St. Mary’s College of Maryland Professor of History Christine Adams and sister and coauthor Tracy Adams, professor of French in the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, were featured on the Feb. 14 episode of the “All Things Tudor” podcast. The talk, titled “The Femme Fatale Summit: French Mistresses,” provided the opportunity to discuss their joint book, “The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnes Sorel to Madame DuBarry” (Penn State University Press, 2020). The episode delves into the identity and role of the mistress and how a special place at court came to be developed for this new angle of political influence through the intelligent and charismatic woman. Diving into the realm of the Tudors, they discussed the role of the mistress in the English court versus the French court and prominent mistresses in history like Anne Boleyn.
