2019
Remembering Queens and Kings of Early Modern England and France: Reputation, Reinterpretation, and Reincarnation, sole editor, 2019
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Estelle wrote two chapters:
"Daenerys Targaryen as Elizabeth I of England's Spiritual Daughter"
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"Charles IX of France or the Anti-King: His Legacy in Plays and Chronicles in Seventeenth and Long Eighteenth Century France"
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2018
Elizabeth Through Valois Eyes: Power, Representation, and Diplomacy in the Reign of the Queen 1558-1588 (Palgrave Macmillan, published November 2018)
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This book examines the first thirty years of Elizabeth I’s reign from the perspective of the Valois kings, Charles IX and Henri III of France. Estelle Paranque sifts through hundreds of French letters and ambassadorial reports to construct a fuller picture of early modern Anglo-French relations, highlighting key events such as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, the imprisonment and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the victory of England over the Spanish Armada in 1588. By drawing on a wealth of French sources, she illuminates the French royal family’s shifting perceptions of Elizabeth I and suggests new conclusions about her reign.
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Reviews:
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“Drawing on a treasure trove of manuscripts that have never before been translated or published, this massively researched book offers a valuable new perspective on the first thirty years of Elizabeth I’s reign. Even readers thoroughly familiar with her reign will be jolted into fresh perceptions by re-encountering the story from the French point of view.” (Ilona Bell, Clarke Professor of English Emerita, Williams College, USA)
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“In this fascinating study, Estelle Paranque has examined thousands of letters between the French ambassadors to England and their royal masters―many little known to English scholars and translated here―to provide a wealth of new insight into how Elizabeth I was represented among foreign observers, while also allowing us to hear her own thoughts in reported speech. The picture that emerges is of a very different Elizabeth I than the one with which we’re familiar. This sparkling new work gives us what historians long for: a fresh perspective on one of England’s best-loved queens.” (Suzannah Lipscomb, Professor in Early Modern History, University of Roehampton, UK)
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Forgotten Queens in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Political Agency, Myth-Making, and Patronage, co-edited with Dr Valerie Schutte (Routledge, published in October 2018)
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Forgotten Queens in Medieval and Early Modern Europe examines queens dowager and queens consort who have disappeared from history or have been deeply misunderstood in modern historical treatment.
Divided into eleven chapters, this book covers queenship from 1016 to 1800, demonstrating the influence of queens in different aspects of monarchy over eight centuries and furthering our knowledge of the roles and challenges that they faced. It also promotes a deeper understanding of the methods of power and patronage for women who were not queens, many of which have since become mythologized into what historians have wanted them to be. The chronological organisation of the book, meanwhile, allows the reader to see more clearly how these forgotten queens are related by the power, agency, and patronage they displayed, despite the mythologization to which they have all been subjected.
Offering a broad geographical coverage and providing a comparison of queenship across a range of disciplines, such as religious history, art history, and literature, Forgotten Queens in Medieval and Early Modern Europe is ideal for students and scholars of pre-modern queenship and of medieval and early modern history courses more generally.
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Reviews:
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'What does it mean to be a "forgotten" medieval or early modern queen? Combining historical, literary, and material culture scholarship, these essays offer a counterargument to the long-held assumption that just because contemporary and modern sources do not explicitly discuss a queen, that means she did nothing. These "forgotten" queens commissioned influential portraits, acted behind the scenes in religious, political, and diplomatic conflicts, and were visible patrons of arts and literature, and this collection particularly shines in its disciplinary scope, illustrating the myriad ways in which queens could exercise power.'
Kavita Mudan Finn, Simmons College, USA
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Chapter penned by Estelle in this collection:
"Elisabeth of Austria and Marie-Elisabeth of France: Represented and Remembered".
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2017
This collection brings together essays examining the international influence of queens, other female rulers, and their representatives from 1450 through 1700, an era of expanding colonial activity and sea trade. As Europe rose in prominence geopolitically, a number of important women―such as Queen Elizabeth I of England, Catherine de Medici, Caterina Cornaro of Cyprus, and Isabel Clara Eugenia of Austria―exerted influence over foreign affairs. Traditionally male-dominated spheres such as trade, colonization, warfare, and espionage were, sometimes for the first time, under the control of powerful women. This interdisciplinary volume examines how they navigated these activities, and how they are represented in literature. By highlighting the links between female power and foreign affairs, Colonization, Piracy, and Trade in Early Modern Europe contributes to a fuller understanding of early modern queenship.
Edited by Dr Estelle Paranque, Dr Nate Probasco, and Professor Claire Jowitt
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For this collection, Estelle wrote a chapter on Isabel Clare Eugenia's involvement in trade and warfare