"Marilyn Yalom has written the rare book that illuminates something
that always has been dimly perceived but never articulated, in this case
that that the power of the chess queen reflects the evolution of female
power in the western world." --Cleveland Plain Dealer
Everyone knows that the queen is the most dominant piece in chess, but
few people know that the game existed for five hundred years without
her. It wasn't until chess became a popular pastime for European royals
during the Middle Ages that the queen was born and was gradually
empowered to become the king's fierce warrior and protector.
Birth of the Chess Queen examines the five centuries between the chess
queen's timid emergence in the early days of the Holy Roman Empire to
her elevation during the reign of Isabel of Castile. Marilyn Yalom,
inspired by a handful of surviving medieval chess queens, traces their
origin and spread from Spain, Italy, and Germany to France, England,
Scandinavia, and Russia. In a lively and engaging historical
investigation, Yalom draws parallels between the rise of the chess queen
and the ascent of female sovereigns in Europe, presenting a layered,
fascinating history of medieval courts and internal struggles for power.
