Meet Annie

What can I say? I love 15th century history. No apologies, no excuses. The 100 Years War, the Wars of the Roses. All of that.

It’s not that I’m a big fan of blood and battles. Personally I can do without that sort of thing. No – it’s the women who interest me. How they negotiated their way in the world. How they managed – some of them at least, probably more of them than you’d think – to wield power and influence at a time when men seemed to hold most of the cards. And how others, simply, did not.

For me, the stand out character of the 15th century has always been Cecily Neville. She experienced power in both directions; wielding it and having it wielded against her. She survived eighty years of tumultuous history, mothered kings, created a dynasty and brought her family through civil war. She met victory and defeat in equal measure and, in face of all, lived on. Last woman standing, you might say.