Game of Queens: the women who made 16th-century Europe

The 'Queens in Context: Women in 16th-century Europe' lecture series (of five lectures) takes as its inspiration our current exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, which chronicles the representation of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr throughout history and popular culture.

This lecture series places the queens in their wider historical context within the society of 16th-century Europe, and is delivered by historians, academics and authors, giving their insights into a wide variety of related topics. From uncovering the lives of ordinary Tudor women, to shining a light on the powerful individuals connected to the queens, the series offers the chance to engage more deeply with the history of women’s lives and legacies in this fascinating period.

This lecture is the second of the series but can also be booked separately.

As religion divided sixteenth-century Europe, an extraordinary group of women rose to power. They governed nations while kings fought in foreign lands. They ruled on behalf of nephews, brothers and sons. They negotiated peace between their warring nations. For decades, they ran Europe. Small wonder that it was in this century that the queen became the most powerful piece on the chessboard. From mother to daughter and mentor to protégée, Sarah Gristwood follows the passage of power from Isabella of Castile and Anne de Beaujeu through Anne Boleyn – the woman who tipped England into religious reform – and on to Elizabeth I and Jeanne d’Albret, heroine of the Protestant Reformation.