Read Books Online and Download eBooks, EPub, PDF, Mobi, Kindle, Text Full Free.
Download The Life And Times Of Catherine De Medici full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online The Life And Times Of Catherine De Medici ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!
Author : Mark Strage
Publisher : New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 424 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)
Download or read book Women of Power written by Mark Strage and published by New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. This book was released on 1976 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : R J Knecht
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317896866
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (178 download)
Download or read book Catherine de'Medici written by R J Knecht and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-16 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catherine de' Medici (1519-89) was the wife of one king of France and the mother of three more - the last, sorry representatives of the Valois, who had ruled France since 1328. She herself is of preeminent importance to French history, and one of the most controversial of all historical figures. Despised until she was powerful enough to be hated, she was, in her own lifetime and since, the subject of a "Black Legend" that has made her a favourite subject of historical novelists (most notably Alexandre Dumas, whose Reine Margot has recently had new currency on film). Yet there is no recent biography of her in English. This new study, by a leading scholar of Renaissance France, is a major event. Catherine, a neglected and insignificant member of the Florentine Medici, entered French history in 1533 when she married the son of Francis I for short-lived political reasons: her uncle was pope Clement VII, who died the following year. Now of no diplomatic value, Catherine was treated with contempt at the French court even after her husband's accession as Henry II in 1547. Even so, she gave him ten children before he was killed in a tournament in 1559. She was left with three young boys, who succeeded to the throne as Francis II (1559-60), Charles IX (1560-74) and Henry III (1574-89). As regent and queen-mother, a woman and with no natural power-base of her own, she faced impossible odds. France was accelerating into chaos, with political faction at court and religious conflict throughout the land. As the country disintegrated, Catherine's overriding concern was for the interests of her children. She was tireless in her efforts to protect her sons' inheritance, and to settle her daughters in advantageous marriages. But France needed more. Catherine herself was both peace-loving and, in an age of frenzied religious hatred, unbigoted. She tried to use the Huguenots to counterbalance the growing power of the ultra-Catholic Guises but extremism on all sides frustrated her. She was drawn into the violence. Her name is ineradicably associated with its culmination, the Massacre of St Bartholomew (24 August 1572), when thousands of Huguenots were slaughtered in Paris and elsewhere. To this day no-one knows for certain whether Catherine instigated the massacre or not, but here Robert Knecht explores the probabilities in a notably level-headed fashion. His book is a gripping narrative in its own right. It offers both a lucid exposition of immensely complex events (with their profound imact on the future of France), and also a convincing portrait of its enigmatic central character. In going behind the familiar Black Legend, Professor Knecht does not make the mistake of whitewashing Catherine; but he shows how intractable was her world, and how shifty or intransigent the people with whom she had to deal. For all her flaws, she emerges as a more sympathetic - and, in her pragmatism, more modern - figure than most of her leading contemporaries.
Author : Mary Hollingsworth
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1800244754
Total Pages : 568 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (2 download)
Download or read book Catherine de' Medici written by Mary Hollingsworth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-06-06 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new biography of Catherine de' Medici, the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe, whose author uses neglected primary sources to recreate the life and times of a remarkable – and remarkably traduced – woman. History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de' Medici, Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive French kings during that country's long sequence of sectarian wars in the second half of the sixteenth century. Thanks to the malign efforts of propagandists motivated by religious hatred, history tends to remember Catherine as a schemer who used witchcraft and poison to eradicate her rivals, as a spendthrift dilettante who wasted ruinous sums of money on building and embellishment of monuments and palaces, and most sinister of all, as instigator of the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of innocent Protestants were slaughtered by Catholic mobs. Mary Hollingsworth delves into contemporary archives to discover deeper truths behind these persistent myths. The correspondence of diplomats and Catherine's own letters reveal a woman who worked tirelessly to find a way for Catholics and Protestants to coexist in peace (a goal for which she continued to strive until the end of her life), who was well-informed on both literary and scientific matters, and whose patronage of the arts helped bring into being glorious châteaux and gardens, priceless work of art, and magnificent festivities combining theatre, music and ballet, which display the grandeur of the French court.
Author : Leonie Frieda
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0063235919
Total Pages : 466 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (632 download)
Download or read book Catherine de Medici written by Leonie Frieda and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inspiration for the STARZ original series, The Serpent Queen, premiering September 11. “A beautifully written portrait of a ruthless, subtle and fearless woman fighting for survival and power in a world of gangsterish brutality, routine assassination and religious mania. . . . Frieda has brought a largely forgotten heroine-villainess and a whole sumptuously vicious era back to life. . . . This is The Godfather meets Elizabeth.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar 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.
Author : Francis Watson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)
Download or read book The Life and Times of Catherine De' Medici written by Francis Watson and published by . This book was released on 1935 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : Leonie Frieda
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0060744936
Total Pages : 466 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (67 download)
Download or read book Catherine de Medici written by Leonie Frieda and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2006-03-14 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poisoner, despot, necromancer -- 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 to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds -- from a troubled childhood in Florence to her marriage to Henry, son of King Francis I of France; from her transformation of French culture to her fight to protect her throne and her sons' birthright. Based on thousands of private letters, it is a remarkable account of one of the most influential women ever to wear a crown.
Author : Francis Watson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 327 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (599 download)
Download or read book The Life and Times of Catherine de Medici written by Francis Watson and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : C. W. Gortner
Publisher : Random House Digital, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 0345501861
Total Pages : 488 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (455 download)
Download or read book The Confessions of Catherine de Medici written by C. W. Gortner and published by Random House Digital, Inc.. This book was released on 2010 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leaving her native Florence to marry Henry II of France, Catherine de Medici embarks on an unanticipated destiny of religious warfare, thwarted leadership and psychologically charged royal machinations. By the author of The Last Queen.
Author : Catherine Fletcher
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019061272X
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (96 download)
Download or read book The Black Prince of Florence written by Catherine Fletcher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family tree -- Glossary of names -- Timeline -- Map -- A note on money -- Prologue -- Book one: The bastard son -- Book two: The obedient nephew -- Book three: The prince alone -- Afterword: Alessandro's ethnicity.
Author : R J Knecht
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317896874
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (178 download)
Download or read book Catherine de'Medici written by R J Knecht and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-16 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catherine de' Medici (1519-89) was the wife of one king of France and the mother of three more - the last, sorry representatives of the Valois, who had ruled France since 1328. She herself is of preeminent importance to French history, and one of the most controversial of all historical figures. Despised until she was powerful enough to be hated, she was, in her own lifetime and since, the subject of a "Black Legend" that has made her a favourite subject of historical novelists (most notably Alexandre Dumas, whose Reine Margot has recently had new currency on film). Yet there is no recent biography of her in English. This new study, by a leading scholar of Renaissance France, is a major event. Catherine, a neglected and insignificant member of the Florentine Medici, entered French history in 1533 when she married the son of Francis I for short-lived political reasons: her uncle was pope Clement VII, who died the following year. Now of no diplomatic value, Catherine was treated with contempt at the French court even after her husband's accession as Henry II in 1547. Even so, she gave him ten children before he was killed in a tournament in 1559. She was left with three young boys, who succeeded to the throne as Francis II (1559-60), Charles IX (1560-74) and Henry III (1574-89). As regent and queen-mother, a woman and with no natural power-base of her own, she faced impossible odds. France was accelerating into chaos, with political faction at court and religious conflict throughout the land. As the country disintegrated, Catherine's overriding concern was for the interests of her children. She was tireless in her efforts to protect her sons' inheritance, and to settle her daughters in advantageous marriages. But France needed more. Catherine herself was both peace-loving and, in an age of frenzied religious hatred, unbigoted. She tried to use the Huguenots to counterbalance the growing power of the ultra-Catholic Guises but extremism on all sides frustrated her. She was drawn into the violence. Her name is ineradicably associated with its culmination, the Massacre of St Bartholomew (24 August 1572), when thousands of Huguenots were slaughtered in Paris and elsewhere. To this day no-one knows for certain whether Catherine instigated the massacre or not, but here Robert Knecht explores the probabilities in a notably level-headed fashion. His book is a gripping narrative in its own right. It offers both a lucid exposition of immensely complex events (with their profound imact on the future of France), and also a convincing portrait of its enigmatic central character. In going behind the familiar Black Legend, Professor Knecht does not make the mistake of whitewashing Catherine; but he shows how intractable was her world, and how shifty or intransigent the people with whom she had to deal. For all her flaws, she emerges as a more sympathetic - and, in her pragmatism, more modern - figure than most of her leading contemporaries.
Author :
Publisher : Capstone
ISBN 13 : 9780756515812
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (158 download)
Download or read book Catherine de Medici written by and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2005 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the life and accomplishments of the queen who worked to achieve peace between French Protestants and Catholics during the reigns of her husband, King Henry II of France, and her sons.
Author : Carolyn Meyer
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 0547539037
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (475 download)
Download or read book Duchessina written by Carolyn Meyer and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times-bestselling author:She is the wealthiest and most envied girl in all of Italy—but she yearns for freedom… 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 sixteenth-century France's most powerful queens, in this riveting historical novel in the Young Royals series. “This captivating tale of the rise of this Italian merchant family is seldom portrayed, and it plays out delightfully in this well-written novel.”—School Library Journal “A sympathetic, engrossing portrait of a noble girl who, later in life, became a feared queen…With meticulous historical detail, sensitive characterizations, and Catherine's strong narration, Meyer's memorable story of a fascinating young woman who relies on her intelligence, rather than her beauty, will hit home with many teens.”—Booklist Includes a family tree
Author : Milton Waldman
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781436694896
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (948 download)
Download or read book Biography of a Family: Catherine de Medici and Her Children written by Milton Waldman and published by . This book was released on 2008-06-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
Author : Nancy Goldstone
Publisher : Little, Brown
ISBN 13 : 0316409677
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (164 download)
Download or read book The Rival Queens written by Nancy Goldstone and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2015-06-23 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The riveting true story of mother-and-daughter queens Catherine de' Medici and Marguerite de Valois, whose wildly divergent personalities and turbulent relationship changed the shape of their tempestuous and dangerous century. Set in magnificent Renaissance France, this is the story of two remarkable women, a mother and daughter driven into opposition by a terrible betrayal that threatened to destroy the realm. Catherine de' Medici was a ruthless pragmatist and powerbroker who dominated the throne for thirty years. Her youngest daughter Marguerite, the glamorous "Queen Margot," was a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother could neither intimidate nor control. When Catherine forces the Catholic Marguerite to marry her Protestant cousin Henry of Navarre against her will, and then uses her opulent Parisian wedding as a means of luring his followers to their deaths, she creates not only savage conflict within France but also a potent rival within her own family. Rich in detail and vivid prose, Goldstone's narrative unfolds as a thrilling historical epic. Treacherous court politics, poisonings, inter-national espionage, and adultery form the background to a story that includes such celebrated figures as Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Nostradamus. The Rival Queens is a dangerous tale of love, betrayal, ambition, and the true nature of courage, the echoes of which still resonate.
Author : Jean Plaidy
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 145168620X
Total Pages : 399 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (516 download)
Download or read book Madame Serpent written by Jean Plaidy and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-07-03 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fictional account of Catherine de' Medici, the fourteen-year-old reluctant Italian bride to the second son of the King of France, Henry, during the sixteenth-century.
Author : Honoré de Balzac
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 442 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (321 download)
Download or read book About Catherine De' Medici written by Honoré de Balzac and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : Estelle Paranque
Publisher : Hachette Books
ISBN 13 : 0306830531
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (68 download)
Download or read book Blood, Fire & Gold written by Estelle Paranque and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2022-12-06 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, "10 BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF 2022"** **HISTORY TODAY, "BOOKS OF THE YEAR (2022)"** A brilliant and beautifully written deep dive into the complicated relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici, two of the most powerful women in Renaissance Europe who shaped each other as profoundly as they shaped the course of history. Sixteenth-century Europe was a hostile world dominated by court politics and patriarchal structures, and yet against all odds, two women rose to power: Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. One a young Virgin Queen who ruled her kingdom alone, and the other a more experienced and clandestine leader who used her children to shape the dynasties of Europe, much has been written about these shrewd and strategic sovereigns. But though their individual legacies have been heavily scrutinized, nothing has been said of their complicated relationship—thirty years of camaraderie, competition, and conflict that forever changed the face of Europe. In Blood, Fire, and Gold, historian Estelle Paranque offers a new way of looking at two of history's most powerful women: through the eyes of the other. Drawing on their private correspondence and brand-new research, Paranque shows how Elizabeth and Catherine navigated through uncharted waters that both united and divided their kingdoms, maneuvering between opposing political, religious, and social objectives—all while maintaining unprecedented power over their respective domains. Though different in myriad ways, their fates and lives remained intertwined of the course of three decades, even as the European geo-politics repeatedly set them against one another. Whether engaged in bloody battles or peaceful accords, Elizabeth and Catherine admired the force and resilience of the other, while never forgetting that they were, first and foremost, each other's true rival. This is a story of two remarkable visionaries: a story of blood, fire, and gold. It is also a tale of ceaseless calculation, of love and rivalry, of war and wisdom, and—above all else—of the courage and sacrifice it takes to secure and sustain power as a woman in a male-dominated world. A Times' "Book of the Week"
