The Tudors in Love
Passion and Politics in the Age of England's Most Famous Dynasty
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
Sarah Gristwood's The Tudors in Love offers a brilliant history of the Tudor dynasty, showing how the rules of romantic courtly love irrevocably shaped the politics and international diplomacy of the period.
Why did Henry VIII marry six times? Why did Anne Boleyn have to die? Why did Elizabeth I's courtiers hail her as a goddess come to earth?
The dramas of courtly love have captivated centuries of readers and dreamers. Yet too often they're dismissed as something existing only in books and song--those old legends of King Arthur and chivalric fantasy.
Not so. In this ground-breaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the ‘loyal and most assured servant' of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of the devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling romantic obsessions that have shaped the history of the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Gristwood (The Queen's Mary) offers an engrossing look at how the Tudor dynasty employed the "stylish and stylised game" of courtly love. Popularized by medieval Arthurian legends depicting star-crossed lovers Guinevere and Lancelot, expressions of courtly love in 15th- and 16th-century England included romantic language professing devotion and such symbolic acts as a jouster wearing a woman's emblem. In mesmerizing detail, Gristwood shows how the Tudors used these methods to their advantage. For example, Henry VIII wielded protestations of courtly love to establish his persona as a young romantic figure at the mercy of the current object of his affection but viewed similarly ritualistic displays—including Anne Boleyn's tossing of her handkerchief to a jouster—as evidence of infidelity. Expertly deciphering the era's flowery language, Gristwood shows that women's oft-ignored denials gave them the illusion of control in a ruse-filled system designed to favor men. One of the rare women to hold real power in the complicated dance of courtly love, Elizabeth I employed it shrewdly to dangle potential marriage contracts with foreign princes and English nobles. Throughout, fascinating incidental details add insight and reveal personal connections between historical figures. The result is a fresh and tantalizing look at a much-scrutinized dynasty.
