Mary Tudor
England's First Queen
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- 19,99 €
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- 19,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
In the summer of 1553, against all odds, Mary Tudor was the first woman to be crowned Queen of England.
Anna Whitelock's absorbing debut tells the remarkable story of a woman who was a princess one moment, and a disinherited bastard the next. It tells of her Spanish heritage and the unbreakable bond between Mary and her mother, Katherine of Aragon; of her childhood, adolescence, rivalry with her sister Elizabeth and finally her womanhood. Throughout her life Mary was a fighter, battling to preserve her integrity and her right to hear the Catholic mass. Finally, she fought for the throne. The Mary that emerges from this groundbreaking biography is not the weak-willed failure of traditional narratives, but a complex figure of immense courage, determination and humanity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Whitelock seeks to rehabilitate Henry VIII's daughter Bloody Mary (1516 1558), "one of the most reviled women in English history," and to establish her as "a political pioneer who redefined the English monarchy." University of London history lecturer Whitelock asserts that Mary Tudor's relationship with her defiant, courageous mother, Katherine of Aragon, was crucial. Mary fought hard for her crown in the only successful revolt against central government in 16th-century England. And a year later, as rebels threatened London, Mary refused to flee, rallying Londoners to her defense. A hardworking queen closely involved in policy making, Mary demonstrated that a female monarch could conduct ceremonies, such as healing rituals, performed previously only by a divinely appointed king. Several elements continue to defy Whitelock's attempts to burnish her memory: the burning alive of Protestants by the Catholic queen's orders, her phantom pregnancies, and her submission to the will of her husband, Philip II of Spain, which led England into an unpopular war with France. Readers may wish for a more detailed account of the day-to-day workings of Mary's reign in addition to her personal travails. Still, this is a perceptive portrait of a zealous queen and the larger-than-life parents and tumultuous times that shaped her. 8 pages of color photos.
