Summary of Sarah Gristwood's Game of Queens

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 The girl who arrived at the court of the Netherlands in the summer of 1513 was a courtier's daughter, bred to know the steps of the dangerous courtly dance. She knew how the pageantry of a Christmas masque could spell a message, and that in the great chess game of European politics, she might have a part to play. #2 The court to which Anne Boleyn came was a place of culture and luxury. Among the books she could have seen in Margaret's library was the already-famous Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, as well as newer books decked with flowers in the margins. #3 The Boleyn family had a history of social mobility. Anne's father, Thomas, had made his fortune as a merchant. He was a courtier and a linguist, and heiress to half the Ormonde fortune. #4 Anne Boleyn was sent to the court of Margaret of Austria in 1512, as her family's agent and ambassador. She learned more than the French language there, she learned how to play the game of courtly love.