Showing results by author "Jean Plaidy" in All Categories

When William X dies, the duchy of Aquitaine is left to his 15-year-old daughter, Eleanor. But such a position for an unmarried woman puts the whole kingdom at risk. So on his deathbed William made a will that would ensure his daughter’s protection: he promised her hand in marriage to the future King of France. Eleanor grows into a romantic and beautiful queen, but she has inherited the will of a king, determined to rule Aquitaine using her husband’s power as King of France. Her

One of history's most complex and alluring women, Anne Boleyn was irresistible to kings and commoners alike. Daughter of an ambitious country lord, Anne was sent to France to marry well and raise the family's fortunes. She soon surpassed even their greatest expectations when King Henry VIII swore he would put aside his loyal queen to make Anne his wife.

William the Conqueror is destined to succeed his father as the Duke of Normandy but questions about his legitimacy mean he consistently faces challenges from potential usurpers in the Duchy to retain the title. He marries Matilda, the equally intelligent and ambitious daughter of the King of Flanders, and together they have many children. In 1066, he crosses the channel from Normandy to England and seizes the crown from King Harold, Edward the Confessor's popular successor.

The first half of the 13th century is dominated by two women, as proud and ambitious as they are beautiful, yet different in all other ways. Isabella is a medieval Helen of Troy, flamboyant and passionate - wife to King John and mother to Henry III. Blanche of Castile, serene and virtuous, is Queen of France, wife of Louis VIII and mother of Louis IX. The two women hated each other on sight. Isabella will stop at nothing, not even murder, in her passion to destroy the French queen.

Edward II's first act on coming to the throne is to recall Piers Gaveston from exile, and the new king's devotion to the shrewd and avaricious young man soon becomes a scandal. It is assumed that when Edward marries one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe his inclinations will change, but nothing can make him swerve from his attachment to Gaveston, who is clearly making the most of royal favour. The new Queen Isabella, accustomed to adulation, is bitterly humiliated; and she is not a woman to forget.

News of Thomas à Becket’s martyrdom has spread throughout Christendom, and the blame is laid at the feet of Henry Plantagenet, King of England. Two years later, with Becket canonised, Henry’s position is precarious: punished at the Pope’s insistence for his part in Becket’s death, he now also has an enemy in his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after her discovery of his longstanding infidelity with Rosamund Clifford.

Reckoned by those about him to be the most handsome man in the country, Edward IV has risen to the throne with the help of Warwick, the kingmaker. But even Warwick’s trusted advice cannot convince the king to ignore his passion for the beautiful widow Elizabeth Woodville – and when she refuses to become his mistress the two are married. Beloved of the people, Edward proves himself to be a strong king. Despite his mistresses, Elizabeth is loyal to the illustrious king, provding him with many children....

The news of Henry III's death reached his son Edward on the long road home from the Holy Land. Now he was England's king and a man fit for his destiny. Through all the years of his reign, through stark personal tragedy and chill forebodings as his son grew into a weak, corrupted price, Edward I strove to weld a nation united from England, Scotland and Wales.

Married to Ferdinand after numerous fears and disappointments, Isabella triumphs over every danger, convinced of her own destiny. With the might of Portugal humbled, the court of the Sovereigns sees the rise of Torquemada and the establishment of the dreaded Inquisition. It also witnesses the coming of Columbus, who leaves the woman he loves to make a dream reality.

Fifteenth-century Spain is rent with intrigue and threatened by civil war. Here, the young Isabella becomes the pawn of her half-crazed mother and a virtual prisoner at the licentious court of her half-brother, Henry IV. At just sixteen years old, is she already fated to be the victim of the Queen's revenge, the Archbishop's ambition and the lust of lecherous Don Pedro Girón?

Marguerite, eldest daughter of the Count of Provence, married a king of France - and now her sister Eleanor is determined to make just as grand a match. Good fortune and wily cunning bring her Henry of England. He is a good and generous husband, but a weak king. He rules a nation that still remembers his cruel and foolish father, King John. As Henry showers gifts on his new bride, his extravagance forces him to levy ever-greater taxation on the land, and the spectre of a revolt soon looms against him.

Scotland has been torn apart by civil war, and the young and passionate Catholic Mary Queen of Scots is in the hands of her enemies. Under duress, Mary abdicates in favour of her son, James VI, and flees to England for safety, boldly seeking refuge with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. But Elizabeth has never trusted the ambitious Catholic queen and has Mary imprisoned.

The young Princess Victoria, strictly confined within the boundaries of Kensington Palace, is being moulded for her awesome future as Queen of England. Surrounded by her dolls and closely guarded by her domineering mother and faithful governess, she slowly becomes aware of the bitter conflicts that surround her. The jealous and scheming Duke of Cumberland is a constant threat to her rightful accession …her mother’s sinister friend, Sir John Conroy, makes her uneasy … and the bickering between her mother and the king seems never-ending.

At just six days old, Mary Stuart became Queen of Scots. At just six years old, she was betrothed to the Dauphin Francois, the future King of France. Reluctantly leaving Scotland, Mary is raised in the decadent French court in preparation for becoming the Queen of France. But her reign with Francois is short-lived. Widowed at 18 years old, Mary is once again forced to leave her home to return to Scotland. Now a Catholic queen in a Protestant country, Mary must rule with caution and choose her next husband prudently.

Princess Mary Rose is the youngest sister of King Henry VIII, and one of the few people whom he adores unconditionally. She is the golden child of the Tudor family and is granted her every wish. Except when it comes to marriage. Locked in a political showdown with France, Henry decides to offer up his pampered sister to secure peace between the two mighty kingdoms, and she is unwillingly sent to France to marry the ailing King Louis.

At the age of 32, Richard the Lionheart has finally succeeded Henry II to the English throne. And, against his father’s wishes, he intends to make Berengaria, daughter of the King of Navarre, his Queen. But first he must fulfil his vow to his country to win back Jerusalem for the Christian world. Leaving England to begin his crusade, Richard entrusts his kingdom to his brother, John, who casts covetous eyes on the crown, and his sister, Joanna, who is willing to defy even a king.

Albert is dead and the queen is preparing to spend the rest of her life in mourning. Yet the last years of her reign are to be momentous ones. Palmerston, then Gladstone and Disraeli, govern her empire through the high noon of its heyday. However, the court at Windsor, Balmoral, Osborne at Buckingham Palace is perpetually shocked by the actions of the queen’s son, the Prince of Wales. Forever in pursuit of horses, women and scandal, this is the heady harbinger of Edwardian years to come.

When Henry VI becomes king, it is soon clear that he would be more suited to a quiet life. Richard, Duke of York, is convinced that he would make a better king and has more right to the crown. But Margaret of Anjou, Henry’s new French wife, is a formidable woman who is just as determined to keep Henry on the throne. Most powerful of all is the Earl of Warwick, and with his support of Richard of York the War of the Roses begins.

Isabella and Ferdinand rule over a newly united Spain, steadfast in their determination to build a powerful state. During the final years of Isabella’s reign, Ferdinand looks to his daughters to further his ambitions, but his wife finds herself torn between his brilliant plans and her love for her children. As events unfold, the sovereigns begin to feel that there must be a curse on the royal house – misfortune strikes at the heart of their family and tragedy after tragedy befalls the Daughter of Spain.

France eagerly awaits the day the young king, Louis XV, comes of age and breaks free from the rule of his ministers. The country hopes Louis will bring back glory and prosperity to France. However, he is too preoccupied with the thrills of hunting and gambling to notice the power struggle going on in his own court. Soon the king is introduced to the pleasures of mistresses, and a succession of lovers follows.