Love the Medieval or Renaissance eras? This be the place I post reviews, faire news, and anything else of those times that catches mine eye, so sit you down and enjoy!
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
