Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens"Superb.... A perceptive, suspenseful account." --The New York Times Book Review "Dunn demythologizes Elizabeth and Mary. In humanizing their dynamic and shifting relationship, Dunn describes it as fueled by both rivalry and their natural solidarity as women in an overwhelmingly masculine world." --Boston Herald The political and religious conflicts between Queen Elizabeth I and the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots, have for centuries captured our imagination and inspired memorable dramas played out on stage, screen, and in opera. But few books have brought to life more vividly the exquisite texture of two women’s rivalry, spurred on by the ambitions and machinations of the forceful men who surrounded them. The drama has terrific resonance even now as women continue to struggle in their bid for executive power. Against the backdrop of sixteenth-century England, Scotland, and France, Dunn paints portraits of a pair of protagonists whose formidable strengths were placed in relentless opposition. Protestant Elizabeth, the bastard daughter of Anne Boleyn, whose legitimacy had to be vouchsafed by legal means, glowed with executive ability and a visionary energy as bright as her red hair. Mary, the Catholic successor whom England’s rivals wished to see on the throne, was charming, feminine, and deeply persuasive. That two such women, queens in their own right, should have been contemporaries and neighbours sets in motion a joint biography of rare spark and page-turning power. |
Contents
| 3 | |
The Disappointment of Kings | 37 |
The Education of Princes | 68 |
Apprenticeship for a Queen | 105 |
Wilfulness and Gods Will | 141 |
SEVEN | 210 |
NINE | 278 |
Singular Foes | 353 |
TWELVE | 392 |
Notes | 417 |
Select Bibliography | 437 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
alliance ambitions Anne Anne Boleyn beth Bothwell Bothwell's brother Burghley Camden Cardinal of Lorraine Castle Catherine de Medici Catholic Cecil claim court cousin crown danger Darnley's daughter death Diane de Poitiers Duc de Guise Duke Earl Edinburgh Eliza Elizabeth and Mary emotional English throne fact father favour favourite fear foreign France François French heart heir Henry Henry VIII Henry's honour hope husband Ibid imprisonment King kingdom Labanoff Lady Leicester Lennox Lethington letter lives Lord Robert Lord Robert Dudley Majesty marriage marry Mary of Guise Mary Queen Mary Stuart Mary's meant monarch Moray mother Mumby murder natural never Norfolk Papers passion Philip political prince princess Protestant Queen Elizabeth Queen of Scotland Queen of Scots Randolph rebels recognised reign religion reputation Riccio Robert Dudley royal rumours Scottish Scottish Queen seemed Seymour sister Spain Spanish ambassador threat Throckmorton tion treason Tudor Venetian wife woman women wrote