Unexpected Heirs in Early Modern Europe: Potential Kings and Queens [Hardcover]

There were many surprising accessions in the early modern period, including Mary I of England, Henry III of France, Anne Stuart, and others, but this is the first book dedicated solely to evaluating their lives and the repercussions of their reigns. By comparing a variety of such unexpected heirs, this engaging history offers a richer portrait of early modern monarchy. It shows that the need for heirs and the acquisition and preparation of heirs had a critical impact on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century culture and politics, from the appropriation of culture to the influence of language, to trade and political alliances. It also shows that securing a dynasty relied on more than just political agreements and giving birth to legitimate sons, examining how relationships between women could and did forge alliances and dynastic continuities.
1. Introduction.- I. Securing a Dynasty.- 2. A Bastard and a Changeling?: England's Edward of Westminster and Delayed Childbirth.- 3. Margaret Tudor, Countess of Richmond and Elizabeth York: Dynastic Competitors or Allies?.- 4. Perceptions of Princesses: Pre-accession Book Dedications to Mary and Elizabeth Tudor.- 5. Fit for a King?: The Gendered Emotional Performances of Catherine de Medici as Dauphine of France, 1536-1547.- 6. Never the Queen: Anne Stuart's Formative Years.- II. Second Sons.- 7. Another Spare to the French Crown: Henry III of France's Self-Representation, Reputation and Royal Authority.- 8. Losing an Unexpected Throne: Deposing Second Sons of the Stuart Dynasty.- 9. Expected, then Passed Over: Second Sons in the French Monarchy of the Seventeenth Century.- III. Unexpected Survival.- 10. A Queen in Constant Motion: Queen Christina of Sweden and the Unexpected Mobility of Sovereignty.- 11. The Unexpected Virgin: The Perpetual Succession Crisis of Elizabeth I.Unexpected Heirs in Early Modern Europe, in bringing together a range of unexpected heirs from this period, collectively makes us mlÃ