Blood, Fire and Gold: The story of Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici

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Together with the following four chapters previously referred to as The Boy King and His Regents. [14] Covering Lord Cregan Stark's time at King's Landing. Together with the previous chapter and the chapter after previously referred to as The Boy King and His Regents. [14] Detailing the reign of Aegon III under the rule of his regents and Hands of the King. Previously simply known as Heirs of the Dragon: [14] Detailing the succession crisis Jaehaerys faced in 92AC and again in 101AC, and continuing with the reign of Viserys I Targaryen. An abridged version, The Rogue Prince, was previously published in the anthology Rogues in 2014, uses the majority of this text, detailing the reign of Viserys I. [14] Blood, Fire and Gold offers much more than a study of the relationship between these queens though. Paranque manages to paint a broad-strokes portrait of mid-to late 16th century Western Europe. Political intrigue is the emphasis, so, for example, Shakespeare doesn't play a role, nor do other social developments. But there is plenty of discussion of Reformation tension, of the political interplay between both France and England and Spain, of Elizabeth's embrace of piracy for war-making, etc. There is also a lot of space devoted to the personal lives of each of the queens, with enough sensitive detail to offer a genuine feel for the personalities of each woman—something that is often hard to achieve in biography, especially for people long dead.

Blood, Fire and Gold is a must-read for anyone interested in not only Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici, but anyone interested in studies of female power more generally! Blood, Fire & Gold” contains a section of color photo plates, a brief (not annotated) notes section and a light list of primary and secondary resources.Catherine de Medici, the Orphan of Florence, is from one of Europe’s most powerful families. She was by no means insignificant, regardless of her loss of family. The niece of Pope Leo X, she became another piece on the chessboard of European diplomacy. Her marriage --- like so many other children --- would be used to build alliances across the continent. For the humble teen, her family name and Florentine heritage made her a valued commodity, particularly to the future King of France, Henry (not to be confused with the English Henry). As Queen, Regent and ultimately mother of the King, Catherine would remain one of the most influential voices in France for almost 40 years. Blood, Fire & Gold” is a commendable attempt to explore the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Catherine d In most (maybe all) the literature I’ve read, Catherine disappears from Mary's life once Mary sets sail for Scotland… sort of a goodbye and good riddance. Here the complexity of Catherine's role is shown as she navigates Mary as representative of the Catholic cause, as having a legitimate claim to the English throne and being a niece/cousin of Catherine’s powerful Guise rivals. As of 2014, more than 200,000 words had been written for Fire & Blood. [8] This entire historical account is said to cover Targaryen history through the reign of Aegon V Targaryen. [9]

On July 22nd, 2017, Martin revealed on his Not a Blog that the material for Fire & Blood had grown so large that the decision had been made to publish the fictional histories of the Targaryen kings in two volumes. The first volume, simply called Fire & Blood, covers the history of Westeros from Aegon's Conquest up to and through the regency of Aegon III Targaryen. In July 2017, Martin reported that the first volume of Fire & Blood was already largely written, whereas the second volume remains largely unwritten. [6] In April 2018, Martin said that Fire & Blood, Volume Two will be completed "a few years down the pike." [1] Blood, Fire & Gold is a nonfiction piece about the correspondence between two Queens in the 16th century: Elizabeth Tudor of England & Catherine de Medici of France. Two Queens who are subjected to many legends, and fame, or infamy, depending on which region you are from. Upon ascending the throne, Elizabeth held a strong exchange of letters with the Queen Mother of France throughout her lifetime, revealing a complicated relationship. A relationship that shows a little bit of everything: vulnerability, scheming, hard-headedness, betrayal, and even trust. What made their working relationship a challenge was both their different viewpoints on religion and how to rule. Estelle Paranque comes here to reveal the intimate details that brings to life the two most powerful female rulers of that century. Two Queens. One a virgin and Queen Regnant of England, the other a wife and Queen Mother to the Valois Kings of France. With the sea being their only obstacle they would frequently cross paths politically through friendship, rivalry, respect and distrust. No two women had shaped 16th century Europe as Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. One a "bastard", the other an orphan. One a queen regnant, the other a queen mother. One died childless and the other became the grandmother of Europe. PDF / EPUB File Name: Blood_Fire_and_Gold_-_Estelle_Paranque.pdf, Blood_Fire_and_Gold_-_Estelle_Paranque.epubAt a time when women were given no voice at all and were considered, in every aspect, as less than men, these two lead armies, squashed rebellions and shaped Kingdoms. And they also had a lasting effect on one another. Throughout the years, the would go from enemies, to friends, to potential family through marriage, and then to enemies again. And they never even met.