11th May 2017– Tudor Monarchs: Lives in Letters by Andrea Clarke
(c) The British Library Publishing Division
‘The Tudor period (1485-1603) was one of the most tumultuous and transformative eras in English history. It was period of drama and intrigue, as well as great triumphs and progress, such as Henry VIII’s Reformation and the defeat of the Spanish Armada. It saw the emergence of an English national identity and the beginnings of a British Empire. Four hundred years after the Tudor era ended with the death of Elizabeth I, this extraordinary period still fascinates and captures the public imagination like no other. The Tudor kings and queens – pious and conservative Henry VII, the tyrannical Henry VIII and his six wives, ‘Bloody Mary’, Edward the boy-King, and the virgin queen Elizabeth – remain the most well-known and fascinating English dynasty.The Tudor period is also the first in English history to be so thoroughly documented in manuscripts, letters and documents, of which the British Library holds an incredibly rich and important collection. This book contains the most significant examples, paired with concise commentaries, to illustrate the lives and personalities of the five Tudor monarchs, as well as the most important events of their reigns.’
Further details – Amazon.co.uk
(c) Head of Zeus
The paper back of ‘The Lives of Tudor Women’ by Elizabeth Norton is published today.
Last year this web site took part in the ‘Lives of Tudor Women’ book blog tour. Here is Elizabeth’s guest article:
Tudor Women and Religion by Elizabeth Norton
4th May 2017 – The Lives of Tudor Women (paper back) by Elizabeth Norton
(c) Head of Zeus
‘The turbulent Tudor age never fails to capture the imagination. But what was it actually like to be a woman during this period? This was a time when death in infancy or during childbirth was rife; when marriage was usually a legal contract, not a matter for love, and the education of women was minimal at best. Yet the Tudor century was also dominated by powerful and characterful women in a way that no era had been before.
Elizabeth Norton explores the seven ages of the Tudor woman, from childhood to old age, through the diverging examples of women such as Elizabeth Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister who died in infancy; Cecily Burbage, Elizabeth’s wet nurse; Mary Howard, widowed but influential at court; Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of a controversial queen; and Elizabeth Barton, a peasant girl who would be lauded as a prophetess. Their stories are interwoven with studies of topics ranging from Tudor toys to contraception to witchcraft, painting a portrait of the lives of queens and serving maids, nuns and harlots, widows and chaperones.’
Further details – Head of Zeus
Further details – Amazon.co.uk
4th May 2017 – The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart by Sarah Fraser
‘Henry Stuart’s life is last great forgotten Jacobean tale. Shadowed by the gravity of the Thirty Years’ War and the huge changes taking place across Europe in seventeenth century society, economy, politics and empire, his life was visually and verbally gorgeous.
Charismatic, gifted, dynamic – dead at only eighteen years old, on the point of succeeding to the throne.
In 1610, Henry Stuart was a celebrity throughout Europe, at a momentous period for European history and culture. Eldest son of James VI and the epitome of heroic Renaissance princely virtue, his life was set against a period about as rich as any. The King James Bible, religious tension throughout Europe, Gunpowder plot, Jacobean theatre and the dark tragedies pouring from Shakespeare’s quill, innovation in learning and science, exploration and trade – as well and the bloody traumas of the Thirty Years War were his backdrop. The Lost Prince tells the life story of the prince, now completely forgotten, who might have saved us from King Charles I, his spaniels and the civil war his misrule engendered.’
Further details – Amazon.co.uk
