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Tudor Queens Of England (2009)

by David Loades(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

184725019X (ISBN13: 9781847250193)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Continuum

review 1: David Loades’ book is a fascinating look at fourteen women from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who one way or another played a role in the British Monarchy. The book looks at famous women of the period such as Catherine de Valois, Margaret of Anjoy, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Mary I and Elizabeth I as well as many others. I was quite fascinated with Loades’ book as although I have read quite a lot about the wives of Henry VIII I have read very little about the women whom came before Henry VIII. Through Loades’ book I was introduced to such interesting and captivating women such as Catherine de Valois, a Queen Dowager who dared to marry beneath her status and through her generations of Tudor monarchs stated their claimed to the throne. And women such as ... moreMargaret of Anjou who fought, right or wrong, what she believed to be the rights of her son and heir to the English throne. It was fascinating to look at such strong and determined women who in one way or another followed their hearts and did what they thought to be best for themselves and their children. Often when one reflects upon Queen Consorts of the medieval and renaissance period one thinks of meek and demure women; women who know their role and their place by their husbands side. Women who do not speak out and take what is given to them, often turning a blind eye to their husband’s affairs. But this is just one image of the Queen Consort. Another is of determination, strength and love, the will to fight for what they belied in and to follow their heart. Never more was this so evident in the life of Anne Boleyn, a woman of noble birth, a lady in waiting to the Queen, who would rise to take the crown for herself. Loades does a wonderful job of giving a brief outline of the lives of these interesting and determined women and giving a brief look at why each woman made the actions and decisions they did.Loades also looks at women such as Elizabeth of York and Jane Seymour, Queens who followed the more traditional role of Queen Consort. Women who sadly there is not a great deal known about their lives but are just as fascinating. Unfortunately, once again, Loades makes several mistakes with the dates that he gives within the book. For example he states that Mary Boleyn was married to William Carey in 1521. This date is incorrect as records from the time tell us that Mary Boleyn and William Carey were in fact married on the 4th February 1520. Loades also states that Anne Boleyn was beheaded upon Tower Hill on 18th Mary 1536. Once again this is incorrect and we know that Anne Boleyn was beheaded at around 8 – 9am on the morning of May 19th on a scaffold within the walls of the Tower of London. I do find these misgiven dates rather frustrating as dates such as Anne Boleyn’s execution are well known and well written about by other historians and more so stated in primary sources. Why Loades got these dates incorrect and continues to get important dates incorrect does baffle me. Despite the incorrect dates I did find this book extremely interesting. Through reading Loades’ book I was able to gain an insight into the lives of women that I had previously not read about such as Catherine de Valois and Margaret of Anjou. Although only one chapter was dedicated to each of these women, I felt Loades did a wonderful job of summarising their lives, giving the important details and events and painting a picture of the types of women they were. From this I feel the reader then has the opportunity to explore and research further into the lives of these women, or any of the other women mentioned within the book. Certainly I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Tudor history and more so to anyone who is interested in strong and fascinating women who played a part in English history.
review 2: I would like to give this one 3.5 stars.I just finished this book, which is a quick but I would not say easy read. It reads much like a text book and the print is teeny tiny! The layout of the information is nice in that each chapter focuses on a Queen or two for a more clear understanding of their roles and reputations. This book offers a nice way to get a fairly good grasp of a large chunk of British Royal history in less than 250 pages, which is impressive in my mind. But if someone is looking for something in the ilk of The Other Boleyn Girl this is most certainly not it. All-in-all I enjoyed it but it takes some determination to keep everyone properly sorted as to their relationships and place in chronological history because there is no family tree or time-line included. less

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