Young Queens: The gripping, intertwined story of Catherine de' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary, Queen of Scots

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Men’s fertility also declines with age — here’s what to know if you’re planning to wait to have kids Catherine de' Medici's story begins in a convent stormed by soldiers intent on seizing the key to power in Florence – Catherine herself, a girl barely 11 years old. It ends with her as the controversial queen mother of France, a woman both revered and reviled. Was it in Clarice’s home, too, that she first learned something of her mother’s family? The Medici were too starved for blue blood not to have relished Madeleine’s vaunted ancestry, their link to the French royal family. Through her own mother, Madeleine sprang from a branch of the Bourbons. The second family in the kingdom of France, the Bourbons descended from the sainted crusading king, Louis IX. Known as the “princes of the blood,” the Bourbons were poised to inherit the French throne if ever the current Valois dynasty died out. King Francis I and his fertile wife Claude had already produced enough sons to ensure a Valois king in the next generation, but the Bourbons were nonetheless powerful and beloved by French subjects, revered for their ancient bloodlines. King Francis had kept his promise to the Medici indeed when he delivered Madeleine, a Bourbon, to the altar at Amboise in 1518.10 By 1525, the Italian Wars had brought King Francis to new lows. In February of that year, Charles V’s Imperial troops pummeled French battalions in the disastrous battle at Pavia, slaughtering the flower of French nobility and sending Francis himself into Spanish captivity. Although the exact timing remains unclear, it was likely from his Spanish prison that Francis wrote to his trusted counselor and general, John Stewart, Duke of Albany, urging him to visit the new pope. While in Rome, suggested Francis, Albany might make a little side trip to the Strozzi villa. As it turned out, death came for the pope first. Leo X expired suddenly on December 1, 1521, just weeks after endorsing Charles V’s claim to Milan. The new pope, Hadrian VI, was a Dutchman with no interest in Medici affairs or their infant children. Slipping the Ring of the Fisherman on his finger, Hadrian left Catherine nestled in the bosom of the Strozzi household. For a brief but blissful few years, she was mostly forgotten.

Having ascended to the throne at the tender age of 25 after the passing of her father, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II was the longest reigning monarch in British history. Young Queens takes us into the hearts and minds of three extraordinary women. Leah Redmond Chang's meticulous research and engaging prose gives each of them their due, providing a rich and nuanced perspective on the challenges they faced and the remarkable legacies they left behind Chang has provided a remarkable account of women’s place in power and their struggles and challenges. Each of these women experienced distinctly unique problems, while also undergoing familiar prejudices that still exist. Young Queens is a fascinating read for history lovers as well as those who enjoy political and courtly intrigue." — David Arndt, The Free Lance-Star Catherine, Mary and Elisabeth lived at the French court together for many years before scattering to different kingdoms. These years bound them to one another through blood and marriage, alliance and friendship, love and filial piety; bonds that were tested when the women were forced to part and take on new roles. To rule, they would learn, was to wage a constant war against the deeply entrenched misogyny of their time. A crown could exalt a young woman. Equally, it could destroy her.Orphaned from infancy, Catherine de’ Medici endured a tumultuous childhood. Married to the French king, she was widowed by forty, only to become the power behind the French throne during a period of intense civil strife. In 1546, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Elisabeth de Valois, who would become Queen of Spain. Two years later, Catherine welcomed to her nursery the beguiling young Mary Queen of Scots, who would later become her daughter-in-law. Unlike the two long-lived Elizabeths, Mary II died only five years later, provoking public outpourings of grief at the untimely death of their young queen. Mary’s unexpected death also left her grieving husband William III, with whom she had shared the dual monarchy, to rule alone.

When did the child Caterina learn of this exalted inheritance? What did she ask about her mother? An Italian diplomat once gushed that Madeleine was “beautiful and wise … gracious and very worthy,” words that extol and yet say very little.11 No doubt the young Caterina learned of Madeleine’s wealth, of her vast, rolling estates in Auvergne. Perhaps she saw a portrait. As with so much of Madeleine’s life, we can’t be sure of what she looked like. One painting now hanging in the Uffizi is sometimes said to be of Madeleine. A slim girl, straight and stylish in her dark velvet bodice and opulent red sleeves, looks out from under a French hood. Her hair is auburn and her cheeks round. Her eyes are blue. Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power – a guide to the expanded world of Middle-earth in J.R.R Tolkein’s other books

Her son Charles is now experiencing that same combination of mourning for the loss of a beloved parent while simultaneously being catapulted into the role of monarch and head of state. King Charles III had 70 years to prepare for this moment and a lifetime to act with the greater freedom of the heir. February 6, 1952 was the day that changed Queen Elizabeth’s life forever: her father, King George VI, suddenly died at their Norfolk home of Sandringham. With his passing came a transfer of power to his daughter. She was only 25 years old.

This was a quid pro quo. Pope Leo had the power to vest Francis with Milan. In exchange, the French king offered the Medici royal support and aristocratic prestige, which he knew the Medici had coveted for generations. Alluring, gripping, real: an astonishing insight into the lives of three queens, stepping out from the shadows of the patriarchy—we meet them on their own terms." — Alice Roberts, author of Ancestors and Buried Young Queens takes us into the hearts and minds of three extraordinary women. Leah Redmond Chang’s meticulous research and engaging prose give each of them their due, providing a rich and nuanced perspective on the challenges they faced and the remarkable legacies they left behind.” — Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire At the time of this meeting, Mary was just 18 to Knox’s 45. Her experience as a young queen navigating power, along with that of her first mother-in-law, Catherine de’ Medici, Queen of France, and Catherine’s daughter Elisabeth Valois, Queen of Spain, is the subject of Leah Redmond Chang’s book. It explores a 40-year period stretching from the young Catherine’s years as a hostage of Florence’s last republican government, to Elisabeth’s untimely death and Mary’s imprisonment. Catherine, the longest-lived of the three, is a presence throughout, switching from young queen to sometimes-overbearing mother figure. This is an intriguing approach to 16th-century queenship, an area that is hardly short of studies, and all the more so for its choice of subjects. In September 1517, he wrote to the young Lorenzo II de’ Medici, scion of the Florentine banking clan and the pope’s nephew. “I hope … to marry you to some beautiful and great lady,” he ventured, “one who would be a relative of mine and of great lineage so that the love I bear you would grow and strengthen even more.” “I would have no greater desire,” replied a coy Lorenzo, “than to take this lady from Your Majesty’s hand.”*2The boldly original, dramatic intertwined story of Catherine de' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary, Queen of Scots – three queens exercising power in a world dominated by men. Sixteenth-century Europe: Renaissance masters paint the ceilings of Florentine churches, kings battle for control of the Continent, and the Reformation forever changes the religious organisation of society. Amidst it all, three young women come of age and into power in an era of empires and revolutions. The Queen met every one of Britain’s prime ministers during her lifetime – beginning with wartime leader, Sir Winston Churchill. She met her final British prime minister, Liz Truss, at her Balmoral residence in Scotland in a landmark break from tradition, after it was recommended the monarch avoid travel.