Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power

Historian and manuscript enthusiast Chang (Portraits of the Queen Mother) dives deep into the lives of three women who collectively represent an astonishing array of women’s power and influence in 16th-century Europe. Catherine de’ Medici, born into chaos in Florence and married into the royal family of France, found her influence limited until she became the Queen Mother to three of her sons in succession. Mary, Queen of Scots, inherited a throne at six days old and began her attempt to rule personally at 18, having spent more than a decade at the French court. Elisabeth of Valois grew up with Mary in Catherine’s care before departing France at 14 to become Queen of Spain, pledging her body and fertility to her new home. Olivia Dowd deftly narrates the intertwined lives of these women as they travel across the continent and experience both triumphs and defeats. She uses clear, precise intonation to guide listeners through decades of complicated international and interpersonal connections without losing sight of the bonds of family.