Introduction: inalienable possessions and female power -- The device for succession -- The Mary Tudor pearl -- Three queens, one poet, and the republican counselor -- "Sister" queens, Mary Stuart and Elizabeth Tudor: the solid gold baptismal font -- Regicide, republicanism, and the death of Darnley -- Mary, Queen of Scots, eighteen years imprisoned in England -- A trap for two queens -- Catherine de' Medici: tolerance and terror -- Eight Valois tapestries: Catherine de' Medici's inalienable possession -- Phillip II: the bridegroom returns -- Epilogue: the gifts they gave -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.