{"title":"Mary Hollingsworth","description":"\u003cp\u003eMary Hollingsworth offers richly detailed explorations of European history, focusing on pivotal figures and moments that shaped the Renaissance era. Her works blend meticulous research with vivid narrative, bringing to life the intrigues and personalities behind significant historical events.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect compelling biographies and accounts centred on powerful families and political dramas, such as the Medici dynasty and crucial ecclesiastical episodes. Her books appeal to those interested in history’s intricate social and military dimensions, delivered with clarity and insight.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"catherine-de-medici-by-mary-hollingsworth-9781800244764","title":"Catherine de' Medici","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe life and times of Catherine de' Medici, by renowned scholar of the Italian Renaissance Mary Hollingsworth.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCatherine de' Medici\u003c\/em\u003e lived her life at the storm centre of European and French politics in an age of religious conflict. Born to Lorenzo II, the Medici ruler of Florence, and married to a French prince by papal connivance at the age of fourteen, Catherine was successively queen consort of France and mother to three French kings (Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III) who reigned in an era of almost continuous civil and religious strife.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA spendthrift promoter of the arts, Catherine patronised poets, painters and sculptors, and lavished ruinous sums on the building and embellishment of monuments and palaces. She masterminded spectacular entertainments and tournaments that prefigure the splendour and ritual of the court of Versailles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePosterity has anathematised her as the epitome of the scheming royal matriarch, her reputation tainted forever by her role in instigating the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre of Protestants. Legend has it that Catherine maintained eighty ladies-in-waiting at court, whom she used as bait to seduce courtiers for political ends, while her admiration for the reputed seer Nostradamus fuelled claims of an interest in the occult and the dark arts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Serpent Queen\u003c\/em\u003e is Mary Hollingsworth's well-balanced account of the life of Catherine de' Medici – perhaps the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe, and certainly the most extraordinary and influential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46800265838828,"sku":"9781800244764","price":64.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/26633523482828.jpg?v=1757279125"},{"product_id":"the-medici-by-mary-hollingsworth-9781803281254","title":"The Medici","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'This forensic study of the Renaissance banking dynasty conjures up a world of art, literature, philosophy – and brutality'\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Likely to become the standard work of reference on the members of the family that dominated Florence'\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eTLS\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'A lucid and beautifully illustrated family history'\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWealthy bankers, wise politicians, patrons of the arts, glittering dukes... so runs the traditional telling of the story of the Medici, the family that ruled Florence for two hundred years and inspired the birth of the Italian Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this definitive account of their rise and fall, Mary Hollingsworth argues that the idea that the Medici were wise rulers and enlightened fathers of the Renaissance is a fiction. In truth, she says, the Medici were as devious and immoral as the Borgias – tyrants loathed in the city they illegally made their own and which they beggared in their lust for power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833667965164,"sku":"9781803281254","price":44.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/1718958b869f38507755b804670f0067.jpg?v=1758486979"},{"product_id":"conclave-1559-by-mary-hollingsworth-9781800244740","title":"Conclave 1559","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntrigue, double-dealing and conspiracy in the Eternal City.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A fascinating narrative of the intermingling of secular and religious power.'\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A highly enjoyable and thrilling read... Hollingsworth has peeled back the veil of secrecy surrounding papal conclaves.'\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eHistory Today\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'Full of lively detail and colour.'\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAugust 1559. As the long hot Italian summer draws to its close, so does the life of a rigidly orthodox and profoundly unpopular pope. The papacy of Paul IV has seen the establishing of the Roman Inquisition and the Index of Prohibited Books, an unbending refusal to open dialogue with Protestants, and the ghettoization of Rome's Jews. On 5 September 1559, as the great doors of the Vatican's Sala Regia are ceremonially locked, the future of the Catholic Church hangs in the balance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMary Hollingsworth offers a compelling and sedulously crafted reconstruction of the longest and most taxing of sixteenth-century papal elections. Its crisscrossing fault lines divided not only moderates from conservatives, but also the adherents of three national 'factions' with mutually incompatible interests. France and Spain were both looking to extend their power in Italy and beyond and had very different ideas of who the new pope should be – as did the Italian cardinals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on the detailed account books left by Ippolito d'Este, one of the participating cardinals, \u003cem\u003eConclave 1559\u003c\/em\u003e provides remarkable insights into the daily lives and concerns of the forty-seven men locked up for some four months in the Vatican.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000573542636,"sku":"9781800244740","price":32.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/26633283482828.jpg?v=1763286283"},{"product_id":"the-medici-by-mary-hollingsworth-9781786691538","title":"The Medici","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA fresh telling of the rise and fall of the House of Medici, the family that dominated political and cultural life in Florence for three centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'This forensic study of the Renaissance banking dynasty conjures up a world of art, literature, philosophy – and brutality'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Likely to become the standard work of reference on the members of the family that dominated Florence'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A lucid and beautifully illustrated family history'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWealthy bankers, wise politicians, patrons of the arts, glittering dukes... so runs the traditional telling of the story of the Medici, the family that ruled Florence for two hundred years and inspired the birth of the Italian Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this definitive account of their rise and fall, Mary Hollingsworth argues that the idea that the Medici were wise rulers and enlightened fathers of the Renaissance is a fiction. In truth, she says, the Medici were as devious and immoral as the Borgias – tyrants loathed in the city they illegally made their own and which they beggared in their lust for power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47487621660908,"sku":"9781786691538","price":42.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/05e02b70394dce06b9bdc296dcc1731c.jpg?v=1775788036"},{"product_id":"catherine-de-medici-by-mary-hollingsworth-9781800244771","title":"Catherine de' Medici","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book of the Year\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Thoroughly researched.’\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘To be devoured.’\u003c\/strong\u003e Philip Mansel\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'This book is a treat for fans of well-told history.'\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHistory is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de' Medici.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this new biography of the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe, \u003cem\u003eMary Hollingsworth\u003c\/em\u003e uses neglected primary sources to recreate the life and times of a remarkable – and remarkably traduced – woman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMary Hollingsworth delves into the archives to discover deeper truths behind the persistent myths of sectarian cruelty and ruinous extravagance, and to reveal a cultured and politically astute woman who worked tirelessly to find a way for Catholics and Protestants to coexist peacefully.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47602858623212,"sku":"9781800244771","price":32.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781800244771-catherine-de-medici.jpg?v=1778048542"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/mary-hollingsworth.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}