Title: Love, madness, and scandal
Description: The high society of Stuart England found Frances Coke Villiers, Viscountess Purbeck (1602-1645) an exasperating woman. She lived at a time when women were expected to obedient, silent, and chaste, but Frances displayed none of these qualities. Her determination to ignore convention contributed in no small measure to a live of high drama, one which encompassed kidnappings, secret rendezvous, an illegitimate child, accusations of black magic, imprisonments, disappearances, and exile, not to mention court appearances, high-speed chases, a jail-break, deadly disease, royal fury, and-- by turns-- religious condemnation and conversion. On one level a thrilling tale of love and sex, kidnapping and elopement, the life of Frances Coke Villiers is also the story of an exceptional woman, whose personal experiences intertwined with the court politics and religious disputes of a tumultuous and crucially formative period in English history.
Subjects: Scandals, Women, Biography, History, Nobility, great britain, Great britain, history, stuarts, 1603-1714, Purbeck, Frances Coke Villiers, Viscountess, 1602-1645, Women -- England -- History -- 17th century -- Biography, Scandals -- England -- History -- 17th century, Great Britain -- History -- Stuarts, 1603-1714 -- Biography, Great Britain -- History -- 1714-1837 -- Biography
Places: Great Britain, England
People: Frances Coke Villiers Purbeck Viscountess (1602-1645)
Time periods: 17th century, Stuarts, 1603-1714, 1714-1837