Women and Power at the French Court, 1483-1563

Susan Broomhall is Professor of Early Modern History at The University of Western Australia. She was a Foundation Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, and holds an ARC Future Fellowship within the Centre, researching the letters of Catherine de Médicis.

• List of Figures, Notes on Contributors Susan Broomhall, In the Orbit of the King: Women, Power and Authority at the French Court, 1483-1563 I. CONCEPTUALIZING AND PRACTISING FEMALE POWER 1. Aubrée David-Chapy The Political, Symbolic and Courtly Power of Anne de France and Louise de Savoie: From the Genesis to the Glory of Female Regency 2. Tracy Adams Anne de France and Gift-Giving: The Exercise of Power 3. Laure Fagnart and Mary Beth Winn Louise de Savoie: The King's Mother, Alter Rex II. CENTRES AND PERIPHERIES OF POWER 4. Erin A. Sadlack Literary Lessons in Queenship and Power: Mary Tudor Brandon and the Authority of the Ambassador-Queen 5. Kathleen Wilson-Chevalier Claude de France and the Spaces of Agency of a Marginalized Queen 6. Lisa Mansfield Portraits of Eleanor of Austria: From Invisible to Inimitable French Queen Consort III. THE POWER OF CREATIVE VOICES 7. Cynthia J. Brown Family Female Networking in Early Sixteenth-Century France: The Power of Text and Image 8. Mawy Bouchard The Power of Reputation and Skills according to Anne de Graville: The Rondeaux and the Denunciation of Slander 9. Jonathan A. Reid Imagination and Influence: The Creative Powers of Marguerite de Navarre at Work at Court and in the World 10. Pollie Bromilow Power through Print: The Works of Hélisenne de Crenne IV. ECONOMIES OF POWER AND EMOTIONS 11. David Potter The Life and After-Life of a Royal Mistress: Anne de Pisseleu, Duchess of Etampes 12. Susan Broomhall The King and I: Rhetorics of Power in the Letters of Diane de Poitiers 13. Denis Crouzet Catherine de Médicis Tested by the Virtue of Charity (1533-1559): Discourse and Metadiscourse.

"This collection of thirteen essays, edited by Susan Broomhall, is a noteworthy contribution to new work on monarchy that looks beyond the king and his coterie of male advisers. The essays study multiple sites and forms of power to better understand how gender affected the deployment of power, authority, agency, and influence." - Theresa M. Earenfight, Renaissance Quarterly, Volume 73, Issue 3, Fall 2020 "This collection of thirteen essays, enhanced by a substantial introduction, deftly assembled and edited by Susan Broomhall, investigates aspects of female power within the context of the French Renaissance court. (...) This collection amply demonstrates that women, although often unacknowledged, were there in force, creating the culture of the French court." - Sheila ffolliott, H-France Review Vol. 20 (January 2020), No. 6