‘Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII’s Unwanted Wife’ by Sarah-Beth Watkins added to the Other Biographies section of the bibliography.
Entries added to the following:
Art – Paintings – Delaroche.
Writings of Lady Jane Grey – Speech from Scaffold.
Primary Accounts – Spinola.
The Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, is renowned for its portraits from the Tudor and Jacobean eras, many of which are on display at the Gallery or at Montacute House, our regional partner in Somerset. This book presents portrai ts of key individuals from this period , from the monarchs and members of the ruling elite to the writers, artists and artisans that characterised the literary and artistic flourishing of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
An introductory essay provides important historical context, and the ninety works selected from the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and National Trust are accompanied by extended captions exploring the sitter and artist’s significance to the period and technical information about the portrait . The publication features sections on Tudor monarchs, the Stuarts, courtiers, the family in portraiture, and iconography.
Further details – Amazon.co.uk
Leanda de Lisle is the author of ‘White King: The Tragedy of Charles I’, which won the HWA Crown for Best Work of Historical Non-Fiction 2018. The paperback was published in January 2019 by Vintage.
Leanda is also the author of ‘Tudor: The Family Story’, ‘The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey’ and ‘After Elizabeth: The Death of Elizabeth and the Coming of King James’.
Buy ‘White King: The Tragedy of Charles I’:
Follow Leanda on Social Media
Kathryn’s website: www.leandadelisle.com
Facebook: Leanda de Lisle
Twitter: @LeandadeLisle
Many thanks to Leanda for answering my questions.
Why did you choose this subject for your book?
Because Charles’s reign is so dramatic. It is such a key part of our past, affecting everything that followed, and it is being overlooked!
What does your book add to previous works about Charles I?
I hope I give a more rounded view of Charles and I also focus on the key women in his life in a way that hasn’t been done before.
What surprised you most researching this book?
The modern resonance – it is scary how much it speaks to our own time.
Does your book reveal anything new about Queen Henrietta Maria?
Yes. Catholic women who have been on the losing side of history get a particularly bad press, and I hope I have helped to sweep aside centuries of misogynistic propaganda to reveal a truly remarkable woman and queen.
Are there any people from the Civil War, other than the main players, who you think deserve to be more well known?
Well, I have a favourite in the turncoat and spy, Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle who was always in the thick of the political action.
How damaging was the publication of letters between Charles and Henrietta Maria in ‘The King’s Cabinet Opened?
Very. The suggestion that she was Eve to his Adam, seducing the king into evil, is a caricature that is still with us today.
What was Charles I’s greatest failing as a King?
He lacked ruthlessness and he was a poor politician.
The story of Anne of Cleves, the fourth of Henry VIII’s sixth wives, has been overlooked in favour of his more well-known spouses. Anne is remembered as the wife Henry did not want to marry and soon rejected. Watkin’s biography is an interesting and fast-paced look at the life of the woman who was married to Henry for less time than his other Queens but outlived his later wives and survived to see two of her step children rule.
Mentions of Anne in books about the much married King, tend to concentrate on her brief time as Queen of England. Here, Watkins delves into Anne’s upbringing in Germany which helps to explain just how unprepared she was for life at the English court. What is particularly fascinating is what happened to Anne after the divorce, how she adapted to life as the ‘King’s Sister’ and weathered the turbulent reigns that followed.
For those wanting to learn about the fourth wife of Henry VIII, this is an excellent place to start.
Thank you to Chronos Books for my review copy
