The Dark Queens

The Dark Queens tells the remarkable story of Brunhild, a foreign princess, and Fredegund, a lowly palace slave, who rose to power in sixth-century Merovingian France.

Despite the patriarchal society, these two women commanded armies, negotiated with kings and popes, and fought a decades-long civil war against each other.

The book, written by Shelley Puhak, sets the record straight about these women, painting a richly detailed portrait of an unfamiliar time and challenging myths about female power.

Puhak's research and narrative style bring these complex women back to life, highlighting their ingenuity and skill in the game of statecraft and their impact on the foundations of what would later become Charlemagne's empire.