Happy Holidays 2012!

Huzzah and a very happy, festive, and safe holiday season to you and yours! To help keep the spirit going, here's last year's post with links for some music...enjoy!

My Story Series

Dear America goes rennie! Well, kinda...seems like the folks over at Scholastic UK were inspired by our series and have not only published a few of the ones we have, but have made their own. The series is called "My Story" and like Dear America are presented in diary style. They run from ancient Egypt to the 20th century, but here I shall present to you the ones set in the Medieval and Tudor Era...I hope to get my hands on them sometime soon as I am a big fan of the Dear America books...happy reading!

1536-1548

1547-1554

A History of Britain: Medieval and Tudor Eras

I was just alerted to this series which aired from 2000-2002 and hosted by Simon Schama. Though there are 15 parts, I have chosen to focus, of course, from 1066-1603...from the heart of medieval times through the reign of Elizabeth 1. So if you have yet to see them, or wish to see them again, here you go...each clip is about 10 minutes long. Enjoy!

Part 2-Conquest

Watch here

Part 3-Dynasty: 1087-1216

Watch here

Part 4-Nations: 1216-1348

Part 5-King Death: 1348-1500

Part 6-Burning Convictions: 1500-1558

Part 7-The Body Of The Queen: 1558-1603

New Series: A Girl For All Time

Thanks to the folks at Dolls Magazine's Book of Face page, I found a new series from the UK that while for younger readers is one that a historical fiction obsessive like myself immediately squealed over and wants to read immediately lol. As the title says, it's called A Girl for All Time which starts with Matilda: Your Tudor Girl. and according to the site's family tree page: "Matilda is the first in a family tree of Marchmont women, each of whom lives in an exciting time in English history. We can follow all of their stories in the A Girl for All Time® series. Each girl features in her own set of novels and keepsake books and they can all trace their family tree all the way back to Matilda, who lives in Tudor times during the reign of Henry VIII." I hope to get my hands on a copy of the books, and though it's highly unlikely, the doll too:

Also according to the family tree page, there will be another doll of interest to this site: Elinor: Your Elizabethan Girl...I can't wait to see her! If you're as intrigued as I am, you can check out the site and order from their US store.

The Mead Post

A wonderful way to keep the spirit alive during the off season or to indulge in because it's the season, no drink (well, maybe except a real British ale) says faire like mead. I had my first cup ever last year, and this year, I bought my own bottle, put some in one of those coffee glasses and took it with me to drink with my meal once I got there. For those who have yet to try this faire staple for yourself, or have and have no idea what's out there or where to get it (hey, it's possible lol), here's some available from Bev Mo and a local to me place called Hi-Time Wine Cellars. I hope to try them all! :-p What's your mead of choice? Any other mead brands you know of that are worth a try? What's your rating of any listed below? Do share your thoughts below, and cheers!

Bunratty (BevMo)

Bunratty (Hi-Time)

Chaucer's (BevMo)

Jadwiga (Hi-Time)

Moonlight Meadery (Flirt, Hi-Time)

Moonlight Meadery (Smitten, Hi-Time)

Mountain Meadow (Sierra Wildflower, Hi-Time)

Mountain Meadow (Honeymoon Nectar, Hi-Time)

Rabbit's Foot (Hi-Time)

Rabbit's Foot (Rasberry, Hi-Time)

Redstone (Hi-Time)

Trickster's Treat (Hi-Time)

Rugrats go to to the Faire

One of my favorite cartoons as a kid was Nickelodeon's Rugrats and last night one of the episodes shown on Teen Nick as part of their '90s Are All That segment was called "Faire Play/The Smell of Success" in which the kids attend their local faire. Things soon go haywire as only the Rugrats can do it. For your enjoyment, you can view the Rugrats episode here:

Borgia Novels

Princess of the Renaissance Barbie: a privileged child of the beautiful city of Florence living in an exciting time of renewal and enlightenment. 

In celebration of The Borgias return to TV tonight on Showtime, I've rounded up some novels featuring our favorite renaissance crime family...enjoy!

Violante isn't supposed to be here, in one of the grandest courts of Renaissance Italy. She isn't supposed to be a lady-in-waiting to the beautiful Lucrezia Borgia. But the same secretive politics that pushed Lucrezia's father to the Vatican have landed Violante deep in a lavish landscape of passion and ambition.

Violante discovers a Lucrezia unknown to those who see only a scheming harlot, and all the whispers about her brother, Cesare Borgia, never revealed the soul of the man who dances close with Violante.

But those who enter the House of Borgia are never quite the same when they leave—if they leave at all. Violante's place in history will test her heart and leave her the guardian of dangerous secrets she must carry to the grave.

How much power can one family wield before they're corrupted?In this first volume of his "Celebrated Crimes" series, Alexandre Dumas tackles the notorious Borgais. Originally from Spain, this noble family's political influence was felt across Europe through much of the 15th and 16th centuries. But their name also became synonymous with scandals and murder. "The Borgais" is a fictionalised account of the family's machinations. These include Rodrigo Borgia and his reign as Pope Alexander IV, when rumours abounded of orgies at the Vatican. A must read for history buffs, and any fans of "The Borgias" television series starring Jeremy Irons.

By the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched by its brutality and corruption, nowhere more than in Rome and inside the Church. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: He is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic, consummate politician with a huge appetite for life, women, and power must use papacy and family—in particular, his eldest son, Cesare, and his daughter Lucrezia—in order to succeed.
Cesare, with a dazzlingly cold intelligence and an even colder soul, is his greatest—though increasingly unstable—weapon. Later immortalized in Machiavelli’s The Prince, he provides the energy and the muscle. Lucrezia, beloved by both men, is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens, hers is a journey through three marriages, and from childish innocence to painful experience, from pawn to political player.
Stripping away the myths around the Borgias, Blood & Beauty is a majestic novel that breathes life into this astonishing family and celebrates the raw power of history itself: compelling, complex and relentless.

It is 1502 and Rodrigo Borgia, a self-confessed womanizer and master of political corruption, is now on the papal throne as Alexander VI. His daughter Lucrezia, aged twenty-two—already three times married and a pawn in her father’s plans—is discovering her own power. And then there is his son Cesare Borgia, brilliant, ruthless, and increasingly unstable; it is his relationship with Machiavelli that gives the Florentine diplomat a master class in the dark arts of power and politics. What Machiavelli learns will go on to inform his great work of modern politics, The Prince. But while the pope rails against old age and his son’s increasingly erratic behavior, it is Lucrezia who must navigate the treacherous court of Urbino, her new home, and another challenging marriage to create her own place in history.
Sarah Dunant again employs her remarkable gifts as a storyteller to bring to life the passionate men and women of the Borgia family, as well as the ever-compelling figure of Machiavelli, through whom the reader will experience one of the most fascinating—and doomed—dynasties of all time.

Hundreds of years after her death, Lucrezia Borgia remains one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of history, accused of incest, of poisoning her rivals, and even of murdering her own father. Born into scandal, she was the daughter of the treacherous Cardinal Roderigo Borgia, who would later be crowned Pope Alexander VI. When her father ascended the papal throne, young Lucrezia’s life changed forever. From then on, Lucrezia would be unable to escape the political ambitions of her father and her brother, the bloodthirsty Cesare Borgia.
In an era when the Vatican was as decadent and violent as any royal court, Lucrezia was its crown princess. Famed for her beauty, she was a valuable pawn in the marriage game, and Alexander VI would use her to create one alliance after another. When her kindly first husband no longer suited the Pope’s needs, Lucrezia’s virginity was restored by papal decree (her new maidenhood was declared “miraculous”), and she was married off again, this time to a man she truly loved, Alfonso, Prince of Naples. But her joy was short-lived. Alfonso loathed her brother and refused to participate in the Pope’s imperial schemes, which threatened to tear apart the Vatican’s political alliances--and Lucrezia’s happy marriage.
In this unforgettable debut, John Faunce perfectly captures the rotten decadence of the Borgias’ papal court and the inner steel of Lucrezia Borgia, one of history’s great survivors.

With the ascension of the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI, a new era has dawned in Rome. Benefitting from their father’s elevation are the new pope’s illegitimate children—his rival sons, Cesare and Juan, and beautiful young daughter Lucrezia—each of whom assumes an exalted position in the papal court. Privileged and adored, Lucrezia yearns to escape her childhood and play a part in her family’s fortunes. But Rome is seductive and dangerous: Alliances shift at a moment’s notice as Italy’s ruling dynasties strive to keep rivals at bay. As Lucrezia’s father faces challenges from all sides, the threat of a French invasion forces him to marry her off to a powerful adversary. But when she discovers the brutal truth behind her alliance, Lucrezia is plunged into a perilous gambit that will require all her wits, cunning, and guile. Escaping her marriage offers the chance of happiness with a passionate prince of Naples, yet as scandalous accusations of murder and incest build against her, menacing those she loves, Lucrezia must risk everything to overcome the lethal fate imposed upon her by her Borgia blood.
Beautifully wrought, rich with fascinating historical detail, The Vatican Princess is the first novel to describe Lucrezia’s coming-of-age in her own voice. What results is a dramatic, vivid tale set in an era of savagery and unparalleled splendor, where enemies and allies can be one and the same, and where loyalty to family can ultimately be a curse.

Vivacious Sancha of Aragon arrives in Rome newly wed to a member of the notorious Borgia dynasty. Surrounded by the city's opulence and political corruption, she befriends her glamorous and deceitful sister-in-law, Lucrezia, whose jealousy is as legendary as her beauty. Some say Lucrezia has poisoned her rivals, particularly those to whom her handsome brother, Cesare, has given his heart. So when Sancha falls under Cesare's irresistible spell, she must hide her secret or lose her life. Caught in the Borgias' sinister web, she summons her courage and uses her cunning to outwit them at their own game. Vividly interweaving historical detail with fiction, The Borgia Bride is a richly compelling tale of conspiracy, sexual intrigue, loyalty, and drama.

The year is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives perched high above the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany and Umbria at Montefiore, the farm of her beloved father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm -- and the world comes to Montefiore.

In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia -- decadent children of a wicked pope -- no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a years-long quest, he leaves Bianca under the care -- so to speak -- of Lucrezia.

She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but in the dark forest salvation can be found as well ...

A lyrical work of stunning creative vision, Mirror Mirror gives fresh life to the classic story of Snow White -- and has a truth and beauty all its own.

Rome-1492. The election of a new pope to the throne of St. Peter has elevated his family to the pinnacle of power. But even as the Borgia patriarch schemes to establish a kingdom that will rival the old powers of Europe, an enemy emerges who will stop at nothing to ensure that the Borgia dynasty crumbles before it begins. As the streets of Rome are painted with blood and the rumors of illicit passion, only the actions of a servant who knows the darkest secret of the family can save the Borgia from destruction.
The glittering halls of the Vatican are a thousand miles away from the life that Betta has known. Forced to work to save her family from starvation, a chance encounter introduces her to a life of wealth and danger, where the edges of a blade are never more than a step away. As the threat to the Borgia grows nearer and they are forced to fight for survival, Betta will risk everything to safeguard the only friend she has ever known.

Fifteenth-century Rome: The Borgia family is on the rise. Lucrezia’s father, Pope Alexander VI, places his illegitimate daughter and her only brothers, Cesare, Giovanni, and Goffredo, in the jeweled splendor—and scandal—of his court. From the Pope’s affairs with adolescent girls to Cesare’s dangerous jealousy of anyone who inspires Lucrezia’s affections to the ominous birth of a child conceived in secret, no Borgia can elude infamy.
Young Lucrezia gradually accepts her fate as she comes to terms with the delicate nature of her relationships with her father and brothers. The unbreakable bond she shares with them both exhilarates and terrifies her as her innocence begins to fade. Soon she will understand that her family’s love pales next to their quest for power and that she herself is the greatest tool in their political arsenal.
From the inimitable pen of Jean Plaidy, this family’s epic legend is replete
with passion, intrigue, and murder—and it’s only the beginning.

Born into Rome’s notorious Borgia family, young Lucrezia led a life colored by violence and betrayal. Now, married for the second time at just eighteen, she hopes for happiness with her handsome husband, Alfonso. But faced with brutal murder, she’s soon torn between her love for her husband and her devotion to her brother Cesare...And in the days when the Borgias ruled Italy, no one was safe from the long arm of their power. Even Lucrezia.
In this compelling story of a beautiful woman caught up in a tortuous web of fear and love, Jean Plaidy sheds light on the much maligned Lucrezia and vividly brings her to life.

In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring within the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover the plot that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness.
Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordano defies all convention to claim for herself the position of poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul.
Navigating a web of treachery and deceit, Francesca pursues her father's killer from the depths of Rome's Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself. In so doing, she sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation with ancient forces that will seek to use her darkest desires to achieve their own catastrophic ends.

In the summer of 1493, Rodrigo Borgia, Alexander VI, has been pope for almost a year. Having played a crucial role in helping him ascend the chair of Saint Peter, Francesca, haunted by the shadows of her own past, is now charged with keeping him there. As court poisoner to the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy, this mistress of death faces a web of peril, intrigue, and deceit that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance.
As dangers close in from every direction, Francesca conceives a desperate plan that puts her own life at risk and hurls her into a nightmare confrontation with a madman intent on destroying all she is pledged to protect. From the hidden crypts of fifteenth-century Rome to its teeming streets alive with sensuality, obsession, and treachery, Francesca must battle the demons of her own dark nature to unravel a plot to destroy the Borgias, seize control of Christendom, and plunge the world into eternal darkness

Mistress of death Francesca Giordano—court poisoner to the House of Borgia—returns to confront an ancient atrocity that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance and plunge the world into eternal darkness. As the enemies of Pope Alexander VI close in and the papal court is forced to flee from Rome, Francesca joins forces with her lover, the brilliant and ruthless Cesare Borgia to unravel a conspiracy that strikes at the heart of Christendom. But when a shattering secret from her past imperils her precarious hold on sanity, only Francesca's own courage and resolve can draw her back from the brink of madness to save all she values most.

Mario Puzo’s final masterwork. A sweeping epic saga of corruption, greed, treachery, and sin, The Family is the ultimate crowning achievement of the #1 New York Times bestselling novelist who gave the world The Godfather, arguably the greatest Mafia crime novel ever written.  In The Family, Puzo—whom the Washington Post calls, “A serious American talent”—plunges reader into the colorful tumult of the Italian Renaissance, immersing them in the roiling intrigues and deadly affairs of the remarkable family whose name has always been synonymous with power, corruption, poison, and murder: the infamous Borgias.

Rome, 1492. The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuous—or the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into their dangerous web…
Vivacious Giulia Farnese has floor-length golden hair and the world at her feet: beauty, wealth, and a handsome young husband. But she is stunned to discover that her glittering marriage is a sham, and she is to be given as a concubine to the ruthless, charismatic Cardinal Borgia: Spaniard, sensualist, candidate for Pope—who is passionately in love with her.
Two trusted companions will follow her into the Pope's shadowy harem: Leonello, a cynical bodyguard bent on bloody revenge against a mysterious killer, and Carmelina, a fiery cook with a past full of secrets. But as corruption thickens in the Vatican and the enemies begin to circle, Giulia and her friends will need all their wits to survive in the world of the Borgias.

As the cherished concubine of the Borgia Pope Alexander VI, Giulia Farnese has Rome at her feet. But after narrowly escaping a sinister captor, she realizes that the danger she faces is far from over—and now, it threatens from within. The Holy City of Rome is still under Alexander’s thrall, but enemies of the Borgias are starting to circle. In need of trusted allies, Giulia turns to her sharp-tongued bodyguard, Leonello, and her fiery cook and confidante, Carmelina.
Caught in the deadly world of the Renaissance’s most notorious family, Giulia, Leonello, and Carmelina must decide if they will flee the dangerous dream of power. But as the shadows of murder and corruption rise through the Vatican, they must learn who to trust when every face wears a mask…

Royal Blood podcast, episode 43

Royal Blood podcast, episode 202

Some nonfiction I recommend:

A sumptuously illustrated history of one of Renaissance Italy's bloodiest families, complemented by extensive quotations from original sources and accompanied by a wealth of stunning images from the period.

They burst out of obscurity in Spain not only to capture the great prize of the papacy, but to do so twice. Throughout a tumultuous half-century—as popes, statesmen, warriors, lovers, and breathtakingly ambitious political adventurers—they held center stage in the glorious and blood-drenched pageant known to us as the Italian Renaissance, standing at the epicenter of the power games in which Europe’s kings and Italy’s warlords gambled for life-and-death stakes.
Five centuries after their fall—a fall even more sudden than their rise to the heights of power—they remain immutable symbols of the depths to which humanity can descend: Rodrigo Borgia, who bought the papal crown and prostituted the Roman Church; Cesare Borgia, who became first a teenage cardinal and then the most treacherous cutthroat of a violent time; Lucrezia Borgia, who was as shockingly immoral as she was beautiful. These have long been stock figures in the dark chronicle of European villainy, their name synonymous with unspeakable evil.
But did these Borgias of legend actually exist? Grounding his narrative in exhaustive research and drawing from rarely examined key sources, Meyer brings fascinating new insight to the real people within the age-encrusted myth. Equally illuminating is the light he shines on the brilliant circles in which the Borgias moved and the thrilling era they helped to shape, a time of wars and political convulsions that reverberate to the present day, when Western civilization simultaneously wallowed in appalling brutality and soared to extraordinary heights.
Stunning in scope, rich in telling detail, G. J. Meyer’s The Borgias is an indelible work sure to become the new standard on a family and a world that continue to enthrall.

Discover what life was like for ordinary people living in Renaissance Italy. How was their society organized? What were their homes like? What dangers did they face? These and other questions are answered in detail to provide the reader with a unique view of the world of the Italian Renaissance. A multitude of settings and socioeconomic backgrounds are presented, from urban life to country life, from upper-class to peasant-class, to paint a full portrait of the different kinds of existence of people of this culture.

Recipes, profiles of actual individuals, and over 40 illustrations help bring the period to life. Learn what they ate, what their homes were like, how they spent their leisure time, what their work was like, and much more. Modern readers will be surprised to find fundamental similarities between our lives today and the lives of these people living over 500 years ago, as well as to discover that many of the perceptions they may have of this time period are inaccurate.

Lively and reader-friendly, this second edition of Daily Life in Renaissance Italy provides a colorful and accurate sense of how it felt to inhabit the Renaissance Italian world (1400–1600). In clearly written chapters, the book moves from Renaissance Italy's geography to its society, and then to family. It also looks at hierarchies, moralities, devices for keeping social order, media and communications and the arts, space, time, the life cycle, material culture, health, and illness, and finishes with work and play.

This new edition is especially alert to the rich connections between Italy and the rest of Europe, and with Africa and Asia. The book synthesizes a great deal of recent scholarship on social and material history, paying additional attention to the arts and religion. Readers are given an inside view of people from every social class, elite and ordinary, men and women. Written for students of all levels, from secondary school up, it is also an accessible introduction for travelers to Italy.

A Sweet Disorder by Jacqueline Kolosov

This second novel by Kolosov stars Miranda Molyneux, a 16 year old noble who has recently lost her father in Ireland which leaves her family heavily in debt, and ending her engagement to fellow impoverished noble Henry Raleigh. Hoping to make a better life for her, Miranda's mother sends her to live with her father's cousin John Hardwood, Earl of Turbury and his wife. The move proves a bit of a shock to Miranda, as she goes from a home full of affection, love, gentleness, and laughter to one of strictness, rigidness, coldness, and severe piety. The day comes when the Countess takes Miranda to court to be a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth who has a bitter past with her mother (and is also her cousin). It isn't long before Miranda discovers how perilous and shifty court life is, and her natural way with stitchery and embroidery soon garners a clique of enemies among her fellow ladies, even one who was supposed to be her friend. Adding to this is the Earl and Countess trying to match her with the loathsome Lord Seagrave for their benefit and the return into her life of Henry, her former betrothed. After an impromptu fixing of a dress borrowed after hers goes missing on the day she's to meet with the queen, Miranda gets the opportunity to free herself from the announcement of her betrothal to Lord Seagrave...but will it work out the way she hoped? Though written for young adults, the writing is good, despite the slightly predicting ending. The story is good too, and makes for a light, fun read.  I give "A Sweet Disorder" 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Daily Medieval Life Books

For those with a more medieval bent, here's some books you may want to check out if you haven't already:
The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages by Sherrilyn Kenyon
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
Daily Life in the Middle Ages by Paul B. Newman
Daily Life in Chaucer's England by Jeffrey L. Singman and Will McLean
Daily Life in Medieval Europe by Jeffrey L. Singman
These are, of course, but a few. However, should you want to pursue more, these are a great starting point! Happy reading!

Renaissance Dances

Some lovely videos I found on Youtube...enjoy!

Renaissance Consort Number 5
Renaissance Consort Number 7
Renaissance Dance: Branle du Chandelier
Renaissance Dance - Branle de Champaigne
Grimstock - Tanzgruppe Domenico

The Irish Princess by Karen Harper

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I bring you my review of this lovely novel by the bestselling author Karen Harper. It tells the story of Elizabeth "Gera" Fitzgerald, a young woman born into a high Irish family with ties to royalty on both sides: her mother was Elizabeth Grey, a granddaughter of Elizabeth Woodville, and her father was a cousin to King Henry VIII by his first marriage. It begins in 1533, with 10 year old Gera's world changing forever when her father is arrested then dies in the Tower of London and her family is separated. She then manages to escape to England and becomes a refugee in Henry's court where she bides her time managing the machinations of court life, try to rally support to restore her family, and take revenge on the King. Along the way, she harbors a secret love for a courtier and looks out for Henry's daughter Princess Elizabeth. As with most of Harper's writing, the story is both descriptive and fluid which makes for pleasant reading. It also gives a glimpse into the life a remarkable woman not many people has heard of. A must read for not only Tudor/renaissance lovers, but ones of anything Irish as well. I give "The Irish Princess" 4 out of 5 stars.

Tudor Costume and Fashion by Herbert Norris

I found this book at faire a few years ago and after having a look at it immediately knew I had to have it. So not long after I placed an order through the late Borders and have been enjoying it ever since. Absolutely bursting with black and white illustrations and a 22 page color insert, this doorstop thick book goes in depth about what folks from the height of nobility down to beggars and even a jester wore from the reign of Henry VII down to Elizabeth I. While it doesn't give instructions on how to make things yourself (sorry to all you sewers out there), the book is nonetheless one costume fetishists will no doubt want in their library. Even if you don't end up reading all of it (and I don't blame you if you don't, it's a huge 832 page read), pouring over the clothing eye candy every now and again definitely doesn't hurt, and maybe it'll inspire a new outfit for your faire visits this season! I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Bargain Books

Some inexpensive ebook reads I found...if you get any, please do let everyone know what you thought below!

Dear Henry: Confessions of the Queens by Judith Arnopp

Pray for Reign by Thea Atkinson

Poison in the Blood by M. G. Scarsbrook

The Marlowe Conspiracy by M. G. Scarsbrook

Precious Bones by Irina Shapiro

Isabella of Castile

Born April 22, 1451, she was the eldest child of King Juan II and his second wife Isabel of Portugal. Unfortunately for the young Isabella, after the sudden death of her father, her mother became increasingly depressed and mad. Her older half brother Henry became then became king and married Juana, the sister of the King of Portugal who had a daughter, also named Juana, that many believed was actually the daughter of Henry's chief steward. The girl would proclaim her right to the throne the rest of her life. During Henry's reign, divisive support between him and their younger brother Alfonso among the country's most powerful nobles put Isabella in the middle, and she was used as a pawn to check Alfonso and his supporters until he died of an illness in 1468. In 1469, she married Ferdinand of Aragon, much to her brother's displeasure, nonetheless, Isabella was then made the heir, and on Henry's death in 1474, she became Queen of Castilla and Leon. The couple ruled jointly and had five children: Isabel (who died in childbirth in 1498), Juan (who died of illness in 1497), Juana (better known as Juana la Loca, who became queen in 1504 and whose son Charles became Holy Roman Emperor), Maria (whose son became the King of Portugal), and Catalina (she, of course, became Catherine of Aragon and was the first wife of Henry VIII). Isabella is also well remembered for funding the infamous trip of Christopher Columbus in 1492, and as one of the "Catholic Monarchs" due to her and her husband driving the Jews and Moors out of Spain, and, less favorably, the Inquisition. Still, she is remembered today as both a remarkable woman and remarkable queen. Here's some novels on her I found worth checking out:

Isabella is barely a teenager when she becomes an unwitting pawn in a plot to dethrone her half brother, King Enrique. Suspected of treason and held captive, she treads a perilous path, torn between loyalties, until at age seventeen she suddenly finds herself heiress of Castile, the largest kingdom in Spain. Plunged into a deadly conflict to secure her crown, she is determined to wed the one man she loves yet who is forbidden to her—Fernando, prince of Aragón. As they unite their two realms under “one crown, one country, one faith,” Isabella and Fernando face an impoverished Spain beset by enemies. With the future of her throne at stake, Isabella resists the zealous demands of the inquisitor Torquemada even as she is seduced by the dreams of an enigmatic navigator named Columbus. But when the Moors of the southern domain of Granada declare war, a violent, treacherous battle against an ancient adversary erupts, one that will test all of Isabella’s resolve, her courage, and her tenacious belief in her destiny.

Isabella of Spain was a great woman, a great Queen. Crown Of Aloes is presented as a personal chronicle. Within the framework of known fact and detail drawn from hitherto unexploited contemporary Spanish sources, a novelist's imagination and understanding have provided motives, thoughts, and private conversations, helping to build up the fascinating character Isabella must have been. Her fortunes were varied indeed: she knew acute poverty, faced anxiety and danger with high courage, gave much, suffered much, lived to the full. At the end she was mainly aware of her failures. It was left to others to realise how spectacular her successes had been.

Married to Ferdinand after continual fears and disappointments, Isabella triumphed over every danger, convinced of her true destiny. With the might of Portugal humbled, the Court of the Sovereigns saw the rise of Torquemada, the establishment of the dreaded Inquisition, and the coming of Columbus, who left the woman he loved to make a dream reality. Ambitious and unfaithful, Ferdinand longed to lead his troops against the Moorish strongholds. Isabella knew a united Spain and a glorious future could be theirs, but they must only share it together.

Two I found on Juana:

Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents’ crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family’s ambitions through marriage. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns. He is caring, charming, and attracted to her—seemingly a perfect husband.
But when Queen Isabel dies, the crowns of Spain unexpectedly pass down to Juana, leaving her husband and her father hungering for the throne. Rumors fly that the young Queen has gone mad, driven insane by possessiveness. Locked away in a palace and unseen by her people for the next forty-six years, Juana of Castile begins one of the most controversial reigns in Spanish history, one that earned her the title of Juana the Mad.

Born amid her parents’ ruthless struggle to unify and strengthen their kingdom, Juana, at the age of sixteen, is sent to wed Philip, heir to the Habsburg Empire. Juana finds unexpected love and passion with her dashing young husband, and at first she is content with her children and her married life. But when tragedy strikes and she becomes heir to the Spanish throne, Juana finds herself plunged into a battle for power against her husband that grows to involve the major monarchs of Europe. Besieged by foes on all sides, Juana vows to secure her crown and save Spain from ruin, even if it costs her everything. (all via Amazon)

Royal Blood podcast, episode 40

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Catherine de Medici

Catherine was born into one of Italy's most powerful families, and in 1533, at the age of 14, was sent to France to Marry King Henri. They had three sons who ended up wearing the crown, and after the Kings sudden death, it was rumored she used any means necessary to ensure they kept it. If you love renaissance France and/or royalty, here's some novels I found on this infamous queen you should check out:

The truth is, not one of us is innocent. We all have sins to confess. So reveals Catherine de Medici, the last legitimate descendant of her family’s illustrious line. Expelled from her native Florence, Catherine is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France. In an unfamiliar realm, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children in a kingdom torn apart by the ambitions of a treacherous nobility. Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons, unaware that if she is to save France, she may have to sacrifice her ideals, her reputation, and the secret of her embattled heart.

Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history. In her latest historical fiction, Jeanne Kalogridis tells Catherine's story—that of a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games.
Born into one of Florence's most powerful families, Catherine was soon left a fabulously rich heiress by the early deaths of her parents. Violent conflict rent the city state and she found herself imprisoned and threatened by her family's enemies before finally being released and married off to the handsome Prince Henry of France.
Overshadowed by her husband's mistress, the gorgeous, conniving Diane de Poitiers, and unable to bear children, Catherine resorted to the dark arts of sorcery to win Henry's love and enhance her fertility—for which she would pay a price. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherine's blood-soaked visions of the future, Kalogridis reveals the great love and desire Catherine bore for her husband, Henry, and her stark determination to keep her sons on the throne.

Young Catherine de' Medici is the sole heiress to the entire fortune of the wealthy Medici family. But her life is far from luxurious. After a childhood spent locked away behind the walls of a convent, she joins the household of the pope, where at last she can be united with her true love. But, all too soon, that love is replaced with an engagement to a boy who is cold and aloof. It soon becomes clear that Catherine will need all the cunning she can muster to command the respect she deserves as one of France's most powerful queens.

Fourteen-year-old Catherine de’ Medici arrives in Marseilles to marry Henry, Duke of Orleans, second son of the King of France. The brokenhearted Catherine has left her true love in Italy, forced into trading her future happiness for marriage into the French royal family.
Amid the glittering fêtes and banquets of the most immoral court in sixteenth-century Europe, the reluctant bride becomes a passionate but unwanted wife. Humiliated and unloved, Catherine spies on Henry and his lover, the infamous Diane de Poitiers. Tortured by what she sees, Catherine becomes consumed by a ruthless ambition destined to make her the most despised woman in France: the dream that one day the French crown will be worn by a Medici heir...

When Catherine de' Medici was forced to marry Henry of Orleans, her's was not the only heart broken. Jeanne of Navarre once dreamed of marrying this same prince, but like Catherine, she must bend to the will of King Francis's political needs. And so both Catherine and Jeanne's lives are set on unwanted paths, destined to cross in affairs of state, love and faith, driving them to become deadly political rivals. Years later, Jeanne is happily married to the dashing but politically inept Antoine de Bourbon, whilst the widowed Catherine continues to be loved by few and feared by many - including her children. But she is now the powerful mother of kings, who will do anything to see her beloved second son, Henry, rule France. As civil war ravages the country and Jeanne fights for the Huguenot cause, Catherine advances along her unholy road, making enemies at every turn...

The aging Catherine de’ Medici and her sickly son King Charles are hoping to end the violence between the feuding Catholics and Huguenots. When Catherine arranges the marriage of her beautiful Catholic daughter Margot to Huguenot king Henry of Navarre, France’s subjects hope there will finally be peace. But shortly after the wedding, when many of the most prominent Huguenots are still celebrating in Paris, King Charles gives an order that could only have come from his mother: rid France of its “pestilential Huguenots forever.” In this bloody conclusion to the Catherine de’ Medici trilogy, Jean Plaidy shows the demise of kings and skillfully exposes Catherine’s lifetime of depraved scheming.

A couple episodes of the Royal Blood podcast about a few of her relatives:

 

Episode 133

 

Episode 134

 

Episode 206

The Medicis 

Catherine de Medici

Catherine de Medici VS Elizabeth 1 

Here is a biography on her:

Poisoner, besotted mother, despot, necromancer, engineer of a massacre: the dark legend of Catherine de Medici is centuries old. In this critically hailed biography, Leonie Frieda reclaims the story of this unjustly maligned queen of France to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds.
Based on comprehensive research including thousands of Catherine’s own letters, Frieda unfurls Catherine’s story from her troubled childhood in Florence to her tumultuous marriage to Henry II of France; her transformation of French culture to her reign as a queen who would use brutality to ensure her children’s royal birthright. Brilliantly executed, this enthralling biography goes beyond myth to paint a very human portrait of this remarkable figure.

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