A History Of France In 21 Women – Katherine Pangonis (1)

Following these events she was taken to her grandmother’s château at Nohant, an oasis of peace in the heart of rural France. It seems that there she enjoyed a stable and happy childhood. Her world was dominated by her mother, her grandmother and a servant’s daughter who became her closest playmate and confidante, and she remained deeply attached to the estate and the countryside around it.

There was also an ‘irreproachable’ donkey, who had free run of the garden, town and house – often straying into the dining room and her grandmother’s apartments, never to be scolded, but instead given treats. She described him as having ‘a philosophical air’ about him. But the carefree days were not to last. Sand’s grandmother Marie- Aurore eventually succeeded in turfing Sophie out of her daughter’s life in 1811.

Once Sophie was widowed, Marie-Aurore began to doubt her daughter-in-law’s ‘respectability’ once again, and did not see her as a healthy influence in Sand’s life. She paid her off in return for sole custody of Sand and set about making a lady of the wilful child. Sand was taught to shed the Berrichon dialect she had picked up running among the fields with local children, to wear gloves, stop rolling on the floor and stand poker straight.

She was not yet eight. Strict as this upbringing was, it was stable and marked by a good education and plenty. And Sand was still permitted to visit her mother in Paris. There was a cast of servants and tutors who guided, scolded and adored the young Sand, not least her misanthropic tutor Deschartres, a relic of the Ancien Régime who doted on the girl and taught her well.

As a teenager, Sand demanded again and again to be allowed to go and live with her mother in Paris, at which point her grandmother, painfully, divulged the secret from which she had shielded her granddaughter – her mother was not a ‘respectable’ woman.

Praise for Katherine Pangonis ‘Pangonis’s combination of familiar and unfamiliar places is one of the great attractions of the book… This is a vividly written book to savour and enjoy, whether criss-crossing the Mediterranean or lounging in an armchair dreaming of it.’ David Abulafia, Spectator on Twilight Cities ‘An anecdote-stuffed tour of lost cities that ruled the ancient world, then collapsed… Pangonis writes in a lively style…

she is an amiable literary travelling companion.’ The Times on Twilight Cities ‘Luminous… Both – sophisticated and delightfully wide-ranging.’ Daisy Dunn, Daily Telegraph on Twilight Cities ‘The subjects of this important and inspiring book have regularly been resigned to the footnotes of history. But the Queens of Jerusalem are history-makers, game-changers. Delight in their company in this seminal and scintillating debut.’ Bettany Hughes on Queens of Jerusalem ‘Beautifully constructed, highly intelligent, perceptive, humane and empathetic, this wonderful book turns the forgotten women rulers of Jerusalem from powerless broodmares into complex actors with agency, ingenuity and fascinating lives.’

William Dalrymple on Queens of Jerusalem ‘Fascinating, intriguing, exciting and authoritative. Here are the female rulers of the crusader states as shrewd politicians, warrior queens and mothers and wives, holding their own against male crusader states and Islamic warlords in the ruthless arena of the Middle East.’ Simon Sebag Montefiore on Queens of Jerusalem 1kitap1.com/en Also by Katherine Pangonis Twilight Cities Queens of Jerusalem 1kitap1.com/en 1kitap1.com/en For my parents. 1kitap1.com/en CONTENTS Introduction 1 Balthild of Chelles 2 Eleanor of Aquitaine 3 Béatrice de Planisolles 4 Christine de Pizan 5 Joan of Arc 6 Catherine de’ Medici 7 Émilie du Châtelet 8 Olympe de Gouges 9 Empress Josephine 10 George Sand 11 Louise Michel 12 Berthe Morisot 13 Sarah Bernhardt 14 Colette 15 Coco Chanel 16 Paulette Nardal 17 Josephine Baker 18 Édith Piaf 19 Simone Veil 20 Djamila Boupacha 21 Brigitte Bardot Conclusion Acknowledgements Key Sources and Suggested Reading 1kitap1.com/en T INTRODUCTION he ‘history of France’, in the popular imagination at least, stands as a parade of kings, conquerors, cardinals, revolutionaries, renegades and sometimes (only sometimes) their wives and mistresses.

A lot of Louises, Philippes, a few Napoleons and maybe Charles de Gaulle spring to mind. The women that manage to elbow their way in are generally limited to Marie Antoinette and Joan of Arc, variously vilified and sanctified, and in both cases violently executed. In truth, the history of the sprawling European nation – the hexagon and scattering of overseas islands and territories that make up France – is marked by the lives of many extraordinary women.

Women whose lives, actions and courage have shaped the country and its culture in profound ways, yet are too often relegated to the margins of history.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 380b6466ae59e11e
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 11,418,110 bytes (10.889 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 340
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 512.49 minutes
• Total Words: 102,497
• Total Characters: 617,926
• Average Words per Page: 301.46
• Average Characters per Page: 1817.43

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