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It is the nature of hereditary monarchy that the suitability of royal children as rulers or consorts is a lottery. Elizabeth I went her own determined way as the Virgin Queen, with remarkable success. In the 17th century, Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated and exiled herself to Rome where she became a patron of the arts and enjoyed multiple affairs. In the 18th, going one better, Queen Caroline didn’t abdicate, swanned off to the Med, hooked up with the low-born Milanese Bartolomeo Pergami, and still retained such popularity in England that George IV could not remove her title. These three young queens, however, are not the sort to tear up the rule book. Catherine, consort and regent of France, her daughter Elisabeth and daughter-in-law Mary dutifully marry and try their best (in trying circumstances) to bear the necessary children. As Chang admits, neither Elisabeth nor Mary had Elizabeth Tudor’s brilliance. Nor did they match Marguerite of Navarre’s literary accomplishments or Renée de France’s important patronage of Calvin. That does, however, give us a chance to find out what it was like to be a rather average woman thrust into a role for which you had to develop the aptitude swiftly or face trouble. Sir Edward Young attends the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II at St George's Chapel Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images This was a quid pro quo. Pope Leo had the power to vest Francis with Milan. In exchange, the French king offered the Medici royal support and aristocratic prestige, which he knew the Medici had coveted for generations.
Elisabeth de Valois’ story begins in France, where she is born the beloved daughter of a king. It ends tragically in Spain as a cherished queen consort and mother – one who must make the ultimate sacrifice for her kingdom. She left behind neither mother nor father in Italy. Catherine had been an orphan almost since birth. Her father had been Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino and ruler of Florence. The scion of the Medici family’s senior branch, Lorenzo was the grandson and namesake of the great fifteenth-century Florentine banker and patron Lorenzo de’ Medici, known as Il Magnifico. Read More The Princess of Wales is looking for a new Private Secretary after the frontrunner for the job pulls out Sheds valuable light on interpersonal feelings and familial relations often missed in more traditional accounts of political power." — Publishers Weekly Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power – a guide to the expanded world of Middle-earth in J.R.R Tolkein’s other booksR.F. Kuang, Sue Lynn Tan, Rebecca Ross, Kate Heartfield, N.E. Davenport, Saara El-Arifi, Juno Dawson and Sunyi Dean While her mother, Anne Boleyn, fought to ensure that Elizabeth’s claim would be superior to her elder half-sister Mary’s, Anne’s fall made Elizabeth Tudor a bastard. Later restored to the line of succession, Elizabeth was relegated to the rear of the direct Tudor line, after Mary and her half-brother Edward VI. She spent years as a shadowy heir who was considered a threat to her half-sister and was briefly held prisoner at the Tower, before finally coming to the throne in 1558 on the death of Mary I. By 1525, the Italian Wars had brought King Francis to new lows. In February of that year, Charles V’s Imperial troops pummeled French battalions in the disastrous battle at Pavia, slaughtering the flower of French nobility and sending Francis himself into Spanish captivity. Although the exact timing remains unclear, it was likely from his Spanish prison that Francis wrote to his trusted counselor and general, John Stewart, Duke of Albany, urging him to visit the new pope. While in Rome, suggested Francis, Albany might make a little side trip to the Strozzi villa. In a way, Catherine de’ Medici’s story begins not at her birth but rather on those waters, under those Mediterranean skies, the sails of her ship whipping against a late summer breeze. This was the moment of her crossing from Italy to France, from maiden to bride, from the Medici family to a royal French one, from girlhood to young womanhood. Already, she had assumed a new importance as those who observed the pendulum of Renaissance politics now took note of her, measuring her looks, her bearing, her potential to give birth; from this moment forward, the traces of Catherine will appear more prominently in the archives. At fourteen, she was barely in her teens, ignorant of what the coming years would bring. And yet, to the sixteenth-century world, this part of her story was nothing new. A wealthy girl leaves her homeland to marry a prince, neither for love nor looks but for the dowry and value she brings? This had been the path charted for Catherine’s mother, for countless girls of Catherine’s time and place. A path that, to a girl like Catherine, must have seemed as ancient and predictable as the rising sun.
The Queen’s namesake, Elizabeth I, was also 25 when she transitioned from princess to queen. Like Elizabeth II, she was a somewhat unexpected heir. Elizabeth Tudor was in and out of the line of succession to her famous father Henry VIII during her childhood. Together, Catherine, Elisabeth, and Mary lived through the sea changes that transformed sixteenth-century Europe, a time of expanding empires, religious discord, and populist revolt, as concepts of nationhood began to emerge and ideas of sovereignty inched closer to absolutism. They would learn that to rule as a queen was to wage a constant war against the deeply entrenched misogyny of their time. The first child of the George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on April 21 1926. years later, Queen Elizabeth II has become the longest reigning British monarch in history, surpassing her great-grandmother Queen Victoria. (There’s a chance she might set a world record: come May 2024, she’ll be on the throne longer than any other Queen or King in history.) She’s fully lived up to the promise she broadcasted to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday: “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”Alluring, gripping, real: an astonishing insight into the lives of three queens, stepping out from the shadows of the patriarchy—we meet them on their own terms." — Alice Roberts, author of Ancestors and Buried Caterina would remain in Clarice Strozzi’s household for the next several years. This was a waiting game. Pope Leo had hoped Madeleine would give birth to a boy—a son who could inherit his father’s titles and properties, and push Medici good fortune into France and beyond. Instead, the Medici got a girl. Certainly, she could prove useful one day as a bride to seal other worthy political alliances. If, that is, she lived—and it was a big if, given that sixteenth-century parents half-expected their children to die before the age of seven, no matter how wealthy the family or how tenderly their babies were loved. In fact, at the age of three months, the infant Caterina fell so deathly ill that Pope Leo feared another imminent Medici tragedy.7 The baby pulled through, yet everyone knew the next childhood illness was just around the corner. Elisabeth de Valois' story begins in France, where she is born the beloved daughter of a king. It ends tragically in Spain as a cherished queen consort and mother – one who must make the ultimate sacrifice for her kingdom.
Catherine de’ Medici’s story begins in a convent stormed by soldiers intent on seizing the key to power in Florence – Catherine herself, a girl barely 11 years old. It ends with her as the controversial queen mother of France, a woman both revered and reviled. The Queen’s reign has not been without tragedy, most recently the death of her husband of 73 years Prince Philip in 2021. However, one of the most tragic losses the Queen, the royal family and the country had to endure was the death of Princess Diana in 1997.A brutal and inventive fantasy that is as addictive as it is horrifying.' Marissa Meyer, NYT bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles on Three Dark Crowns
This exceptionally brilliant book, deft of phrase and vividly realized, conveys the vitality of the past as few books do. It’s an enviable tour de force and marks the arrival of a wonderful new voice in narrative history." — Suzannah Lipscomb, author of A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England and host of the hit podcast Not Just the Tudors This article is part of Quarter Life, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life. February 6, 1952 was the day that changed Queen Elizabeth’s life forever: her father, King George VI, suddenly died at their Norfolk home of Sandringham. With his passing came a transfer of power to his daughter. She was only 25 years old. Young Queens takes us into the hearts and minds of three extraordinary women. Leah Redmond Chang’s meticulous research and engaging prose give each of them their due, providing a rich and nuanced perspective on the challenges they faced and the remarkable legacies they left behind.” — Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of DevonshireMary, Queen of Scots’ story begins in Scotland and ends in England. A queen turned traitor, from the confines of her English prison she longs for the idyll of her childhood in France. This exceptionally researched narrative successfully weaves together the stories of three of the most intriguing queens in sixteenth-century Europe, revealing them to be integral parts both of one another's lives and the complex worlds in which they lived. Leah Redmond Chang expertly navigates the tumultuous waters of the French, Spanish and Scottish courts, and in so doing brings these fascinating queens to brilliant and vivid life." — Nicola Tallis, author of Elizabeth’s Rival and Uncrowned Queen Redmond Chang expertly chronicles the lives and reigns of these three lives. Vivid and immersive, this book reveals the ways in which these women had to navigate the tumultuous European politics that entangled the French, Scottish and Spanish courts … [ Young Queens] is well written and grounded in archival research. It shows with gripping detail that these queens truly marked history in their own right
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