Trudy Gold
Elizabeth I, Catherine de’ Medici and the Sultana Roxelana
Summary
Trudy Gold delves into the intertwining stories of three remarkable, powerful women: Elizabeth I, Catherine de’ Medici and Sultana Roxelana. One, whose father had executed her mother; another, a political pawn who became the ruler of France; and the third, a harem slave who captivated a Sultan.
Trudy Gold
Trudy Gold was the CEO of the London Jewish Cultural Centre and a founding member of the British delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Throughout her career she taught modern Jewish history at schools, universities, and to adult groups and ran seminars on Holocaust education in the UK, Eastern Europe, and China. She also led Jewish educational tours all over the world. Trudy was the educational director of the student resources “Understanding the Holocaust” and “Holocaust Explained” and the author of The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization.
She never married because who could she have married? She had to keep England safe and if she’d married one of the nobility, all the other nobles would’ve gone crazy. So she realised that the only way she could keep England safe was not to marry and to rule as the Virgin Queen.
Well, it’s actually the wife of Selim who is thought to be Jewish. There’s lots of letters between her and Catherine de Medici. Her advisor was Jewish and very close to the Duke of Naxos. And one of Selim II’s closest advisors was Joseph Nasi, whose mother was Dona Gracia. So it all kind of slots together. The Jews are not centre stage at this at all, but they’re an interesting adjunct to history.