READERS GUIDE

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. Whom do you blame more for the destruction of their family, Henry or Eleanor?

2. Eleanor learned from her mistakes during her long confinement.Why do you think Henry was unable to learn from his? 

3. Henry’s three elder sons all had legitimate grievances against their father. Do you think these grievances justified their rebellion? 

4. John would prove to be the most emotionally damaged of Henry and Eleanor’s children.Why do you think this was so? 

5. Discuss the medieval custom of betrothing or marrying royal daughters at an early age and sending them away to be raised at the courts of their husbands. Do you think this made it easier for the girls to adapt to their new lives in foreign countries? 

6. Had Geoffrey not died, it is likely that he rather than John would have succeeded Richard in 1199.What sort of a king do you think he would have made? 

7. Was Hal’s kingship doomed by his very nature? Was he simply unsuited to rule, or was he molded by his parents’ mistakes? 

8. Richard would prove to be the most ruthless of Henry’s sons.What factors do you think helped shape his character? 

9. What were Henry and Eleanor’s greatest failings as parents? Who do you think was ultimately more successful as a parent? 

10. Though Henry is disappointed by his sons’ betrayal, he is heartbroken by Eleanor’s. How do you think love factored into her decision? What would you have done in her place? 

11. Though Sharon Kay Penman writes about the Middle Ages, many of the themes in Devil’s Brood are still applicable today. How do you think Henry would have fared as a ruler today? Would he have had the same downfall?