Tudor : passion, manipulation, murder : the story of England's most notorious royal family / Leanda De Lisle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

De Lisle, Leanda, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tudor, House of.

Monarchy--Great Britain--History--16th century.

Monarchy.

Great Britain--History--Tudors, 1485-1603.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Kings and rulers.

Great Britain--Kings and rulers--Biography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (577 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : PublicAffairs, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Tudors are England's most notorious royal family. But, as Leanda de Lisle's gripping new history reveals, they are a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew. The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, before speeding on to Henry VIII and the Reformation. But this leaves out the family's obscure Welsh origins, the ordinary man known as Owen Tudor who would fall (literally) into a Queen's lap—and later her bed. It passes by the courage of Margaret Beaufort, the pregnant thirteen-year-old girl who would help found the Tudor dynasty, and the childhood and painful exile of her son, the future Henry VII. It ignores the fact that the Tudors were shaped by their past—those parts they wished to remember and those they wished to forget. By creating a full family portrait set against the background of this past, de Lisle enables us to see the Tudor dynasty in its own terms, and presents new perspectives and revelations on key figures and events. De Lisle discovers a family dominated by remarkable women doing everything possible to secure its future; shows why the princes in the Tower had to vanish; and reexamines the bloodiness of Mary's reign, Elizabeth's fraught relationships with her cousins, and the true significance of previously overlooked figures. Throughout the Tudor story, Leanda de Lisle emphasizes the supreme importance of achieving peace and stability in a violent and uncertain world, and of protecting and securing the bloodline. Tudor is bristling with religious and political intrigue but at heart is a thrilling story of one family's determined and flamboyant ambition.

Contents:

The coming of the Tudors : a mother's love. An ordinary man ; A child bride ; A prisoner, honourably brought up ; The wheel of fortune ; Enter Richard III ; The princes in the tower ; The exile ; Bosworth ; The rose and the passion ; Securing the succession ; The lost prince ; Punishment ; Death and judgement ; Exit Margaret Beaufort

Inheritance : the legacy of Arthur. The elder sister : Margaret, Queen of Scots ; The younger sister : Mary, the French queen ; A family reunion and a royal rival ; Enter Anne Boleyn ; A marriage on trial ; The return of Margaret Douglas ; The terror begins ; The fall of Anne Boleyn ; Love and death ; Three wives ; The last years of Henry VIII ; Elizabeth in danger ; Mary in danger ; The last Tudor king

Setting sun : the Tudor queens. Nine days ; Revolt ; Marriage and sons ; A flickering light ; A married man ; Dangerous cousins ; Royal prisoners ; Murder in the family ; Exit Margaret Douglas ; The virgin queen ; The daughter of debate ; The Armada ; Setting sun ; The hollow crown

Appendices. What happened to the body of James IV? ; The mysterious quarrel between Henry VIII and Margaret Douglas ; Guildford and Jane Dudley ; The myth of Frances Brandon, the child abuser ; The obscure Margaret Clifford, heir to the throne, 1578-96.

Notes:

First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Chatto & Windus.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 427-516) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-61039-941-2

1-61039-364-3

OCLC:

859182513