So High a Blood
The Story of Margaret Douglas, the Tudor That Time Forgot
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- 24,99 €
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- 24,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
Niece to Henry VIII, heir to the throne, courtier at risk of being killed, spy-mistress, and ambitious political player, Lady Margaret Douglas is a vital new character in the Tudor story.
Amidst the Christmas revels of 1530, a fifteen-year-old girl arrived at the court of King Henry VIII. Half-English, half-Scottish, she was his niece, the Lady Margaret Douglas. For the next fifty years, Margaret held a unique and precarious position at the courts of Henry and his children. As the Protestant Reformations unfolded across the British Isles and the Tudor monarchs struggled to produce heirs, she had ambitions of her own. She wanted to see her family ruling a united, Catholic Britain. Through a Machiavellian combination of daring, spying, and luck, Margaret made her son into a suitor to her niece Mary, Queen of Scots. Together, they had a powerful claim to the English throne--so powerful that Queen Elizabeth I feared they would overthrow her and restore both England and Scotland to the Catholic faith. The marriage cost Margaret her position, her freedom, and her beloved son's life.
From the glittering Tudor court to the Tower of London, Lady Margaret Douglas weathered triumphs and tragedies in an era of tremendous change. Yet she never lost hope that she would see her family rule throughout the British Isles, which eventually happened when King James (I of England, VI of Scotland) united the crowns in 1603. Drawing on previously unexamined archival sources, So High a Blood presents a fascinating and dramatic portrait of this forgotten Tudor.
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In this quick-paced overview, Ring, a doctoral candidate in history at Cambridge, depicts a determined Tudor family survivor who eschewed tranquility in favor of scheming for the thrones of England and Scotland. Margaret Douglas's calculated maneuvering resulted in the marriage between her son, Lord Darnley, and Mary, Queen of Scots, and the succession of their son, James VI of Scotland (and I of England). Ring intends to rescue Margaret from the popular role of overbearing mother to her "spoiled" son, but she provides little textual support for her claims. Mary, Queen of Scots, appears as a lightly drawn figure with hazy motives and Darnley seems almost an afterthought. The relationships between Margaret and the reigning Tudors takes center stage, especially the rash romantic entanglements and shifting court alliances. Still, it's hard to sense Margaret's charisma and the strategic abilities that allowed her to remain a claimant while repeatedly switching alliances as her family's needs changed. Interestingly, Ring successfully argues that Margaret's strong midlife adherence to Catholicism after years of remaining privately Catholic derived from the needs of her children, both living and buried. Ring's work has its flaws, but it's suitable for introductory reading on Margaret's complex life.
