<\/p>
I\u2019ll start with Elizabeth I<\/a> of England, daughter of Henry VIII<\/a> and Anne Boleyn<\/a>. She was declared a bastard before she was three [following Anne\u2019s execution for treason<\/a>], but by 1543 she was back in the line of succession and, against the odds really, became queen in 1558.<\/p>\n Elizabeth was far from perfect. To compete with Spain in the conquest of the New World involved piracy and slavery. But by being such an extraordinary woman \u2013 establishing the Church of England, for instance \u2013 she serves as an example of feminism. Such a notion did not exist in the 16th century and I\u2019m sure she wouldn\u2019t have identified as a feminist, but she did take on the patriarchy.<\/p>\n There\u2019s one comment in particular that Elizabeth made in 1566 that really captures her spirit. In a response to a parliamentary delegation, she said that \u201cit is monstrous that the feet should direct the head\u201d. She was declaring that parliament \u2013 run by men \u2013 were the feet, and she \u2013 the queen \u2013 was the head. This absolutely did not fit 16th-century values, but she said it anyway. I adore that: if you had to summarise Elizabeth\u2019s reign, it would be through that quote.<\/p>\n She was an orphan from the powerful house of de Medici, who lost everything and almost everyone at a young age. But her uncle and great-uncle were popes, so she became an important pawn.<\/p>\n When King Francis I of France wanted to gain more territories and secure an alliance with the pope, he offered his second son, Henry, to be Catherine\u2019s husband. The two got married in October 1533 in Marseille, when Catherine was only 14 years old.<\/p>\n You have to imagine this young girl, who had lost her parents within weeks of her birth \u2013 her mother probably dying of childbirth complications and her father of wounds when defending Urbino \u2013 being welcomed into the French royal family. She was thrilled. She was marrying a young boy who she thought was handsome, and she was absolutely in love with him.<\/p>\n But Henry was not in love with her. Their marriage was not successful in terms of producing heirs, at first, and this became a big problem when Henry\u2019s older brother died and Henry and Catherine became the heir and heiress of the French throne. The pressure on Catherine to have children increased, but her husband was devoted to his royal favourite Diane de Poitiers, who was viewed as the most beautiful woman in the land. Diane was older than him, and his tutor, so she had complete power in their relationship.<\/p>\n Catherine spent years being humiliated by this beautiful woman, and ended up actually being given advice and details on how to arouse Henry so they could have children. And it worked. This must have been a bit horrific for Catherine, I think, but in the end she had 10 children, with seven surviving into adulthood.<\/p>\n There are striking parallels between Elizabeth and Catherine in this period, with the former having been removed from court while the latter was humiliated at court. But then from 1558 to 1560, everything changed. Death brought glory: Elizabeth lost her sister Mary I<\/a>, and Catherine lost her husband Henry. For Elizabeth, it was straightforward as she became queen. It was more complicated for Catherine. Her first-born son, Francis, became king in 1559, and married to Mary Stuart (or Mary, Queen of Scots<\/a>). This was when Catherine became a political advisor and truly showed her intelligence.<\/p>\n But there was obviously a difference in their queenships: Elizabeth was a queen regnant, so ruled in her own right, and Catherine did not. What\u2019s interesting with Catherine is that she never became regent officially. Yet she held that role in all but name after Francis II died a year into his reign in 1560, and her 10-year-old son Charles became king.<\/p>\nAnd what can you tell us about Catherine de Medici?<\/h3>\n
What were some of the main differences, and similarities, between the two women?<\/h3>\n