This book explores (mis)representations of two female claimants to the Tudor throne, Lady Jane Grey and Mary I of England. It places Jane's attempted accession and Mary I's successful accession and reign in comparative perspective, and illustrates how the two are fundamentally linked to one another, and to broader questions of female kingship, precedent, and legitimacy. Through ten original essays, this book considers the nature and meaning of mid-Tudor queenship as it took shape, functioned, and was construed in the sixteenth century as well as its memory down to the twenty-first, in...

This book gathers contributions on the later Stuart queens and queen consorts. It seeks to re-insert Henrietta Maria, Catherine of Braganza, Mary of Modena, Mary II, Anne, and Maria Clementina Sobieska into the mainstream of Stuart and early Georgian studies, concentrating on the later Stuart queens from the restoration of King Charles II (who married Catherine of Braganza in 1662) until the death of Maria Clementina Sobieska in 1735, who was married to James Francis Edward Stuart, the titular King James III, otherwise known as the Old Pretender. It showcases these women’s roles as...

This book examines the succession debate in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. It considers the succession question in its entirety, instead of dividing the topic into early or late periods as has been typically the case. Commencing with a consideration of the succession tracts and the laws which governed the succession, this book seeks to examine the matter in terms of its original sixteenth-century context and how the participants of the debate understood the issue. With the succession issue outlined, the main parties of the debate – those being the Queen, her Privy Council and...

This book offers an integrated study of the English princess and Castilian queen Catherine of Lancaster (1373–1418), drawing on available archival, architectural, and poetic sources in England and Spain. Catherine’s mother, Queen of Castile in exile, and father, the powerful military commander John of Gaunt, raised her to take the Castilian throne. This volume connects Catherine’s early life, providing insights into those who promoted her cause from birth as Princess of Castile, and her later life as Princess of Asturias, then Queen-consort, and finally Dowager and Co-regent of...