The first full length study in English to examine the life and the afterlife of Agnès Sorel (1428-1450), a favourite of King Charles VII of France, and first in the long genealogy of French royal mistresses.

Introduction: Why a New Study of Agnès Sorel?

Part One: What We Know About Agnès Sorel and How We Know It

Chapter One: Who Was Agnès Sorel?

Chapter Two: The Primary Sources

Chapter Three: The First Royal Mistress in Historical Context

Part Two: The Spectacular Afterlife of Agnès Sorel

Chapter Four: Communicative Memory: The Melun Diptych and the Saviour Narrative

Chapter Five: Cultural Memory: Agnès as Celebrity

Chapter Six: Agnès la Gallante

Chapter Seven: History, Gallantry, and National Identity

Conclusion: Agnès as Modern Celebrity

Adams Tracy :

Tracy Adams is Professor in European Languages and Literatures at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is the author of Violent Passions: Managing Love in the Old French Verse Romance (2005), The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria (2010), Christine de Pizan and the Fight for France (2014), and co-author with Christine Adams of The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame Du Barry (2020).