I am constantly reminded that quite often the strangest things that are included in my books–the ones that cause readers to send me notes saying “really Sophie? really?” are NOT details that I created, but rather those that are historically verifiable. In the case of the French Valois court there were many historical tidbits that caused me to do a double-take, some of which made the finished novel, Médicis Daughter,  and some of which didn’t.

Knowing that many of my faithful readers are as likely to geek out over these dramatic goodies as I was, I am creating a two part countdown of ten of the juiciest, weirdest, historical tidbits from my research into 16th century Valois France. Below is Part I.  Enjoy!