House of Lilies

The Dynasty That Made Medieval France

By: Justine Firnhaber-Baker

Narrated by: Justine Firnhaber-Baker

In House of Lilies, historian Justine Firnhaber-Baker tells the epic story of the Capetian dynasty of medieval France, showing how their ideas about power, religion, and identity continue to shape European society and politics today.

Reigning from 987 to 1328, the Capetians became the most powerful monarchy of the Middle Ages. Consolidating a fragmented realm that eventually stretched from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, they were the first royal house to adopt the fleur-de-lys, displaying this lily emblem to signify their divine favor and legitimate their rule. The Capetians were at the center of some of the most dramatic and far-reaching episodes in European history, including the Crusades, bloody waves of religious persecution, and a series of wars with England. The Capetian age saw the emergence of Gothic architecture, the romantic ideals of chivalry and courtly love, and the Church's role at the center of daily life.

Evocatively interweaving these pivotal developments with the human stories of the men and women who drove them, House of Lilies is the definitive history of the dynasty that forged France—and Europe—as we know it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Justine Firnhaber-Baker (P)2024 Tantor Media

Flowery & Fast

The nature of the writing made it a very enjoyable listen and the sequential walkthrough of the entire dynasty will always be valuable. I particularly enjoyed how easy it was to compare the personalities of rulers from this book, in no small part due to the briefness of the title.

While informative, I wish the writing was less flowery at times and I wish that the pace slowed down for certain things. The author often mentions tangential things like reforms or wars that I wish got a little more detail.

Dissapointing.

I was very excited about this audiobook, but it turned out to be extremely boring.
There's a LOT of irrelevant information that makes it hard to follow (even when knowledgeable with the time period and historical figures).

The narration should have been done by somebody familiar with the french language and not by the author who has an American accent and completely mispronounces french places and names.

I'll look somewhere else for information about medieval France.

House of Thugs

This thug kiilled that barbarain. That barbarian took his best friend's wife. That wife stole her lover's land. That lover betrayed the next thug, and that thug went on to be a count. The count was killed by an upstart thug, and on, and on, and on. What a disappointment. This is not history. This is irrelevant life cycles. No themes, no impact, nothing memorable about it. This dynasty did not make medieval France, rather it bored France to tears.

A Drama Lacking Drama

Hard to follow…This book encompasses a wide range of French history, giving the reader a general overview but without providing enough details to bring any one story line into full view.

Along with this, the author uses a lot of flowery, inflated language which causes the text to feel clunky instead of precise.

The account does provide some helpful insights, such as the manner in which the castle system allowed thuggish landowners to develop into the French gentry. This along with many other gems are helpful if one is able to plow through entire text.

disappointing

I was really looking forward to this but it's incredibly basic & biased. There are many more that are much better.