What do Countess Louise, Astrology, and January 1 have in common? Readers of the Journal de Louise de Savoye, duchesse d’Angoulesme, d’Anjou et de Valois will know the answer. For the rest of you, let me explain. Three crucial events In the 20 years between 1496 to 1515, three crucial events in Countess Louise’s life …
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 …
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 …
16th Century poison trials were a gruesome business. They were also an early example of the scientific method at work. This is the claim of Alisha Rankin in her recent book, The Poison Trials. She details a dozen of these trials conducted during the 1500s to make her case. In 1524, Pope Clement VII gave …
Did kings and their advisors rule France? Officially, there have only been kings in France. But during the Renaissance, three of France’s kings were minors–and François II might as well have been. Three of its kings went to war in Italy. One was imprisoned in Spain for over two years. Various factions waged civil war …
The Dukes and Duchesses of Brittany between 1485 to 1559 were also kings and queens of France from the time France conquered Brittany to the death of King François II of France. Anne of Brittany, the last truly independent Duchess of Brittany, fought her whole life to keep her duchy separate from France. She had …
Who kept medieval pets among the various classes of people in medieval society? Noblewomen definitely had pet dogs though not as many people kept pets as today. Look at carefully paintings and you will see small dogs curled up on the skirts of their mistresses and cats sitting beside the fireplace. My heroine Anne of …
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 …
