The Children of Henry VIII

Author: Alison Weir
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307806863
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 424

Book Description
“Fascinating . . . Alison Weir does full justice to the subject.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer At his death in 1547, King Henry VIII left four heirs to the English throne: his only son, the nine-year-old Prince Edward; the Lady Mary, the adult daughter of his first wife Katherine of Aragon; the Lady Elizabeth, the teenage daughter of his second wife Anne Boleyn; and his young great-niece, the Lady Jane Grey. In this riveting account Alison Weir paints a unique portrait of these extraordinary rulers, examining their intricate relationships to each other and to history. She traces the tumult that followed Henry's death, from the brief intrigue-filled reigns of the boy king Edward VI and the fragile Lady Jane Grey, to the savagery of "Bloody Mary," and finally the accession of the politically adroit Elizabeth I. As always, Weir offers a fresh perspective on a period that has spawned many of the most enduring myths in English history, combining the best of the historian's and the biographer's art. “Like anthropology, history and biography can demonstrate unfamiliar ways of feeling and being. Alison Weir's sympathetic collective biography, The Children of Henry VIII does just that, reminding us that human nature has changed--and for the better. . . . Weir imparts movement and coherence while re-creating the suspense her characters endured and the suffering they inflicted.”—The New York Times Book Review

Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him

Author: Tracy Borman
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
ISBN: 9781473649910
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
'An outstanding work of historical artistry, a brilliantly woven and pacy story of the men who surrounded, influenced and sometimes plagued Henry VIII.' Alison Weir Henry VIII is well known for his tumultuous relationships with women, and he is often defined by his many marriages. But what do we see if we take a different look? When we see Henry through the men in his life, a new perspective on this famous king emerges. Henry's relationships with the men who surrounded him reveal much about his beliefs, behaviour and character. They show him to be capable of fierce, but seldom abiding loyalty; of raising men only to destroy them later. He loved to be attended and entertained by boisterous young men who shared his passion for sport, but at other times he was more diverted by men of intellect, culture and wit. Often trusting and easily led by his male attendants and advisers during the early years of his reign, he matured into a profoundly suspicious and paranoid king whose favour could be suddenly withdrawn, as many of his later servants found to their cost. His cruelty and ruthlessness would become ever more apparent as his reign progressed, but the tenderness that he displayed towards those he trusted proves that he was never the one-dimensional monster that he is often portrayed as. In this fascinating and often surprising new biography, Tracy Borman reveals Henry's personality in all its multi-faceted, contradictory glory.

The Wives of Henry VIII

Author: Antonia Fraser
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0804152616
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 819

Book Description
The New York Times bestselling history of the legendary six wives of Henry VIII--from the acclaimed author of Marie Antoinette. Under Antonia Fraser's intent scrutiny, Catherine of Aragon emerges as a scholar-queen who steadfastly refused to grant a divorce to her royal husband; Anne Boleyn is absolved of everything but a sharp tongue and an inability to produce a male heir; and Catherine Parr is revealed as a religious reformer with the good sense to tack with the treacherous winds of the Tudor court. And we gain fresh understanding of Jane Seymour's circumspect wisdom, the touching dignity of Anna of Cleves, and the youthful naivete that led to Katherine Howard's fatal indiscretions. The Wives of Henry VIII interweaves passion and power, personality and politics, into a superb work of history.

The Books of King Henry VIII and His Wives

Author: James P. Carley
Publisher: London : British Library
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
"In this new book, James P. Carley, a leading scholar in the emerging field of book history, describes Henry VIII's libraries and shows their key role in providing a more intimate understanding of this seemingly familiar monarch and his consorts. The books of the wives, moreover, show them to have been as independent and innovative as the king himself. The extensive illustrations allow us to examine both the bindings and the contents of the collection, and also provide us with examples of his immediate voice in the form of the marginalia that he inserted into his books."--BOOK JACKET.

Henry VIII

Author: Jonathan Melmoth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781409598862
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 64

Book Description
Discover the fascinating life of one of the most influential British Kings that ever lived. Henry VIII tells a vivid story of intrigues, war, religion and exciting changes in British History.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Author: Alison Weir
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 0802198759
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 676

Book Description
A “brilliantly written and meticulously researched” biography of royal family life during England’s second Tudor monarch (San Francisco Chronicle). Either annulled, executed, died in childbirth, or widowed, these were the well-known fates of the six queens during the tempestuous, bloody, and splendid reign of Henry VIII of England from 1509 to 1547. But in this “exquisite treatment, sure to become a classic” (Booklist), they take on more fully realized flesh and blood than ever before. Katherine of Aragon emerges as a staunch though misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn, an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour, a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cleves, a good-natured woman who jumped at the chance of independence; Katherine Howard, an empty-headed wanton; and Katherine Parr, a warm-blooded bluestocking who survived King Henry to marry a fourth time. “Combin[ing] the accessibility of a popular history with the highest standards of a scholarly thesis”, Alison Weir draws on the entire labyrinth of Tudor history, employing every known archive—early biographies, letters, memoirs, account books, and diplomatic reports—to bring vividly to life the fates of the six queens, the machinations of the monarch they married and the myriad and ceaselessly plotting courtiers in their intimate circle (The Detroit News). In this extraordinary work of sound and brilliant scholarship, “at last we have the truth about Henry VIII’s wives” (Evening Standard).

Henry VIII

Author: John Matusiak
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752496824
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 409

Book Description
This compelling new account of Henry VIII is by no means yet another history of the ‘old monster’ and his reign. The ‘monster’ displayed here is, at the very least, a newer type, more beset by anxieties and insecurities, and more tightly surrounded by those who equated loyalty with fear, self-interest and blind obedience. This ground-breaking book also demonstrates that Henry VIII’s priorities were always primarily martial rather than marital, and accepts neither the necessity of his all-consuming quest for a male heir nor his need ultimately to sever ties with Rome. As the story unfolds, Henry’s predicaments prove largely of his own making, the paths he chooses neither the only nor the best available. For Henry VIII was not only a bad man, but also a bad ruler who failed to achieve his aims and blighted the reigns of his two immediate successors.Five hundred years after he ascended the throne, the reputation of England’s best known king is being rehabilitated and subtly sanitized. Yet Tudor historian John Matusiak paints a colourful and absorbingly intimate portrait of a man wholly unfit for power.

Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses & Bastards

Author: Philippa Jones
Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing
ISBN: 1607652374
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Book Description
Forget everything you thought you knew about Henry the Eighth. While Henry VIII has frequently been portrayed as a womanizer, author Philippa Jones reveals a new side to his character. Although he was never faithful, Jones sees him as a serial monogamist: he spent his life in search of a perfect woman, a search that continued even as he lay dying. This book brings together for the first time the 'other women' of King Henry VIII. When he first came to the throne, Henry VIII's mistresses were dalliances, the playthings of a powerful and handsome man. However, when Anne Boleyn disrupted that pattern, ousting Katherine of Aragon to become Henry's wife, a new status quo was established. Suddenly noble families fought to entangle the king with their sisters and daughters; if wives were to be beheaded or divorced so easily, the mistress of the king was in an enviable position. Yet he loved each of his wives and mistresses, he was a romantic who loved being in love, but none of these loves ever fully satisfied him; all were ultimately replaced. "The Other Tudors" examines the extraordinary untold tales of the women who Henry loved but never married, the mistresses who became queens and of his many children, both acknowledged and unacknowledged. Philippa Jones takes us deep into the web of secrets and deception at the Tudor Court and explores another, often unmentioned, side to the King's character.

The Hours of Henry VIII

Author: Roger S. Wieck
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Book Description
A product for the royal court of France, 'The Hours of Henry VIII' created around 1500 by Jean Poyet

Who Was Henry VIII?

Author: Ellen Labrecque
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 044848854X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114

Book Description
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Travel to the age of the Renaissance and learn why Henry VIII is one of the most famous kings in English history. Mainly remembered for his six marriages and his self-appointment as the "Supreme Head of the Church of England," Henry VIII was also attractive, educated, and athletic. When Henry Tudor ascended to the English thrown at the age of 17, his reign looked promising. But by the time of his death in 1547, King Henry VIII was characterized as an extremely egotistical, harsh, and insecure king. Though Henry VIII's legacy isn't free from scandal, his monarchy thrived due to the achievements of his daughter Queen Elizabeth I.