Sixteenth-century Europe was a time of destabilisation of age-old norms and the waging of
religious wars-yet it also witnessed the remarkable flowering of a pacific culture cultivated
by a cohort of extraordinary women rulers who sat on Europe's thrones most notably Mary Tudor
Elizabeth I Mary Queen of Scots and Catherine de' Medici. Recasting the dramatic stories and
complex political relationships among these four women rulers Maureen Quilligan rewrites
centuries of scholarship that sought to depict intense personal hatreds among them. Instead
showing how the queens engendered a culture of mutual respect When Women Ruled the World
focuses on the gift-giving by which they aimed to ensure female bonds of friendship and
alliance. Detailing the artistic and political creativity that flourished in the pockets of
peace created by these queens Quilligan's lavishly illustrated work offers a new perspective
on the glory of the Renaissance and the women who helped to create it.
