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 …
I began this website with facts not fiction about the women of 16th Century France. It was too limiting. , I posted historical content about the women I was fictionalizing. It was too limiting. Now my site is more eclectic. I have lots about my fiction, the blog posts with historical content about the women …
The Women of 16th-Century France: Fact and Fiction Read More »
Ready for some fascinating 8th-Century heroines? In Saxon Heroines: Women of Determination and Courage you will meet several active during the years from 624 to 706. The first character and narrator is Hildeburg, a princess of nine, unhappy that a new queen is about to replace the recently deceased aunt she loved. Women’s issues—girls as …
The strong-willed Jeanne de Navarre, destined to become Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572, showed her mettle from earliest childhood. So, it isn’t surprising that Jeanne d’Albret defied the powers that be to make Navarre the centre of Huguenot resistance during the early wars of religion. These included: her uncle, King François I; her …
You’ll find my brief history of the life of Princess Renée de France, a stanch Huguenot, at The Freelance History Writer. I recently wrote a guest blog post there to celebrate the launch of my novel The Importance of Pawns. In the post, I give an overview of the tumultuous life that Princess Renée lived. …
A Brief History of Princess Renée de France: Staunch Huguenot Read More »
In France, Mary Tudor ranks as the French Queen, not the English Princess. She wasn’t queen long. As third wife to the feeble King Louis XII, she reigned as queen consort from 9 October 1514 when they married in Abbeville to 1 January 1515 when the king died. But from then until the end of …
Born on 25 October 1510 at the Château de Blois, Renée de France’s life did not begin as difficult. She was the second daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany. Blessed with a Golden Infancy Unusually for the times, Louis stayed in the queen’s chambers during Renée’s birth. Even though they had …
Who are the four women in The Importance of Pawns who dominate the action? At the centre of the plots are Princess Claude and Princess Renée of France, the elder and younger daughters of the French King and Queen. The third, Baronne Michelle de Soubise, Renée’s Gouvernante*, fights to shield herself and the two daughters …
To say Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII’s younger sister, was reluctant to become Queen of France, is an understatement. When her brother told her she was to marry King Louis XII, she was furious. So, who was Mary Tudor? Why was she upset about marrying the King of France? Early Life: Favoured Daughter Mary grew …
Why did three royal princesses bear the name Marguerite de Valois between 1495 and 1615? It makes it so complicated to separate them. Their contemporaries must have muttered over the same problem. Each made a name for herself during her lifetime. Since each is an important French Renaissance women, they each merit a separate article. …
It doesn’t take long to tell the story of Queen Claude’s three short-lived daughters, Louise, Charlotte, and Madeleine. It is sadly true, though, that until recently little information is available about the lives of young female children as this brief entry illustrates. Marguerite, the fourth and youngest, was the only one who lived long enough …
Who was Queen Claude de France ? First, she was daughter of Queen Anne and King Louis XII of France. Next, she was Duchess of Brittany in her own right. Third, she married François I, possibly France’s most well-known king. Yet she is practically unknown. And she remains for many either a cypher or an …
