Antoine de Bourbon

Antoine de Bourbon is a prince of the blood circling the French court with an eye on advancement, a man whose ambition outpaces his cunning. He postures as a power player among the scheming nobility surrounding Catherine de Medici, but his vanity and need for approval make him easy to read and easier to use.

Nicholas Burns brings a comic looseness to court intrigue that's usually played dead serious, turning Antoine's bluster into something almost pitiable. The writing lets him be a fool with real title and real danger attached, so his self-regard becomes both funny and a genuine liability to everyone who has to manage him.