Little has been known up until now about the involvement and power of women during the Crusader period. When Saladin's armies besieged Jerusalem in 1187, behind the city walls a last-ditch defense was being led by an unlikely trio - including Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem. She was the last of a line of formidable female rulers in the Crusader States of Outremer - a world where women conducted diplomatic negotiations, made military decisions, forged alliances, rebelled, and undertook architectural projects. In today's episode, Gone Medieval goes to India! Cat is on location at the Jaipur Literature Festival where she is joined by Katherine Pangonis, a historian and author specialising in the medieval world of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Together they explore some of the women who dared to rule.

Katherine Pangonis is the author of Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule, published by Orion Publishing Co.

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Forgotten Women of the Crusades

Gone Medieval