Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide

My review of ‘Discovering Tudor London’ by Natalie Grueninger

Posted on 13th December 2017 by Tamise

‘Discovering Tudor London: A Journey Back in Time’ is the perfect companion for those wanting to explore the London that the Tudors would have known.

The guide includes houses, halls, palaces, castles, churches, religious houses, museums and art galleries. The scene is set by the Tudor Timeline, the illustrative map groups places together and the itineraries help you plan your visit whether you are in London for a long weekend, a week or longer.

There are fascinating tips throughout which tell you what to look out for at each place and what was particularly interesting were the details of where places used to be (see ‘Visitor Information’ sections), for example the sites of Norfolk House, a former home of Katherine Parr and Chelsea Place.

Places linked to Lady Jane Grey include the Tower of London and the Guildhall. The places of burial of Jane’s mother (Frances Grey) and mother-in-law (Jane Dudley) are also listed (Westminster Abbey and Chelsea Old Church).

The book is the perfect size to fit in your bag. On my next trips to Hampton Court and the Tower of London, I will take this book with me, to make sure I don’t miss out.

Thank you to History Press for my review copy.

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Books 2017 – on sale today – Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey (paper back) by Nicola Tallis

Posted on 12th December 2017 by Tamise

12th December 2017 – Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey (paper back) by Nicola Tallis

‘”Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same.” These were the heartbreaking words of a seventeen-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold awaiting death on a cold February morning in 1554. Minutes later her head was struck from her body with a single stroke of a heavy axe. Her death for high treason sent shockwaves through the Tudor world, and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the axe could fall at any time.

Jane is known to history as “the Nine Days Queen,” but her reign lasted, in fact, for thirteen days. The human and emotional aspects of her story have often been ignored, although she is remembered as one of the Tudor Era’s most tragic victims. While this is doubtlessly true, it is only part of the complex jigsaw of Jane’s story. She was a remarkable individual with a charismatic personality who earned the admiration and affection of many of those who knew her. All were impressed by her wit, passion, intelligence, and determined spirit. Furthermore, the recent trend of trying to highlight her achievements and her religious faith has, in fact, further obscured the real Jane, a young religious radical who saw herself as an advocate of the reformed faith―Protestantism―and ultimately became a martyr for it.

Crown of Blood is an important and significant retelling of an often-misunderstood tale: set at the time of Jane’s downfall and following her journey through to her trial and execution, each chapter moves between the past and the “present,” using a rich abundance of primary source material (some of which has never been published) in order to paint a vivid picture of Jane’s short and turbulent life. This dramatic narrative traces the dangerous plots and web of deadly intrigue in which Jane became involuntarily tangled―and which ultimately led to a shocking and catastrophic conclusion.’

From Amazon.com

Further details – Pegasus Books

Further details Amazon.com

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My review of ‘The Survival of the Princes in the Tower’ by Matthew Lewis

Posted on 11th December 2017 by Tamise

The Survival of the Princes in the Tower by Matthew Lewis

‘The Survival of the Princes in the Tower’ is a thoroughly researched and well-argued investigation of one of the great unsolved historical mysteries. In this detailed look at the fate of the sons of Edward IV, Lewis explores the events of the summer of 1483, the disappearance of the princes, who might have been responsible and asks if they actually died that summer?

The majority of the book looks at the threats faced by Henry VII from ‘pretenders’ to the crown throughout his reign and asks the question if any of them really were the lost princes? The fact that Henry VII seemed unsure of the answer is intriguing.

One chapter look at various theories that the princes survived into the reign of Henry VIII, their possible identities and one has a possible link to the attempted usurpation of the throne in July 1553.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the Princes in the Tower.

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Books 2017 – on sale today – Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots: The Life of King Henry VIIIs Sister by Sarah-Beth Watkins

Posted on 8th December 2017 by Tamise

8th December 2017 – Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots: The Life of King Henry VIIIs Sister by Sarah-Beth Watkins (paper back)

‘Margaret Tudor was Henry VIII’s older sister and became the Queen of Scotland after her marriage to James IV in 1503. Her life was troubled and fraught with tension. She was continually caught between her country of birth and the country she ruled. After James IVs death, she made the disastrous decision to marry the Earl of Angus, threatening her regency and forcing the Scottish council to send for the Duke of Albany to rule in her stead. Over the years, Margarets allegiance swung between England and Scotland, making her brother Henry VIII both her ally and her enemy at times. Although Margaret wished for peace between the two countries, these were tumultuous years and she didnt always make the wisest choices. Yet, all she did she did for her son James V, and her absolute conviction he would rule Scotland as its rightful king.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

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Books 2017 – on sale now – A book with a Jane link…

Posted on 7th December 2017 by Tamise

3rd December 2017 – Gender, Authorship, and Early Modern Women’s Collaboration (Early Modern Literature in History) edited by Patricia Pender

‘This book explores the collaborative practices – both literary and material – that women undertook in the production of early modern texts. It confronts two ongoing methodological dilemmas. How does conceiving women’s texts as collaborations between authors, readers, annotators, editors, printers, and patrons uphold or disrupt current understandings of authorship? And how does reconceiving such texts as collaborative illuminate some of the unresolved discontinuities and competing agendas in early modern women’s studies? From one perspective, viewing early modern women’s writing as collaborative seems to threaten the hard-won legitimacy of the authors we have already recovered; from another, developing our understanding of literary agency beyond capital “A” authorship opens the field to the surprising range of roles that women played in the history of early modern books. Instead of trying to simply shift, disaggregate or adjudicate between competing claims for male or female priority in the production of early modern texts, Gender, Authorship, and Early Modern Women’s Collaboration investigates the role that gender has played – and might continue to play – in understanding early modern collaboration and its consequences for women’s literary history.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Palgrave

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

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