Biography: royalty Books

Book SynopsisThis book presents the fascinating story of Queen Margrete I and her rise to power in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Her political ambitions culminated in the founding of the Nordic Union in 1397, which had vital impact on the history of Scandinavia for the next centuries. The book analyses the most central sources and gives a vivid picture of medieval society in Denmark during the late Middle Ages. At the same time the book describes the character of this dynamic woman, who is considered as one of the most important rulers in the Middle Ages. Only a very small part of the literature concerning Scandinavian medieval history has been published in English, and this book gives for the first time foreign readers the opportunity to read about the background to the founding of the Nordic Union. The text is well illustrated.Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations List of Illustrations Preface 1. Denmark during the reign of Valdemar IV Atterdag 2. The struggle for the crown of Denmark 3. Society, class and government 4. Pirates and commercial war against the Hanseatic League 5. The great herring market in Scania 6. The counts of Holstein and southern Jutland 7. The flight for the crown of Sweden 8. Catastrophe and reconstruction 9. "victory in the hands of a woman" 10. The consolidation of power 11. Queen Margrete as legislator 12. The Nordic Union 1397 13. The struggle for Gtoland and the final surrender of Stockholm 14.State and Church 15. Queen Margrete's religious gifts and donations 16. Chancellor and bishop- the career of Peder Jensen Lodehat 17. The struggle for Gotland and the mystery of the false King oluf 18. A royal wedding 19. The queen's letter of 1405 20. The Slesvig-Holstein problem 21. The death of Queen Margrete 22. A royal game of chess 23. Art, education and literature 24. Everyday life in teh country and the towns 25. Assessments of Queen Margrete through the centuries Sources and Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisRuslan Grigor'evitch Skrynnikov unfolds the drama of terror under Ivan the Terrible and his oprichnina. He uses new kinds of evidence paying close attention to primary sources. The conflicts between Ivan and the gentry, the crushing of Novgorod autonomy, the ways in which Ivan interpreted his authority and sought to create an alternative base of power in a loyal body of henchmen-followers known as the oprichnina, the alienation of different groups in society from the government, the impoverishment and weakening of whole regions leading to the Time of Troubles are among the themes that Skrynnikov develops. The details of Ivan’s confrontations with those he perceived as opponents, the forms of execution he inflicted on his enemies, the atmosphere of peril and suspicion that he created justify the description of his reign as one of terror, relevant of course to later periods of history with obvious echoes of the Stalinist period.

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Book SynopsisIn The Identities of Catherine de' Medici, Susan Broomhall provides an innovative analysis of the representational strategies that constructed Catherine de’ Medici and sought to explain her behaviour and motivations. Through her detailed exploration of the identities that the queen, her allies, supporters, and clients sought to project, and how contemporaries responded to them, Broomhall establishes a new vision of this important sixteenth-century protagonist, a clearer understanding of the dialogic and dynamic nature of identity construction and reception, and its consequences for Catherine de' Medici’s legacy, memory, and historiography.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Introduction  1 Scholarly Contexts  2 Sources  3 Book Structure 1 Heir: The Medici Legacy  1 Caterina Maria, Child Bride of the Medici  2 Feelings for the Medici  3 Liberality and Dissimulation: Catherine’s ‘Medici’ Emotions  4 Asserting Rights to Medici Financial Inheritance  5 Conclusions 2 Partner: The King’s Representative  1 Intimacy with the King  2 Representing a King  3 Henri’s Everlasting Partner  4 Conclusions 3 Mother: Raising Son-Kings  1 Ventriloquising the Father  2 Bonds of Devotion  3 A Life of Sacrifice  4 Conclusions 4 Friend and Ally: Nurturing Daughter-Queens  1 Intimacy and the Confessions of a Mother  2 Consorts as Daughters of France  3 Allies of the Family  4 A Daughter’s Hopes of a Mother  5 Conclusions 5 Chief Mourner of the Valois: The Exclusivity of Intimacy  1 Mourning as a Solitary Affliction I: The Widowed Partner of Henri  2 Mourning as a Solitary Affliction II: The Mother of Deceased Children  3 Mourning as Motivating Action  4 Keeper of Memory  5 Conclusions 6 Carer: Production and Investment as Protection of France  1 Countess of Clermont  2 A Demonstrable Practice of Care  3 The Pride of France  4 A Charitable Labour of Love  5 Protection, Investment, and Development of France  6 Conclusions: Who Cares? 7 Murderer: Histories of Violent Emotions  1 The Violence of Emotions  2 Narrating Catherine’s Emotions  3 Conclusions: Speaking for the Queen 8 Spiritual Sister: The Community of Le Murate  1 Enclosure: A Hostage of the Florentine Government  2 Providers of Reciprocal Assistance  3 Community and Memory  4 Conclusions Conclusions Bibliography  Primary Sources  Secondary Sources Index

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Book SynopsisThe queenship of the first European Renaissance queen regnant never ceases to fascinate. Was she a saint or a bigoted zealot? A pious wife or the one wearing the pants? Was she ultimately responsible for genocide? A case has been made to canonize her. Does she deserve to be called Saint Isabel? As different groups from fascists to feminists continue to fight over Isabel as cultural capital, we ask which (if any) of these recyclings are legitimate or appropriate. Or has this figure taken on a life of her own? Contributors to this volume: Roger Boase, David A. Boruchoff, John Edwards, Emily Francomano, Edward Friedman, Cristina Guardiola-Griffiths, Michelle Hamilton, Elizabeth Teresa Howe, Hilaire Kallendorf, William D. Phillips, Jr., Nuria Silleras-Fernandez, Caroline Travalia, and Jessica Weiss.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction: Inventing Isabel   Hilaire Kallendorf 2 Isabel, Her Chroniclers, and the Inquisition: Self-Fashioning and Historical Memory   David A. Boruchoff 3 The Learning of Ladies at the Isabelline Court   Elizabeth Teresa Howe 4 Isabel I of Castile and Saintly Propaganda: Interpreting the St. Anne Retable in the Capilla del Condestable   Cristina Guardiola-Griffiths 5 Art Patronized and Collected by Queen Isabel   Jessica Weiss 6 Ludic Dimensions of Courtly Love at the Court of Isabel la Católica   Roger Boase 7 Isabel of Castile and the Opening of the Atlantic   William D. Phillips, Jr. 8 Hostile Histories: Isabel and Fernando in Jewish and Muslim Narratives   Michelle M. Hamilton 9 Windows into Souls: Isabel, Religion, and the Spanish Inquisition   John Edwards 10 Isabel’s Years of Sorrow: Consoling the Catholic Queen   Nuria Silleras-Fernandez 11 Staging the Queen: Lope de Vega Reads Isabel la Católica   Edward H. Friedman 12 The Legend of Isabel la Católica, Founder of Spain   Caroline Travalia 13 Isabel la Católica for the 21st Century: Popular and Political Recreations   Emily C. Francomano Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Mary Queen of Scots: The First Biography, Ronald Santangeli has recovered a long-forgotten document of great historiographical, literary and cultural importance. Written in 1624 in Neo-Latin by George Con, a young expatriate Scot in Rome, the Vita Mariae Stuartae is worthy of study, both for its content and its literary dimension. The fully recensed Latin text is presented with a meticulous translation into English and a fully-annotated commentary. The image Con creates of the Scottish Queen has prevailed in European cultural representations from poetry and drama to novels, paintings and opera, while Con's own meteoric career highlights the impact on seventeenth-century Catholic Europe by members of the Scottish diaspora. A significant addition to Marian and Scottish Neo-Latin studies.Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgments List of Figures Introduction Part 1 A Brief Life: George Con (c. 1598–1640) 1 Two Baroque Tombs 2 From Douai to Bologna 3 The Nexus of Patronage 4 The Young Diplomat 5 London and the Court of Queen Henrietta 6 Return to Rome Afterword Part 2 Con and the Counter-Reformation 7 Con versus Buchanan 8 Con’s Account of the Execution of Mary 9 Stands Scotland Where It Did? Part 3 Vita Mariae Stuartae 10 The Biography and Con’s Sources 11 Con’s Latin 12 The Speeches Note on Latin Text  The Latin Transcription Note on Translation and Commentary Part 4 Vita Mariae Stuartae / The Life of Mary Stuart Dedicatory Preface The Life of MARY STUART Queen of Scotland, Dowager Queen of France, Heir to the Throne of England and of Ireland Appendix 1: The Latin Epitaphs of Thomas Chambers to George Con Appendix 2: The Diamond Poem Appendix 3: The Bastard’s Visit to Mary in France: Lesley’s Account Appendix 4: The Mission of Nicholas de Gouda Appendix 5: George Con’s account of the Battle of Glenlivet Appendix 6: The Enforced Abdication of Mary: Blackwood’s Account Appendix 7: Bassiano Gatti’s Poema Heroico Maria Regina di Scozia Bibliography Index

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