The Birth of the Chess Queen: The Power and Triumph of Women Who Ruled on the Board and in Life

The queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard. However, this was not always the case: chess existed for centuries without a queen until she finally appeared in the pages of an ancient manuscript housed in an abbey in... Switzerland. How did she come to be on the chessboard? Which of the powerful queens of the Middle Ages inspired this image? And how did its development reflect the status of women in power in real life?
In the narrative of outstanding historian and feminist Marilyn Yalom, influential rulers of the past come to life: Matilda of Tuscany and Doña Urraca, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Blanca of Castile, Sigrid the Proud and Catherine II. Yalom traces the surprising and unpredictable journey of the queen on the chessboard from the earliest rare mentions of this figure to her brilliant rise during the reign of Isabella of Castile, from the Lewis Chessmen and medieval poems to "Alice Through the Looking-Glass." It is a multilayered, captivating story of medieval royal courts, struggles for power, political and romantic intrigues. To this day, the power of the chess queen reflects how, for centuries, women have sought and attained independence.