Birth of the Chess Queen

In the game of chess, the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. But she is also a relative newcomer to the game; chess existed for 500 years before the queen was introduced. She made her first appearance in the year 1000, as the weakest piece, but by 1497, during the reign of Isabella of Castile, the chess queen had become the formidable force she is today. How and why did this transformation take place? In this innovative cultural analysis, Marilyn Yalom examines the chess queen''s timid emergence and her elevation to a position of power - a move that paralleled the ascent of female sovereigns in Europe. She also explores the connection between the chess queen, the cult of the Virgin Mary, and the cult of romantic love, all of which impacted European society for centuries. Birth of the Chess Queen is a fascinating history of the politics and culture of medieval Europe and how royal power was embodied in the figure of the chess queen. Marilyn Yalom is a senior scholar at the Institute for Women and Gender at Stanford University. She is the author of A History of the Breast; Blood Sisters: The French Revolution in Women''s Memory; and Maternity, Mortality, and the Literature of Madness. ''An enticing portal into the past ... Yalom writes passionately and accessibly about this esoteric topic.'' - Los Angeles Times Book Review

Product details

• Authors: Marilyn Yalom
• Publisher: Harper Perennial USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 26.04.2005
• EAN: 9780060090654
• ISBN: 978-0-06-009065-4
• No. of pages: 336
• Dimensions: 137 mm x 204 mm x 22 mm
• Subjects: Guides > Sport; HISTORY: WORLD, SOCIAL SCIENCE: Sociology / General, HISTORY: Social History, HISTORY: Women, HISTORY: Medieval, SOCIAL SCIENCE: Women's Studies, WOMEN'S STUDIES: WOMEN'S HISTORY, GAMES: Activity Books, GAMES: Board Games, GAMES: Chess