House of Lilies the Dynasty That Made Medieval France by Justine Firnhaber-Baker tells the story of the Capetian dynasty, the kings of France from the late tenth century to the mid-fourteenth century.
The Capetian kings and the medieval France they ruled was in many ways, the epitome of what we think of as medieval. From the establishment of feudalism (just don’t start unpacking what that term means...), the emergence of stronger rulers and more centralised kingdoms, Gothic architecture and cathedrals, medieval philosophy and religion, crusading and chivalry and so on.
The book tells the story of the kings themselves and their families, but also the story of the lands that would become what we think of as France and the people we think of as French in this period. When the first Capetian king came to the throne, France as a term and concept barely existed (if at all), yet by 1328, the kingdom of France and French people and culture were well on their way to becoming an idea of nation. This is something created by these Capetian kings who controlled much of the territory of modern France by 1328 and embedded by the Hundred Years War that broke out because of their end.
The author’s biographies of the Capetians and others in this book are filled with personality and she does a great job of bringing them to life as people, as much as you can from limited source material. Though history is driven by larger scale factors as well, individual personalities and their actions still do matter, and you get a real sense of how the individuals helped to shape the overall story.
The author does a great job of embedding the biographies in the historical context of their time and place, not just giving us personal biographies of the men and women of the Capetian dynasty, but exploring the world of medieval France, its peoples, cultures, and societies and the story of how rulers of barely more than around Paris built the kingdom of France.
The book is also very readable! I enjoyed it a lot as someone with some background in studying medieval history (especially Capetian France), but the author doesn’t get bogged down with jargon and big concepts, and you don’t need a background in medieval history to make sense of things.
It was also a book that was bittersweet to read. In July 2024, Associate Professor Chris Jones passed away, who taught me and several of my Christchurch City Libraries colleagues while we were at the University of Canterbury. I took his Honours level course on Capetian France in [redacted] and this book helped bring back good memories of studying Capetian France and of a great teacher.
- Dr Chris Jones: Picturing Canterbury
- Obituary: Life story: Renowned medieval historian Dr Chris Jones dies at 47 (The Press)
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