Book Review: Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon

First off, this is not a novel. It is a history book. A comical history book. When I picked up Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon I expected laugh out loud funny. I mean the title gives you that impression, no? Well, it kinda is comical in a few places, but not just flat out hysterical at all.

Leon goes over some of the more controversial females of the Medieval ages and describes what they were famous for. She has an easy, friendly, almost familiar style of writing so this is an easy read. You will find yourself smiling in many places... but some parts are a bit dry and read more like a history lesson than an entertaining bit of anecdotes. Pity, that.

Released in 1997, this book is broken down into 11 chapters ranging from Axes to Grind, Places to Pillage to Got a Brain, Not Afraid to Use It. See, even the chapter titles are witty. So why wasn't the text itself? Yeah yeah, I'm whining again.

Some of the women Leon goes over in Uppity Women of Medieval Times are Isabella Andreini, who dared to act when only men were allowed on the stage in the late 1600s; The Lady of the Mercians, Aethelfled, who was a battle planner extraodinnaire and fought alongside the menfolk until she "caught the wrong end of a mace" in Stratfordshire in 918; Jimena, wife of El Cid, who held off the Moors for 3 years before calling for help. The help that came, by the way, just happened to burn down her city on their way out; and Lisa di Anton, who you know better as da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Of Catherine de' Mici she says:
[She] was the Johnny Appleseed of of her Century; strategic alliances - also known as marriages - made by upperclass women like her often had more profound impact on their times than war or natural disaster. (Come to think of it, Catherine and her inept passion for political wheeling and dealing could qualify as a natural disaster also.)

Each section within the chapters is short, sweet and to the point so it takes no time at all to read. This is one of those books you can either read in order or just pick up and flip through at will. Although relatively small at 7 1/2 X 7 1/2 inches and 241 pages counting the biblio, it makes a great conversation piece for the coffee table.