In the wake of King Henry I's death in 1135, the Countess of Anjou, his beautiful daughter, prepares to claim the throne despite the reservations of the late ruler's barons, but her position is usurped by her cousin. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England bled and burned. Sharon Kay Penman's magnificent fifth novel summons to life a spectacular medieval tragedy whose unfolding breaks the heart even as it prepares the way for splendors to come--the glorious age of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Plantagenets that would soon illumine the world.

In When Christ and His Saints Slept, the first of a trilogy that will tell the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, master storyteller and historian Sharon Kay Penman illuminates one of the less-known but fascinating periods of English history. It begins with the death of King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror and father of Maude, his only living legitimate offspring.Contains mature themes.

In the 12th Century, a king's daughter and her cousin fight for the crown of England. She is Maude, the only legitimate daughter of 23 children sired by Henry I. He is Stephen of Blois, who in a daring move seizes the crown. The people accept him, but Maude will obtain revenge through her son, the future Henry II.

Twelfth-century England, a land of treachery, high passions and shifting allegiances, is plunged into chaos as the Empress Maude and her cousin Stephen become locked in a bitter struggle for the throne lasting twenty years. King Henry is dead, and there are two people who want his crown. But only one can have it. He has bequeathed it to his daughter Maude, much to the horror of his nobles, for she is arrogant and stubborn, and, most dangerous of all, a woman. When Stephen, a brave and popular warrior but a weak ruler, attempts to seize the throne, it is the beginning of a tragic conflict that brings suffering and bloodshed to all and victory to no one. And waiting in the wings of this tumultuous drama are other players- Maude's charming and devious son Henry, born of an enforced, bitter marriage, and the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, each with ambitions of their own . . . Praise for Sharon Penman- 'Told with such urgent drama . . . A flowing plot and impressive research fill Sharon Penman's historical novel with political intrigue and bloodshed' Sunday Express 'She illuminates the alien shadowland of the Middle Ages and populates it with vital characters whose politics and passions are as vivid as our own' San Francisco Chronicle

With this novel Sharon Penman moves to a new set of characters and to 12th Century England and the early civil war between Stephen and his cousin, The Empress Made - A long fight to won the English throne. Stephen was handsome, unreliable and beguiling. Maude was courageous, beautiful and insanely arrogant. They fought for twenty years and devastated England. Their flair for dramatic events and immense catastrophes made sure that they were never boring.

"In this novel, Sharon Kay Penman brings to life a dark period in English history, painting a canvas rich in the textures and colors of the era. Here is the pain and suffering of the innocents, the conniving and duplicity of the barons; here is the terrible reality of lawlessness - the burning towns, ravaged countryside, weary people. But above all, here are two extraordinary adversaries: A woman whose courage outran her common sense, who found that her skirts bound her more tightly than any rope. And a man of inordinate charm, as valiant in battle as he was able in friendship - but a man whose life was based on a broken oath and a treacherous lie, tragic flaws that would destroy him." "Beginning as friends, they ended in the bitterest enmity, their bloodiest wounds self-inflicted. And if Stephen lost the crown, Maude would never wear it." "But in a final irony for both, Maude would indeed be the mother of kings, for it was her eldest, Henry, who would establish the Plantagenet dynasty and, with Eleanor of Aquitaine, electrify the medieval world."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Maude, daughter of England's Henry I, prepares to assume the throne following the death of her father, but her trusted cousin Stephen seizes the treasury and crowns himself king, throwing England into a twenty-year conflict.

In When Christ and His Saints Slept master storyteller and historian Sharon Kay Penman illuminates one of the lesser-known but fascinating periods of English history. The next addition in this highly acclaimed historical fiction series of the middle ages, and the first of a trilogy that will tell the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. When Christ and His Saints Slept begins with the death of King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror and father of Maude, his only living legitimate offspring.

A novel depicting a dark period in English history follows the story of Maude, daughter of Henry I and England's uncrowned queen, and her cousin Stephen, as their battles for the crown of England lead to twenty years of anarchy

Empress Matilda (sometimes Maud or Maude; later Countess of Anjou and Lady of the English; 7 February 1102 10 September 1167) was the daughter and dispossessed heir of Henry I of England. She was married to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, and then to Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, by whom she became the mother of Henry II of England. Matilda was the first female ruler, although uncrowned and for a brief time, of the Kingdom of England. Her failure to secure that rule meant that her temporary and disputed period of reign in 1141 was extremely brief. She is often excluded from lists of English monarchs and even the official British monarchy website excludes her, listing Stephen of England as king from 1135-1154.

Engels | score: 1

1135 AD. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman-Henry's daughter-Maude.

When Christ and His Saints Slept (Eleanor of Aquitaine Trilogy 1) by Sharon Penman (2000)

In the wake of King Henry I's death in 1135, the Countess of Anjou, his beautiful daughter, prepares to claim the throne despite the reservations of the late ruler's barons, but her position is usurped by her cousin. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England bled and burned.