Table of Contents

Illustrations
Introduction
1 A new Dynasty
2 The Hundred Years' War
3 The Marmousets
4 Armagnacs versus Burgundians
5 From Bourges to Paris
6 The 'Universal Spider'
7 The End of Breton Independence
8 The Lure of Italy
9 Valois versus Habsburg
10 A Renaissance Court
11 Royal Authority
12 The Challenge of Heresy
13 Mother and Sons
14 The Last Valois
15 Assessment
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

The house of Valois ruled France for 250 years, playing a crucial role in its establishment as a major European power. This extremely well-written and structured book will appeal to the general reader. 

About the Author

Robert Knecht is Emeritus Professor of French History at Birmingham University and a leading authority on early modern French history. He is the author of The Rise and Fall of Renaissance France, Catherine de'Medic,The French Wars of Religion and Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I..

Reviews

"As in all of Professor Knecht's books that I have read, the prose provides an excellent balance between evidently careful scholarship and readability, sustaining the interest of all kinds of readers by combining its focus on politics and warfare with intriguing details of court life, without resorting to factual overload or to unsupported conjecture...Knecht has produced...a must-read for those wishing to know more about the rulers of late medieval and early modern France, as well as a refreshing overview for those already well-versed in the topic." -Kate Maxwell, The Sixteenth Century Journal, Fall 2008