My review of ‘Tudor Feminists 10 Renaissance Women Ahead of their Time’ by Rebecca Wilson


(c) Pen and Sword History


‘Tudor Feminists’ looks at the lives of 10 women ranging from royalty (Queens and a potential heir to the throne) to landowners to a pirate. What these women have in common is that each in their own way can be seen to have fought against the restrictions placed on them by society.

By focussing on how they did this, the author presents a different perspective on the familiar lives of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. I found it particularly interesting to learn more about Margaret Pole, Amelia Lanier and Grainne O’Malley and am always glad to see Arbella Stuart included.

If you want a brief but fascinating introduction to these women, then this is an excellent place to start.


Thank you to Net Galley and Pen and Sword for my review copy



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Revised edition of ‘Portraits of Lady Jane Grey Dudley, England’s ‘Nine Days Queen’ by J Stephan Edwards now available



‘This revised edition provides important new additions to a previous title by the same author published in 2014. Since that earlier work, two ‘lost’ portraits said to depict Jane Grey Dudley have re-emerged and are considered here in much greater detail. Lady Jane Grey Dudley was proclaimed Queen of England on 10 July 1553 following the untimely death of Henry VIII’s only son and successor, King Edward VI. But sixteen-year-old Jane lacked the support of a majority of her would-be subjects, who rallied instead to Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary Tudor. Jane was deposed after just nine days, earning for her the sobriquet ‘The Nine Days Queen.’ She was imprisoned in the Tower for six months before finally being executed on 12 February 1554. Queen Jane remains the only English monarch of the past five centuries for whom no genuine portrait is known to have survived. Dozens of images have been put forward over those five centuries, but none has yet been conclusively authenticated. This work remains the only comprehensive academic study of the iconography of Jane Grey Dudley ever published. Twenty-nine surviving portrait-images said to depict Jane have been carefully and systematically sought out, analyzed, and contextualized in an effort to determine whether any of them may be a reliable likeness. A handful of additional paintings all now lost are also discussed in detail. Finally, the single written account of Jane’s physical appearance, an account upon which historians have relied over the past century, is analyzed for its own authenticity.

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details Amazon.co.uk



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My review of ‘Young Elizabeth: Princess, Prisoner, Queen’ by Nicola Tallis


(c) Michael O’Mara


In ‘Young Elizabeth: Princess, Prisoner, Queen’ we follow Elizabeth on her perilous path to the throne. Her journey is brought vividly to life through a superb narrative combined with meticulous research.

To get there she had to survive the reigns of her father, her half-brother, and her half-sister. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate by Henry VIII, overlooked by Edward VI when he left the crown to Lady Jane Grey and implicated in the Wyatt Rebellion during Mary I’s reign, when Elizabeth came close to sharing the fate of the nine day’s queen.

Tallis’s portrait of Elizabeth is a must read which gives the reader greater understanding of the Queen she became.


Thank you to Net Galley and Michael O’Mara Books for my review copy.



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Books 2024 – on sale today – Young Elizabeth: Princess. Prisoner. Queen by Nicola Tallis


(c) Michael O’Mara


‘Elizabeth I is one of England’s most famous monarchs, whose story as the ‘Virgin Queen’ is well known. But queenship was by no means a certain path for Henry VIII’s younger daughter, who spent the majority of her early years as a girl with an uncertain future.

Before she was three years old Elizabeth had been both a princess, and then a bastard following the brutal execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn. After losing several stepmothers and then her father, the teenage Elizabeth was confronted with the predatory attentions of Sir Thomas Seymour. The result was devastating, causing a heartbreaking rift with her beloved stepmother Katherine Parr.

Elizabeth was placed in further jeopardy when she was implicated in the Wyatt Rebellion of 1554 – a plot to topple her half-sister, Mary, from her throne. Imprisoned in the Tower of London where her mother had lost her life, under intense pressure and interrogation Elizabeth adamantly protested her innocence. Though she was eventually liberated, she spent the remainder of Mary’s reign under a dark cloud. On 17 November 1558, however, the uncertainty of Elizabeth’s future came to an end when she succeeded to the throne at the age of twenty-five.

When Elizabeth became queen, she had already endured more tumult than many monarchs experienced in a lifetime. This colourful and immensely detailed biography charts Elizabeth’s turbulent and unstable upbringing, exploring the dangers and tragedies that plagued her early life. Nicola Tallis draws on primary sources written by Elizabeth herself and her contemporaries, providing an extensive and thorough study of an exceptionally resilient youngster whose early life would shape the queen she later became. The heart racing story of Elizabeth’s youth as she steered her way through perilous waters towards England’s throne is one of the most sensational of its time.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Michael O’Mara Books

Further details Amazon.co.uk



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Books 2024 – on sale today – Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era by Amy McElroy


28 February – Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era by Amy McElroy


(c) Pen and Sword


‘Women in the Tudor age are often overshadowed by their male counterparts. Even those of royalty were deemed inferior to males. Whilst women may have been classed as the inferior gender, women played a vital role in Tudor society. As daughters, mothers and wives they were expected to be obedient to the man of the household, but how effective would those households be without the influence of women? Many opportunities including much formal education and professions were closed to women, their early years spent imitating their mothers before learning to run a household in preparation for marriage. Once married their responsibilities would vary greatly according to their social status and rank. Widowhood left some in vulnerable conditions while for others it enabled them to make a life for themselves and become independent in a largely patriarchal society. Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era aims to look at the roles of women across all backgrounds and how expectations of them differed during the various stages of life.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Pen and Sword

Further details Amazon.co.uk


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