Young Queens: The gripping, intertwined story of Catherine de' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary, Queen of Scots

Product Information

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 Strozzi household was a bustling place. Caterina lived surrounded by women and children, bound by the rules of the nursery, governed by the daily rhythms of eating, playing, sleeping, and, in a Catholic Europe still barely touched by Protestantism, praying in a Catholic way, a Latin way—the only way, as far as the Medici and the Strozzi were concerned. She learned to walk and run along sunbaked terraces and among the sculptures and chestnut trees inspired by fashionable Medici gardens, lush designs that Clarice had brought to Rome. Sweets and smells and color from a Renaissance garden formed her senses, teaching her the flavor of melon, the scent of rosemary, the perfume of roses, the touch of billowy hydrangea. Medici and Strozzi tastes began to train her child’s eye. She learned about beauty yet didn’t even realize it was happening.8 An intriguing approach to 16th-century queenship … Chang delivers a murderously climactic final act, telling the story of Mary, Darnley and Bothwell with aplomb. She equally delivers quieter, moving moments … For all that this is a history book, however, it has present-day resonance tooWhile 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.

Princess Elizabeth - daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York - waves from the carriage in 1928. Credit: PA His name was John Stewart, Duke of Albany. He was Caterina’s maternal uncle. Sent by King Francis to Rome, he arrived at the Strozzi villa sometime in 1525, when Caterina was just about six years old. Sheds valuable light on interpersonal feelings and familial relations often missed in more traditional accounts of political power." — Publishers WeeklyFrom the time the infant Caterina disappeared into the Strozzi villa in Rome until her appearance at the gates of the Le Murate convent in 1527 when she was eight, there is hardly a trace of her in the archives. Clarice Strozzi was a kind and attentive foster mother, but she left no letter describing her young niece, no portrait of the girl, or at least none survives. We are left to imagine and wonder. These were formative years for Caterina, who, growing up among her cousins, developed lifelong attachments to her Strozzi kin. It was in Clarice’s home that the tiny orphan enjoyed something of a family, and there that she learned what it meant to be a Medici. 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 Devonshire Neither Victoria nor William IV would have come to the throne if another heiress, Princess Charlotte of Wales, had not died in childbirth at age 21 in 1817. Charlotte’s beautiful and emotive tomb at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor – where Elizabeth II will be buried – visibly expresses the tragedy of her early, unexpected death. From unexpected heirs to senior sovereigns The Queen met every one of Britain’s prime ministers during her lifetime – beginning with wartime leader, Sir Winston Churchill. She met her final British prime minister, Liz Truss, at her Balmoral residence in Scotland in a landmark break from tradition, after it was recommended the monarch avoid travel. The Queen has had a long-standing relationship with the Armed Forces, both in the UK and in the Commonwealth.