The Bad Queens

In the mid-sixteenth century, a strange phenomenon emerged: across Europe, women ruled. From Mary and Elizabeth Tudor, Queens of England; to Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots; to Catherine de’ Medici, Queen Mother of France—and beyond—European thrones were occupied by women. This “monstrous regiment of women,” as one famous contemporary writer called it, transformed their countries and the very idea of what it meant to rule. Come learn how these women navigated power, politics, and plots – and why Bad Queens (as their critics branded them) make the Best Stories.

Lucy Kaufman is the Assistant Professor of Early Modern British History at the University of Alabama, where she focuses on the social history of the fast-changing world of Elizabethan England. A graduate of Yale and Cambridge, Lucy taught at the University of Oxford before coming to Alabama. Her first book, A People's Reformation, explores the foundations of the Church of England and the everyday people who built it.