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 …
A Review of The Importance of Sons Historical romance meets period history… love and hate, power and corruption, fear and jealousy. This feels like Tudor England but is a leap into Renaissance France through the lens of powerful women hobbled by patriarchy, a prequel to Morgan’s The Importance of Pawns. The ambitious and manipulative Louise …
What clothing did French Renaissance Noblewomen wear? As a writer, I ask myself this question each time I need to describe a woman. I focus on noblewomen because courts set the fashion. People of every class copied the one above it as closely as their finances allowed. Styles varied from one country to another and from …
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 , I posted historical content about the women I was fictionalizing.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 I have lots about my fiction, the blog posts with historical content about the women …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 »
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 …
In 1519 Françoise de Foix became the first official mistress to King François 1. Countess Françoise de Chateaubriant, an exceptional beauty, was already married. Her husband, Jean de Laval, Count de Chateaubriant, did not take it well, being a jealous man and head of a leading Breton family. But François was king when royal power …
From the moment of her birth, Suzanne de Bourbon was well-loved by both her mother and father. When she married, her husband loved her well too. In this, she was a fortunate woman for her times. Basic Facts Father: Pierre de Beaujeu, later Duke de Bourbon [1488] Mother: Anne de France, Duchess de Beaujeu-Bourbon, aka …
First, here are the fundamental facts about Duchess Anne de Beaujeu, “the least foolish woman in France.” Father: Louis XI de FranceMother: Charlotte de SavoieBirth: Genappe, Brabant, April? [uncertain, but before 22 July] 1461Marriage: Pierre de Beaujeu, later Duke de Bourbon [1488]. Betrothal, 3 November 1473; Marriage, Château de Montrichard, 9 November 1474.Death: Chantelle, France, …
Twice Queen of France, Anne of Brittany’s funeral was a protracted event. Embalmers made a wax effigy of her face after her death. She lay first in her room and later in the state chambers of the Chateau of Blois for over two weeks Meals and masses were held daily. After placing her body in …
When the not-quite 12-year-old Anne of Brittany became duchess, her people found in her their unlikely heroine. She inherited a duchy on its knees. Brittany was reeling from defeat at the decisive battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in July 1488. Her senile father signed the disastrous peace Treaty of Verger with France. Then he fled to his …
Women of 16th-century France in important roles deserve individual articles. Details about 7 major French women & links to The Freelance History Writer blog. I am planning to take several of the most exciting incidents from a draft novel about Anne of Brittany and rewrite them as short stories. Comments? Ideas on places to submit?
As befitted her role as Queen of France, Anne of Brittany passed her life travelling among the royal chateaux of Brittany and France. It could easily not have happened. When her father died shortly after the disastrous the battle of St. Aubin de Cormier in July 1488, Anne was not yet 12. She became ruler …
Anne of Brittany among the Chateaux of Brittany and France Read More »
