GAME OF QUEENS

The real powerbrokers of 16th-century Europe

They say that behind every great man there is a great woman, and this belief is comprehensively supported by the women in Sarah Gristwood’s latest book Game of Queens. In today’s age of influential female leaders, it is refreshing to read an account of the queens that held even greater power during 500 years ago. The fact that a proportion of them schemed and smiled their way to high places, as opposed to having to win elections to get there, only adds to the intrigue that permeates this original book.

While the expected names of monarchs such as Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, feature, it is the shadowy characters like Catherine de’ Medici and Isabella of Castile that provide the most interest.

Queen of Castile for just shy of 30 years, Isabella proved to be a steely, determined woman. A devout Catholic, her unwavering faith inspired her to unleash the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. Desperate to either convert or expel the Jews of her dominion and root out ‘heretics’, Isabella stoked the flames of repression, which eventually engulfed around 150,000 people. And while in her less hate-filled moments Castile’s queen saw fit to fund the explorations of Christopher Columbus, she will always be remembered as the driving force behind years of terror.

However, many of Isabella’s counterparts were far less aggressive in their pursuits, leading their countries with cool-headedness and a fair approach. The achievements of the likes of Jeanne d’albret, a pioneering figure during the Reformation, and Christina of Denmark, a key player in the negotiations that ended a bloody 65-year struggle between Spain and France, are rightly included and serve as reminders that many of Europe’s queens were leading lights during dark times.

Author Sarah Gristwood Publisher Oneworld Price £10 Released Out now