The Rival Queens (45 page)

Marguerite’s first love, Henri, duke of Guise (son of the murdered François, duke of Guise), later the leader of the Catholic League.

Gabrielle d’Estrées (on the right), Henry of Navarre’s mistress, with her sister—a portrait that reflects the mores of the court and perhaps explains why Marguerite’s marriage was in difficulties from the beginning.

Ball given by Henri III in honor of his brother François, one of a series of inducements intended to separate François from his Huguenot and Politique allies. Catherine and Henri are pictured standing to the left.

Henri III on his deathbed, bestowing his kingdom on Marguerite’s husband, Henry, king of Navarre, later Henry IV.

It is not an overstatement to say that this book would not have been possible without Alan Samson, my editor and publisher at Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Mine was a work that needed a knight of rare courage and vision and from the beginning Alan brilliantly and steadfastly protected and championed the book. He is proof that publishing’s best days are not behind it. The same is true of my two wonderful agents, Michael Carlisle and Peter Robinson, and of Asya Muchnick, my editor at Little, Brown, whose enthusiasm and care for
The Rival Queens
was inspiring. I owe you all a great debt—thank you.

Similarly, I am so very grateful for the help and encouragement I received from Jeannette Seaver, who took the time to read the book in manuscript and then so generously recommended it to others. A big thank you also to Christopher Mason for his kind promotion of my work.

As I have done with two of my previous books, I relied for help with some of the original translations on my dear friends Marie-Paule de Valdivia and Christine Lamarche-Arène, two charming Frenchwomen who were never too busy to puzzle out a phrase or help me find a source in Paris.
Merci beaucoup!
I must also thank Jamie Nathan, Ayelet Rubin, and Zmira Reuveni at the National Library of Israel for their kind assistance in securing permission rights for the 1575 map of La Rochelle and to Joo Lee of the Leemage agency for the beautiful color images of Catherine, Marguerite, and the other members of the royal court.

Lastly, to my husband, Larry, and my daughter, Lee, who put up with far too many conversations about people who have been dead for five hundred years, and without whose love and support I would be lost, thank you for your patience, advice, and understanding! None of this would be worth it without you.

N
ANCY
G
OLDSTONE’
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.

The Maid and the Queen: The Secret History of Joan of Arc

The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily

Four Queens: The Provençal Sisters Who Ruled Europe

Trading Up: Surviving Success as a Woman Trader on Wall Street

The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World

Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World

Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales

Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore

Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World

Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading

Here
 “Dear native land!”:
Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois,
xix. This is an English translation of the poem based on the Latin version published posthumously in 1686.

Here
 “The lady left alone”: Lemesurier,
Nostradamus, Bibliomancer,
200.

Here
 “the greatest beauty”: Bourdeïlle and Saint-Beuve,
Illustrious Dames of the Court of the Valois Kings,
156.

Here
 “On my return”: Ibid.

Here
 “never was seen the like”: Ibid., 161.

Here
 “The beauty of that queen”: Ibid., 154.

Here
 “If he should ever”: Chamberlin,
Marguerite of Navarre,
63.

Here
 “I blazed in diamonds”:
Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois,
55.

Here
 “Fortune is the ruler”: Machiavelli,
The Prince,
105.

Here
 “I was then about four”:
Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois,
31.

Here
 “The King said, ‘Why so?’ ”: Ibid.

Here
 Her mother, a French countess… with the same ailment: The rumor attributing Catherine’s mother’s death to her father’s syphilis came from their contemporary, the maréchal de Florange, who wrote about it in his memoirs. See Knecht,
Catherine de’ Medici,
8.

Here
 “She comes bearing the calamities”: Sichel,
Catherine de’ Medici and the French Reformation,
29.

Here
 “so gentle and pleasant”: Frieda,
Catherine de Medici,
26.

Here
 “very obedient”: Héritier,
Catherine de’ Medici,
35.

Here
 “I have never seen anyone”: Roeder,
Catherine de’ Medici and the Lost Revolution,
31.

Here
 “This man is the scourge of God”: Ibid., 34.

Here
 “The girl has come to my court”: (“J’as reçu la fille toute nue”): Roeder,
Catherine de’ Medici and the Lost Revolution,
41.

Here
 “I am a king again!”: Hackett,
Francis the First,
324.

Here
 “short and thin; her features”: Héritier,
Catherine de’ Medici,
27.

Here
 “She is a beautiful woman”: Sichel,
Catherine de’ Medici and the French Reformation,
24.

Here
 A Welshman who saw him: For further descriptions of François I by his contemporaries, see Knecht,
Renaissance Warrior and Patron,
105.

Here
 His appetites… Caesar: For this anecdote, see Princess Michael of Kent,
The Serpent and the Moon,
15.

Here
 “battle of giants”: Knecht,
Renaissance Warrior and Patron,
77.

Here
 “my daughter”: Princess Michael of Kent,
The Serpent and the Moon,
163.

Here
 
“beaucoup”:
Cabanès,
Le Cabinet Secret de L’Histoire,
36.

Here
 “a beautiful, fair woman”: Princess Michael of Kent,
The Serpent and the Moon,
202.

Here
 “never used her so well”: Ibid.

Here
 
la levrette
: Ibid., 201.

Here
 “address her as Madame”: Ibid., 240.

Here
 Even the pope… pearl necklace: Héritier,
Catherine de Medici,
49.

Here
 “the right of control”: Ibid., 51.

Here
 “His Majesty… eight hours with her”: Roeder,
Catherine de’ Medici and the Lost Revolution,
67.

Here
 “When the King has told her”: Ibid.

Here
 “wise and prudent governesses”: Princess Michael of Kent,
The Serpent and the Moon,
257.

Here
 “my allies”: Ibid., 224.

Here
 “Monsieur de Humyères… and recommend you to him”:
Lettres de Catherine de Médicis
. The full French text of the letter, dated December 21, 1546, can be found at: http://www.archive.org/stream/lettresdecatheri01cathuoft/lettresdecatheri01cathuoft_djvu.txt. I am indebted to Marie-Paule de Valdivia for the translation that appears in the text.

Here
 “God will give a royal line”: Sichel,
Catherine de’ Medici and the French Reformation,
38–39.

Here
 “I feel for you in your trouble”: Roelker,
Queen of Navarre,
72.

Here
 “disguised as bourgeois ladies”: Ibid., 181–82.

Here
 “I cannot refrain from thanking you”: Princess Michael of Kent,
The Serpent and the Moon,
244.

Here
 “not fit to call themselves our servants”: Héritier,
Catherine de Medici,
67.

Here
 “the daughter of merchants” (“Cette fille de marchands”): Roeder,
Catherine de’ Medici and the Lost Revolution,
81.