The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom

by Nancy Goldstone

Overview

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, international 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316409667
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	04/19/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	118,709
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Nancy Goldstone's previous books include The Maid and the Queen: The Secret History of Joan of Arc; Four Queens: The Provençal Sisters Who Ruled Europe; and The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily. She has also coauthored five books with her husband, Lawrence Goldstone. She lives in Sagaponack, New York.

Table of Contents

Selected Genealogy of the French Royal Family 2

Introduction: Paris, the Church of Notre-Dame, August 18, 1572 3

Part I Margot's Mother, Catherine de' Medici

1 "The Queen, My Mother" 11

2 The King Is Dead, Long Live the King 31

3 The Queen and the Colloquy 50

4 A Short War… 67

5 …And a Long Trip 77

Part II Catherine's Daughter Marguerite de Valois

6 The Flying Squadron 99

7 Fall from Grace 118

8 The Marriage Trap 133

9 Queen Margot 151

10 Queen of Paris 176

11 Of Mignons and Mistresses 197

12 The Great Escape 213

13 A Royal Hostage 231

14 Queen of Spies 245

15 Royal Rivalries 263

16 Queen of Navarre 280

Part III The Rival Queens

17 The Lovers's War 293

18 A Royal Scandal 309

19 The Queen's Revolt 327

20 Prisoner of War 343

21 Three Funerals and a Mass 356

22 The Return of the Queen 370

Epilogue 387

Acknowledgments 391

Notes 393

Selected Bibliography 417

Illustration Credits 421

Index 423

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/04/2015
Goldstone (The Lady Queen) upends conventional thought with this well-researched and well-written book, arguing that Catherine de’ Medici (1519–1589), the French queen mother, was less Machiavellian in nature than generally believed and that she reacted to geopolitical situations with disastrous results for both her family and France. As a Catholic “power broker,” de’ Medici manipulated friends and rivals in her meticulous plan to ensure the marriage of her reluctant daughter Marguerite marriage to a French Huguenot (Protestant) prince—then just as carefully had the new husband’s wedding party slaughtered four days later. While this was clearly a ploy to combat the threat of a rising Protestantantism, it created an untenable political situation in France. For her part, Marguerite showed considerable intellect and negotiating skills as she maneuvered around religions, powerful French families, and constantly shifting political terrain while being sabotaged by her family and husband. Goldstone’s witty comments make this historical family drama as easy to read as the best fiction, but it’s all the more tragic for being true. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"One of the challenges facing any historian of this period is the sheer profusion of themes that need to be handled...What makes Goldstone's biography so enjoyable is that she manages, thanks to the clarity of her presentation, to lead readers through this labyrinth with a sure and steady hand...She is a popular historian whose writing is based on very serious research, with a gift for telling the most complicated tale in vivid, accessible prose." —Anka Muhlstein, New York Review of Books

"Riveting." —Isabella Biedenharn, Entertainment Weekly

"What makes this account so convincing is not the evidence mustered, but the intuition applied....Margot, Catherine, Henry and various villains jump from the page in living, breathing, fornicating reality...an intriguing story, handsomely told." —Gerard DeGroot, The Times of London

"Tudor fans will be lured by this history set in Renaissance France." —Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today

"The 16th century, Nancy Goldstone notes in her gripping new biography, was the great age of queens...Goldstone wears her scholarship with flair; perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the story, which moves with the sharp characterization of a novel, is that it is entirely true." —Lisa Hilton, BBC History Magazine

"Riveting....In The Rival Queens, lovers are killed, assassination attempts are thwarted, and Marguerite endures enough close escapes to fill a series of action thrillers."
—Patricia Treble, Macleans

"The queens Goldstone writes about weren't just any 16th-century queens; these women engaged in love affairs, group sex, killing sprees, and much, much more. Goldstone researched these royal families exhaustively and boiled what she learned down to a book that reads like a transcript of the latest season of Real Housewives but with higher stakes (life or death)."
—Emma Morgenstern, Modern Notion Daily Podcast

"The Rival Queens is well written and thoroughly researched. It reads more like a novel than a biography—and that can be a good thing....A great cautionary note about the subterfuges that can be involved in the pursuit of power...Goldstone's book reminds us that the more things change, the more they remain the same."—NLB Horton, Vail Daily

"A highly dramatic dual biography.... If serious history readers believe that Tudor England is the only place where family and religious conflict at the highest level makes riveting reading matter, those folks need to take a close look across the English Channel and see what was transpiring at the same time in the French court.... The French contemporary to Elizabeth I was Queen Catherine de' Medici, widow of King Henri II and mother to three kings after him.... Tudor struggles pale in comparison! Read this along with Antonia Fraser's classic Mary Queen of Scots."
—Brad Hooper, Booklist (Starred Review)

"This is a story of espionage, assassination, intrigue, and chicanery but also one that poignantly reminds readers of the vulnerabilities faced by women of the age....Readers are sure to be captivated by the lush details of these women's lives."—Library Journal

"Goldstone's witty comments make this historical family drama as easy to read as the best fiction, but it's all the more tragic for being true.... Goldstone upends conventional thought with this well-researched and well-written book."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"A thrilling tale packed with historical details and shocking revelations. Nancy Goldstone writes with cinematic clarity and eloquently brings to life two indomitable women whose ambitions changed the course of European history."—Ivana Lowell, author of Why Not Say What Happened?

"The Rival Queens is a gripping tale of royal feuds and divided kingdoms. Goldstone has lovingly restored the reputation of Marguerite de Valois; revealing her to be a woman of passion and drive whose fierce loyalties burned bright until the day she died."—Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire and Georgiana

"[Goldstone] spins a tangled tale of rivalry, ambition, and, especially—for the rare women leaders of the time—sheer self-preservation...Goldstone has a remarkable handle on these often Byzantine royal machinations. History brought to vivid life in the characters of these women of purpose."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/15/2015
This engrossing, action-packed narrative immerses readers in a tumultuous period of European history. Prolific biographer Goldstone (The Lady Queen) turns her attention to France, focusing on the poisonous rivalry between the powerful Catherine de Medici and her daughter Marguerite. A true disciple of Machiavelli, to whom Goldstone frequently compares her, Catherine was the mother of three kings and two queens and ruled France as regent for almost three decades. Determined to see her sons advance and dedicated above all else to her own survival, she was unscrupulous enough to manipulate, control, and exploit Marguerite to advance her political agenda. Played out against the backdrop of the French wars of religion, this is a story of espionage, assassination, intrigue, and chicanery but also one that poignantly reminds readers of the vulnerabilities faced by women of the age. Although the complexities of shifting allegiances and alliances may be difficult to follow, readers are sure to be captivated by the lush details of these women's lives: early marriages, the dynastic obsession with fertility, the dangers of childbirth, the sexual escapades of the court, the flagrant presence of mistresses, and the humiliations endured by royal wives. The atrocities fueled by Catholic-Protestant tensions form an equally gripping subtext to this story. VERDICT This highly accessible account is recommended for general but serious readers interested in European history and royal biography.—Marie M. Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ

Library Journal

2015-03-01
Two Renaissance queens—who also happened to be mother and daughter—receive a thorough treatment. Goldstone certainly knows her queens (The Maid and the Queen: The Secret History of Joan of Arc, 2012, etc.). Through the story of this mother-daughter relationship of Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589) and her daughter, Marguerite de Valois (1553-1615), the author spins a tangled tale of rivalry, ambition, and, especially—for the rare women leaders of the time—sheer self-preservation. Catherine is the more well-documented monarch: married at age 14 to the French prince who became Henri II, she grew from a docile pawn of her wealthy family into a formidable player in the Catholic-Huguenot wars by acting as regent to one son and éminence grise to another. Indeed, Goldstone reveals her to be "an able disciple of Machiavelli" in her eagerness to play her children off one another. Marguerite is less known, but she was an extremely important component to the religious animosities roiling Europe and Britain at the time, as she was forced to marry the leader of the Huguenot party, her cousin Henry of Navarre (future Henri IV), as a way for her mother to neutralize the pesky Protestant element threatening the stability of France. Her marriage to Henry in 1572 precipitated the horrific Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre five days later and caused the spiritual grief of her life. Catherine and Marguerite were often at odds, but Marguerite proved no shrinking violet. While her mother manipulated the interests of her spoiled favorite son, Henri III, Marguerite managed to conduct her own love affairs and championed to her advantage the political maneuvering of her younger brother. Throughout the book, Goldstone has a remarkable handle on these often Byzantine royal machinations. History brought to vivid life in the characters of these women of purpose.

Kirkus Reviews