Summary of Sarah Gristwood's Game of Queens

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The girl who arrived at the court of the Netherlands in the summer of 1513 was a courtier’s daughter, bred to know the steps of the dangerous courtly dance. She knew how the pageantry of a Christmas masque could spell a message, and that in the great chess game of European politics, she might have a part to play.

#2 The court to which Anne Boleyn came was a place of culture and luxury. Among the books she could have seen in Margaret’s library was the already-famous Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, as well as newer books decked with flowers in the margins.

#3 The Boleyn family had a history of social mobility. Anne’s father, Thomas, had made his fortune as a merchant. He was a courtier and a linguist, and heiress to half the Ormonde fortune.

#4 Anne Boleyn was sent to the court of Margaret of Austria in 1512, as her family’s agent and ambassador. She learned more than the French language there, she learned how to play the game of courtly love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822517349

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The girl who arrived at the court of the Netherlands in the summer of 1513 was a courtier’s daughter, bred to know the steps of the dangerous courtly dance. She knew how the pageantry of a Christmas masque could spell a message, and that in the great chess game of European politics, she might have a part to play.

#2

The court to which Anne Boleyn came was a place of culture and luxury. Among the books she could have seen in Margaret’s library was the already-famous Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, as well as newer books decked with flowers in the margins.

#3

The Boleyn family had a history of social mobility. Anne’s father, Thomas, had made his fortune as a merchant. He was a courtier and a linguist, and heiress to half the Ormonde fortune.

#4

Anne Boleyn was sent to the court of Margaret of Austria in 1512, as her family’s agent and ambassador. She learned more than the French language there, she learned how to play the game of courtly love.

#5

The story of Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon, and their daughters, was part of a much larger European picture. In the years ahead, the royal women of the British Isles would be woven into a web of rivalry and mutual reliance with Habsburg, Valois, and Medici women.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

Isabella of Castile was the first queen regnant of Castile, and she was married to Ferdinand of Aragon, who was king of Aragon and Castile. They had a daughter, but no son. Isabella’s position changed when her half-brother Enrique died without a child to follow him, and she took the throne with Ferdinand by her side.

#2

The crusade against the Moors was to drive them out of Spain, and in 1483 another woman joined Isabella at the forefront of European politics: Anne de Beaujeu, ruling France on behalf of her thirteen-year-old brother, the new king.

#3

The Salic Law, which prohibited women from inheriting the throne, favored female authority in a limited sphere. Anne de Beaujeu, who was married to a brother of the Duc de Bourbon, was given charge of the young king Charles VIII in preference to the normal combination that would have included his widow as guardian.

Insights from Chapter 3

#1

The Duke of Burgundy, Maximilian, was furious at the Treaty of Arras, which gave away his daughter Margaret’s lands to France. He was cut off from power in his dead wife’s lands by a regency council appointed to take control during his son’s minority.

#2

In 1483, Margaret of Austria was married to her prospective husband, Charles VIII of France, at the Loire chateau of Amboise. Two months later, on 30 August, old King Louis XI died. Margaret became, nominally, France’s queen and Anne de Beaujeu became effectively its ruler.

#3

Louise of Savoy was married to Charles d’Angoulême, a junior scion of the d’Orléans family, in 1488. She was given a very favorable marriage contract, but she was still