When women ruled the world: making the Renaissance in Europe

Introduction: inalienable possessions and female power

The device for succession

The Mary Tudor pearl

Three queens, one poet, and the republican counselor

"Sister" queens, Mary Stuart and Elizabeth Tudor: the solid gold baptismal font

Regicide, republicanism, and the death of Darnley

Mary, Queen of Scots, eighteen years imprisoned in England

A trap for two queens

Catherine de' Medici: tolerance and terror

Eight Valois tapestries: Catherine de' Medici's inalienable possession

Phillip II: the bridegroom returns

Epilogue: the gifts they gave

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index.