked England’s first uncontested transfer of power in almost 90 years.

James I of England and VI of Scotland was the first king to rule both countries. He was faced with division between his realms and caught between the religious wars of the Reformation. Spending most of his reign at odds with the religious and parliamentary powers around him, James did little to unite his people. Unable to take a firm stand on critical issues, he spent his life avoiding them.

King Edward VI, the only legitimate male heir of King Henry VIII, took his seat on the throne at the age of nine. His life would come to an end when he was only 15 years old, but the mark he would come to leave on England’s history has endured to this day. Edward VI led his country into a new age where the Church of England was no longer tied to the Catholic Church. Putting his efforts into spreading Protestantism throughout all of England, he continued his father’s work of freeing England from the Holy Roman Empire’s grasp.

Alexandra Feodorovna was one of the most tragic figures of the 20th century. Born in the wrong time, giddy with power, married to a man who ruled one-sixth of the world, she was murdered with her family in 1918.

Charles II of England remains one of the most easily identifiable and best known of England’s monarchs. Deprived of his throne following the execution of his father, he contended with hardship and exile before achieving a peaceful restoration and the beginning of what would be remembered as a colorful period of English history. His reign also led to the creation of the two-party system that would shape English and later British politics for centuries to come.

Charles I is one of the most instantly recognizable of the English monarchs. During his reign, the relationship between king and Parliament changed radically, with revolutionary results. A man of deeply held convictions whose refusal to compromise brought about conflict and civil war, King Charles I almost destroyed the English monarchy forever.

What would Russia look like today if there had never been a Peter the Great? Peter I did so much for Russia, including changing the education system to reach more people, reorganizing the government and the Russian Orthodox Church, and even modernizing the dress and social living standards of the Russian people. Peter grew up in a Russia that was stuck in archaic times, but he recognized the need for change, and when his time came to rule over his country he met the challenge head-on. Peter the Great turned Russia into one of the greatest powers of the world.

Since his death in the year 1547, King Henry VIII has been celebrated as a chivalrous pioneer and reviled as a brutal tyrant, but he has never been ignored. Henry was responsible for the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, the ramifications of which reverberated through subsequent centuries of European history. Domestically, Henry revolutionized the English Constitution, elevating his own status to that of a God.

You might have heard of King Richard the Lionhearted, the “good king” in the tales of Robin Hood. But what do you really know about this 12th-century ruler of England? Do you know why he left England, or why he was taken prisoner by another sovereign as he tried to return? In this audiobook, you’ll learn the actual story of King Richard, a king who may not have been exactly "good", but was certainly brave, charismatic, and dashing - a historical character with a story to remember.

Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, given the title the "most Catholic monarchs" by the Pope during their reign over Spain, are often blamed for some of the greatest atrocities in history. Remembered primarily for commissioning Christopher Columbus's historical voyage to the New World in 1492, they have been assigned blame for the results of the Spanish Conquest, particularly the catastrophes that befell the Native Americans of the New World.

This collection of audiobooks will help you understand a crucial part of the history of French monarchy. For each king, you will find a detailed description of the style of his reign and his political achievements narrated in a lively way. Portraits of Henri IV, Louis XI, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVIII.