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Author: Elizabeth C Goldsmith
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1586488902
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
The Mancini Sisters, Marie and Hortense, were born in Rome, brought to the court of Louis XIV of France, and strategically married off by their uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, to secure his political power base. Such was the life of many young women of the age: they had no independent status under the law and were entirely a part of their husband's property once married. Marie and Hortense, however, had other ambitions in mind altogether. Miserable in their marriages and determined to live independently, they abandoned their husbands in secret and began lives of extraordinary daring on the run and in the public eye. The beguiling sisters quickly won the affections of noblemen and kings alike. Their flight became popular fodder for salon conversation and tabloids, and was closely followed by seventeenth-century European society. The Countess of Grignan remarked that they were traveling "like two heroines out of a novel." Others gossiped that they "were roaming the countryside in pursuit of wandering lovers. "Their scandalous behavior -- disguising themselves as men, gambling, and publicly disputing with their husbands -- served as more than just entertainment. It sparked discussions across Europe concerning the legal rights of husbands over their wives. Elizabeth Goldsmith's vibrant biography of the Mancini sisters -- drawn from personal papers of the players involved and the tabloids of the time -- illuminates the lives of two pioneering free spirits who were feminists long before the word existed.
Author: Elizabeth C Goldsmith
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1586488902
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Mancini Sisters, Marie and Hortense, were born in Rome, brought to the court of Louis XIV of France, and strategically married off by their uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, to secure his political power base. Such was the life of many young women of the age: they had no independent status under the law and were entirely a part of their husband's property once married. Marie and Hortense, however, had other ambitions in mind altogether. Miserable in their marriages and determined to live independently, they abandoned their husbands in secret and began lives of extraordinary daring on the run and in the public eye. The beguiling sisters quickly won the affections of noblemen and kings alike. Their flight became popular fodder for salon conversation and tabloids, and was closely followed by seventeenth-century European society. The Countess of Grignan remarked that they were traveling "like two heroines out of a novel." Others gossiped that they "were roaming the countryside in pursuit of wandering lovers. "Their scandalous behavior -- disguising themselves as men, gambling, and publicly disputing with their husbands -- served as more than just entertainment. It sparked discussions across Europe concerning the legal rights of husbands over their wives. Elizabeth Goldsmith's vibrant biography of the Mancini sisters -- drawn from personal papers of the players involved and the tabloids of the time -- illuminates the lives of two pioneering free spirits who were feminists long before the word existed.
Author: Tracy Adams
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271086424
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 144
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Book Description
Kings throughout medieval and early modern Europe had extraconjugal sexual partners. Only in France, however, did the royal mistress become a quasi-institutionalized political position. This study explores the emergence and development of the position of French royal mistress through detailed portraits of nine of its most significant incumbents: Agnès Sorel, Anne de Pisseleu d’Heilly, Diane de Poitiers, Gabrielle d’Estrées, Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Françoise d’Aubigné, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, and Jeanne Bécu. Beginning in the fifteenth century, key structures converged to create a space at court for the royal mistress. The first was an idea of gender already in place: that while women were legally inferior to men, they were men’s equals in competence. Because of their legal subordinacy, queens were considered to be the safest regents for their husbands, and, subsequently, the royal mistress was the surest counterpoint to the royal favorite. Second, the Renaissance was a period during which people began to experience space as theatrical. This shift to a theatrical world opened up new ways of imagining political guile, which came to be positively associated with the royal mistress. Still, the role had to be activated by an intelligent, charismatic woman associated with a king who sought women as advisors. The fascinating particulars of each case are covered in the chapters of this book. Thoroughly researched and compellingly narrated, this important study explains why the tradition of a politically powerful royal mistress materialized at the French court, but nowhere else in Europe. It will appeal to anyone interested in the history of the French monarchy, women and royalty, and gender studies.
Author: Emma Campion
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307589277
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 466
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Book Description
History has not been kind to Alice Perrers, the notorious mistress of King Edward III. Scholars and contemporaries alike have deemed her a manipulative woman who used her great beauty and sensuality to take advantage of an aging and increasingly senile king. But who was the woman behind the scandal? A cold-hearted opportunist or someone fighting for her very survival? Like most girls of her era Alice is taught obedience in all things. At the age of fourteen she marries the man her father chooses for her, dutifully accepting the cost of being torn from the family she holds so dear and losing the love of her mother forever. Despite these heartbreaks Alice finds that merchant Janyn Perrers is a good and loving husband and the two settle into a happy life together. Their bliss is short-lived, however, unraveled the dark day a messenger appears at Alice's door and notifies her of Janyn's sudden disappearance. In the wake of this tragedy, Alice learns that her husband kept many dangerous secrets--secrets that result in a price on her own head and that of her beloved daughter. Her only chance to survive lies in the protection of King Edward and Queen Philippa, but she therefore must live at court as a virtual prisoner. When she is singled out by the king for more than just royal patronage, the stakes are raised. Disobeying Edward is not an option, not when her family is at risk, but the court is full of ambitious men and women, many of whom will stop at nothing to see her fall fron grace. The whispers and gossip abound, isolating Alice, who finds unexpected solace in her love for the king. Emma Campion paints a colorful and thrilling portrait of the court of Edward III--with all of its extravagance, scandalous love affairs, political machinations, and murder--and the devastating results of being singled out by the royal family. At the center of the storm is Alice, surviving by her wits in this dangerous world where the choices are not always of her own making. Emma Campion's dazzling novel shows that there is always another side to the story.
Author: Claudia Gold
Publisher: Quercus Books
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
Her nickname amongst the English, who loathed her and found her scrawny, was 'The Maypole'.
Author: Anne Easter Smith
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451648634
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 512
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Book Description
From the author of A Rose for the Crown and Daughter of York comes another engrossing historical novel of the York family in the Wars of the Roses, telling the fascinating story of the rise and fall of the final and favorite mistress of Edward IV. Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows King Edward will find her irresistible. Edward IV has everything: power, majestic bearing, superior military leadership, a sensual nature, and charisma. And with Jane as his mistress, he also finds true happiness. But when his hedonistic tendencies get in the way of being the strong leader England needs, his life, as well as those of Jane and Will Hastings, hangs in the balance. Jane must rely on her talents to survive as the new monarch, Richard III, bent on reforming his brother’s licentious court, ascends the throne. This dramatic tale has been an inspiration to poets and playwrights for five hundred years, and, as told through the unique perspective of a woman plucked from obscurity and thrust into a life of notoriety, Royal Mistress is sure to enthrall today’s historical fiction lovers as well.
Author: Emma Darcy
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 145921109X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
Nathan King, powerful head of his legendary family's cattle empire, has everything-except a woman to share his life. Miranda Wade has nothing -- except a past she is determined to leave behind, and the hope that her new job at King's Eden will give her a fresh start. Their two lives collide! Nathan wants her, but doubts she will cope with outback life. Miranda wants him, but believes her past will deny her any chance at a future with a King. The tension -- the need -- between them is overwhelming, regardless of where it might lead.
Author: Caroline Graham
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781857821062
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 296
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Book Description
Eventyret om hvordan den uskyldige ungdomsforelskelse mellem overklassepigen Camilla og prinsen af Wales udviklede sig til en kærlighedshistorie der - foreløbig - har varet i 25 år
Author: Tracy Borman
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0099549174
Category : Countesses
Languages : en
Pages : 338
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Book Description
Henrietta Howard, later Countess of Suffolk, was the long-term mistress and confidante of King George II. Described by Swift as a consummate courtier who packed away her private virtues& like cloaths in a chest , by Pope as so very reasonable, so unmov
Author: Kathleen Wellman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300178859
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
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Book Description
Tells the history of the French Renaissance through the lives of its most prominent queens and mistresses.
Author: Sandy Blair
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781543047240
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
"Sandy Blair shows once again that she is the queen of Scottish romance. The King's Mistress is an entertaining tapestry of intrigue, humor, and heart-rending emotion that will stay with the reader long after she turns the final page. Unforgettable!" Lorraine Heath, New York Times bestselling author of WAKING UP WITH THE DUKE Inspired by actual events in 1285 Scotland, The King's Mistress is a tale of mistaken identity laced with intrigue, humor, and passion not easily forgotten. Britt Mackinnon, captain of the king's guard, holds a secret which estranged him from his family. He now has the onerous task of fetching back to Edinburgh the king's mistress - something that infuriates him since Scotland desperately needs a legitimate heir and their new queen has yet to conceive thanks to his king's dalliance. Genene Armstrong would do anything to protect her promiscuous twin sister, who ran from court upon discovering she's pregnant with the king's bastard. Should their barren queen discover this, Genene fears her sister will be murdered. When a handsome soldier suddenly arrives with orders to bring her twin back to court, Genene, totally unprepared for the role, claims to be the woman he's seeking. Lies built upon lies soon collapse and Genene and Britt quickly find themselves running for their lives.
