"In 1566 Don Fadrique, then a gentleman of the king's bedchamber, had formed an illicit liaison with Magdalena de Guzmán and promised to marry her. There could be no doubt of this because his loved possessed several of his love letters, in which he gave his 'word and faith as a knight to marry you, if you wish it'. Alba [sein Vater Fernando Álvarez de Toledo] had other ideas: he persuaded the king to exile Magdalena to a convent, and to exile his son to the garrison of Oran until he could join him in Brussels. The duke also signed a contract obliging his heir to marry a cousin, Maria de Toledo, but Magdalena and her relatives objected that Fadrique had already given his pledge to her, and they appealed to the king. Philip accepted the justice of their cause, but in September 1578 Alba assured his incredulous but obedient son that 'His Majesty has given you permission to marry the said Doña Maria de Toledo, and so you may do so'. The following month, in the presence of many relatives, Don Fadrique married his cousin and consummated the union before returning to his place of exile. Although the Toledo clan tried to keep the matter secret, news soon arrived at court ... This disobedience at last gave Philip [II.] the perfect excuse to punish Alba and his entourage for 'excesses in justice, finance and war' in the Netherlands and on 8 December he ordered guards to place Don Fadrique in close confinement ... the king not only sentenced Alba to exile for the rest of his life but also transferred some of his income from the royal treasury to Doña Magdalena de Guzmán, as 'dowry and as recompense for the injuries she has received, since we can no longer honour her claims' to be betrothed to Don Fadrique. He also exiled other members of the House of Toledo from the court." (in: Geoffrey Parker: Imprudent King – A new life of Philip II., id., pp. 258-259).
Margarete von Österreich – Die burgundische Habsburgerin und ihre Zeit
seit November 2017 als Buch in überarbeiteter Version bei amazon.de erhältlich, 492 Seiten, mit 216 SW-Bildern, € 22,06; ISBN 978-1-9731-9249-7
als E-BOOK bei amazon.de mit Stammtafeln und 219 Bildern, davon 149 in Farbe, Eigenproduktion 2014, € 18,41
Frauen in der Renaissance – 30 Einzelschicksale
seit Oktober 2017 als Buch in überarbeiteter Version bei amazon.de erhältlich, 432 Seiten, mit 304 SW-Bildern, € 20,20; ISBN 978-1-5498-9445-9
ab Dezember 2014 als E-Book in überarbeiteter Version bei amazon.de erhältlich, mit 346 Bildern (davon 268 in Farbe), € 18,03