This week I wrote a blog about Louise de Savoie’s remarkable Journal. The Journal is a short document that has left me with many questions. Susan Abertnethy published it on her excellent Freelance History Blog. I have substantially changed my views about Louise’s Journal since I last posted about it. I will be writing more …
March 10, 2021, finally, and today’s release day for The Importance of Pawns. I cannot tell you how excited I am to send my baby out into the world. She has grown up now and is ready to face the world on her own. I hope you will love her but if you don’t, as …
Who are the real women behind the a bit about the novel and the truth about its four principal characters. Importance of Pawns Plot Danger lurks beneath the glitter of the sixteenth Century French court for Claude and young Renée, heiresses to the rich duchy of Brittany. Their mother, Queen Anne, lies dying. King Louis, …
Go on tour with The Importance of Pawns. On March 10, the awarding winning Coffee Pot Book Club announces the release of my new book, The Importance of Pawns. It’s going on a blog tour to promote the book starting March 15. The tour features 10 “stops” between March 15 to May 17. Watch here …
Discovering the Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle startled me. Since she is one of my favourite authors of Renaissance fiction, I was puzzled by the surprising hype. So I bought the book. It was not what I expected; it was much better — a genuine pleasure to read. Fremantle’s Katherine Parr Queen Katherine Parr, the …
Claude de France’s prayer book is an example of the exquisite manuscript art of the French Renaissance. This example demonstrates that Anne of Brittany passed on her passion for religion, beauty and books to her daughter Claude. Queen Anne, Duchess of Brittany bore her elder daughter, Claude de France, in October 1499, 10 months after …
Queen Anne’s Library and Books of Hours Queen Anne’s library, duchess of Brittany, included several Books of Hours. France considers her Great Hours one of its national treasures. Master Jean Bourdichon, who painted it was one of the great painters of the early French Renaissance. Anne’s library is a famous collection. Some she inherited from her …
Duchess Anne of Brittany’s influence as a patron played a critical role on early Renaissance French literature. She employed poets, writers and historians such as Jean Marot and Pierre Le Baud as secretaries, almoners and heralds. When her husbands went on campaign she sent them to describe their travels. The library she expanded at Blois …
Anne of Brittany’s Influence on French Literature Read More »
