When Women Ruled the World

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In this game-changing revisionist history, a leading scholar of the Renaissance shows how four powerful women redefined the culture of European monarchy in the glorious sixteenth century. With meticulous attention to the letters and gifts they exchanged, Quilligan argues that [Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and Catherine de’ Medici] nurtured a culture of mutual respect… A useful addition to the literature on European royalty… An authoritative and sympathetic collective biography. The author pays particular attention to the way each woman navigated the prejudice against women in power… The choice to highlight connections rather than conflicts is intriguing, and Quilligan’s arguments are thought-provoking… An interesting look at the lives and relationships of four of the Renaissance’s most powerful women. Refuting traditional narratives of ‘personal jealousy and rancor’ between Catherine de’ Medici, Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor, and Mary, Queen of Scots, Quilligan argues that these four queens recognized that they needed to band together to protect against the ‘looming patriarchal power of the Reformation’. . . Quilligan lucidly explains the era’s complex familial, religious, and political dynamics, and draws incisive character sketches. Renaissance buffs will treasure this sparkling revisionist history. US

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