Presents the story of how Felice della Rovere, the illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II, became the most powerful woman in Rome. The author evokes not only the great turbulence and creativity of Renaissance Italy, but also Felice's daily life, from dealing with squabbles among servants to her adv[...]

Isabella de' Medici was the hostess of a glittering circle in Renaissance Florence. Beautiful and liberated, she not only matched the intellectual accomplishments of her male contemporaries, but sought sexual parity also, engaging in an adulterous affair with her husband's cousin. This title illumin[...]