
Francis I
The Maker of Modern France
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Narrated by:
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Carole Boyd
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By:
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Leonie Frieda
The best-selling author of Catherine de Medici returns to 16th-century Europe in this evocative and entertaining biography that re-creates a remarkable era of French history and brings to life a great monarch - Francis I - who turned France into a great nation.
Catherine de Medici's father-in-law, King Francis of France, was the perfect Renaissance knight, the movement's exemplar and its Gallic interpreter. An aesthete, diplomat par excellence, and contemporary of Machiavelli, Francis was the founder of modern France, whose sheer force of will and personality molded his kingdom into the first European superpower. Arguably the man who introduced the Renaissance to France, Francis was also the prototype Frenchman - a national identity was modeled on his character. So great was his stamp that few countries even now are quite so robustly patriotic as is France. Yet as Leonie Frieda reveals, Francis did not always live up to his ideal; a man of grand passions and vision, he was also a flawed husband, father, lover, and king.
With access to private archives that have never been used in a study of Francis I, Frieda explores the life of a man who was the most human of the monarchs of the period - and yet remains the most elusive.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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Entertaining
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This is really an extremely interesting period in European History, frightening as it devolves into colonial theft and chattel slavery but interesting none the less.
So many colorful characters: Charles V of Spain & Hapsurg Austria/Netherlands+, Suleman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, Henry VIII of England and of course the multiple Popes during this time period.
fascinating and fast paced
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Frieda's research and erudition are impressive, but her writing is always lively and intriguing, never dull. There is so little available in English about the Valois monarchs, apart from the dreck that passes for historical fiction and is propogated through the preposterous miniseries adapted therefrom! If you're really interested in the times of the Valois, read both of Frieda's excellent books instead.
Frieda makes the time period come to life, as she did with Catherine, and illustrates just how complicated, contradictory, and sometimes exasperating, François was. Many of his decisions are no less than baffling, while others are brilliant. Coddled by his mother, Louise of Savoy, he would also be led by other women in his life, sometimes disastrously so. Both a biography and a portrait of France, the book illuminates a France unfamiliar to many. Truly his reign set the foundation for French modernity in countless ways.
May you enjoy it as much as I did.
Rekindling salamandrine fires...
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Very informative, interesting and easy to follow
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Questionably researched
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More than anybody needs to know
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I been reading books on the English and French history and this book had all neatly tied together.
A must read for all history aficionados.
4 years of history this book offers
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A chronology, not an analysis
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Excellent and well researched
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The narrative felt like a bold faced advertisement for the author’s previous book on Catherine de Medici. The facts do not support the authors claims that CdM was well liked in the french court, that she was beautiful or that Henri ll had any tender sentiments toward his wife whatsoever.
This book uses the final pages to abuse Diane De Poitiers. Where is that appropriate in an account of François I, I ask you? Wish I had saved my money.
Sadly, flat and boring account of Renaissance France
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