Author and historian Alice Loxton is shown.Article contentAs we enter the dog days of summer, it’s time for my customary recommendation of a nice summer read for all those with an interest in history and politics, writ generally. And the book this year is Alice Loxton’s Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of England’s Lost Queen.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentArticle contentThis is a wonderfully intriguing and inspirational reflection on many interrelated stories. One is the life of Queen Eleanor of Castile, wife of England’s Edward I, who reigned from 1272-1307, and their loving marriage. Another is Eleanor’s death on Nov. 28, 1190, and the funeral cortege that rode and walked her body 200 miles from Lincoln, in the north of England, to Westminster Abbey in London, where she was buried on Dec. 17. And where the mortal remains of she and her husband remain to this day.Article contentArticle contentA third storyline is about grief and the grieving process, and the commemoration and honouring of departed loved ones.Article contentEdward I, heartbroken and now alone, honoured his Eleanor by commissioning the building of 12 larger-than-life stone statues displaying her amidst arches and portals, her coats of arms and her favourite types of flowers and foliage, all designed in the then-new Gothic style, and with each statue crowned with a crucifix. One of these statues would be erected in each of the twelve towns where her funeral cortege had to overnight on its sad trek to Westminster and her funeral.Article contentAnd the final, wonderfully thoughtful and thought-provoking element of the book is Loxton’s telling of the story of her pilgrimage in 2024 when she walked the same route as taken by Eleanor’s cortege, over the exact same time period (Nov. 28-Dec. 17), seeing and visiting some of the same places and buildings, churches and priories, as members of the cortege would have seen 734 years ago.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentMOVING THROUGH TIME AND SPACEArticle contentIn a great feat of historical writing, Loxton brings all these story-lines together in a rich tapestry where she takes her readers through time and space, moving effortlessly from various pasts: Eleanor’s and Edward’s life together; their joys in seeing children born and their grief in witnessing miscarriages, stillborns, and early infant deaths; then her early and painful death through illness; his grief; her memorialization; how history was both kind and cruel to the 12 Eleanor Crosses and how only three of the originals now survive, the others becoming victims of the Anglican Reformation in the 16th century or the Civil War of the 17th century, leading Eleanor to become very much a lost Queen in English and British history. But a lost Queen who Alice Loxton finds again and gives to us as a remarkably powerful and influential woman who stands as an intriguing feminist icon both then and now.Article content Shown is the cover for Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of England’s Lost Queen, a collection of stories about Queen Eleanor of Castile.Article contentThere is much in this book to admire, and one is the very light touch Loxton has in her writing. You do not need to know much of anything about English medieval history to get swept up and carried along by Loxton’s narrative. It’s like Loxton takes you by the hand and tells you her story of how she began thinking about how British and English queens have been remembered while she was one of the tens of thousands who stood in line to see Elizabeth II lying in state in Westminster Hall in September 2022.
BOOK REVIEW: Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of Englands Lost Queen
