"Jonathan Lyon's outstanding new book turns several scholarly trends of the past several decades on their head. Taking insights about family and sibling relationships from current historical and social science literaturehe applies them not to a micro-historical case studybut to the high nobility of the German empire in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries... Lyon has offered here a substantial and tremendously important reappraisal of our models of kinshipthe familyand noble power relations in the medieval German empire." —John EldevikHamilton CollegeGerman Studies Review The results of Lyon's study are impressive, and they are clear.... The rarity of serious fraternal dispute is striking, and clearly contradicts what Duby and others have asserted concerning conflicts between brothers. Thanks to the large scope of Lyon’s study, this negative finding has considerable weight and cannot be dismissed as exceptional. Lyon’s Princely Brothers and Sisters is an important and interesting book that offers a refreshing view of both medieval politics and medieval kinship.
Christof Rolker
German History
This book is useful for those interested in twelfth- and thirteenth-century nobility and family ties because it convincingly demonstrates the importance of sibling bonds in the formation of power. As a consequence Lyon touches upon matters important for the study of lordship in the Middle Ages, such as the division of patrimony, the proximity to the emperor, the absence of heirs and the effects of mobility.
Jitske Jasperse
The Medieval Review