Sharon Bennett Connolly

Initial review: This book is very detailed and well researched - those with an interest in this period will find it to their liking and a useful resource for their own investigations.

However .......

Bennett Connolly wanted to show how women influenced and were influenced by Magna Carta; how they were a central part of the struggle to bring about such a document, and to ensure that its clauses were being kept. She also wanted to "examine how .. Magna Carta influenced and impacted the women of the 13th century" and chose to present the ladies documented within the context of their families.

So let us take the second part - the presentation of the ladies. Yes, the ladies were definitely shown in the "context of their families" - and great detail and attention is given to setting out the family structure and connections. As to the first part, their influence on Magna Carta, this falls into the realm of conjecture and examples given are very narrow and not really enough to provide a satisfactory claim.

For me personally, I would have set this out a little differently with the pertinent clauses and examples following not just biographies of a select few women and then trying to tie them into the relevant clauses.. As such, I am still toying with a more fuller review as it don't think this hit the brief on certain points and as such would like to investigate on my own and expand on this in a little more detail.… (plus d'informations)