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In honor of the new season of The Tudors beginning Sunday night on Showtime, I wanted to hopefully start a discussion of that era of history. The series has numerous historical inaccuracies, but is probably getting a lot of people interested in Henry VIII and the Tudor dynasty.
I've been reading a lot about this era in the past year or so. Some books I've really found helpful were The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir, Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox, and I'm currently reading Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens by Jane Dunn. I thought The Other Boleyn Girl and all the other Phillippa Gregory books were OK, but the actual history doesn't need any embellishment in order to be interesting and juicy!
Who is your favorite Tudor? Elizabeth I was way ahead of her time: so savvy to stay unmarried, but constantly entertaining new suitors and making vague promises in order to cement political alliances. I'm also learning a lot I didn't know regarding Mary, Queen of Scots in the book I'm reading now. It sounds as though she was quite a piece of work as well.
Yes, the series is pretty much "soft porn." Ick! I also hate the way they combined the historical figures of Margaret and Mary Tudor (Henry VIII's sisters) into one character. This effectively prevents the series from continuing into the days of Mary, Queen of Scots and/or Lady Jane Grey b/c neither would have existed!
I don't know how long they have planned for the series. Will it show all of Henry's wives (they'd have to recast Henry or put him in a fat suit) and Elizabeth I's reign?
I enjoy reading about Mary I (Bloody Mary) and her mother, Katherine of Aragon. Even though most people see Mary I as someone who is distasteful, her side of the story is often overlooked.
I don't watch The Tudors, as it is just way too off for me. I did go see The Other Boleyn Girl, with which I watched as if it were its own story, not a take on history or a book, and as such I enjoyed it. For the most part, I enjoy reading the books by Jean Plaidy (she has written a ton on royals), and I have read Gregory's books as well (The Queen's Fool, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Constant Princess). For me, it isn't only the Tudors that I am interested in, it is pretty much the history of most western European monarchies. If I could, I would have majored in history if I could only focus on that segment.
As a final note, for some reason I hate reading about Elizabeth I...its probably just me, but I think she's over-glorified (ie. TOBG movie completely disregarded that Edward VI and Mary I ruled before her).
'The Tudors' is a historical disaster (feel free to read my rant thread, 'Historical Inaccuracy in Movies' in the Movies forum, in which I hold up 'The Tudors' as a bad example ) -- I don't subscribe to either HBO or SHO and only saw the series because I could rent the recent DVD for free from my local library. I suspect that if I watch the next DVD release(s) it will only be out of morbid curiosity to see what else they took their historical hatchet to...
My favorite Tudor personality is, ironically, not "a Tudor" at all: Anne of Cleves. Many years ago I read Margaret Campbell Barnes' novel 'My Lady of Cleves' which first sparked my interest in what she was actually like. It seems to me that she was probably the most pragmatic, independent, modern-day-mindset woman in Henry's court. She has been given short shrift in most media depictions of Henry's wives (though Elsa Lanchester's portrayal of her in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII', starring Charles Laughton as Henry, is one of my favorite parts of that delightful movie) and the only other novel to give her much attention is Phillippa Gregory's 'The Boleyn Inheritance'. I am truly surprised Jean Plaidy (whose work I love and in my collection I have every book she ever wrote under that name) never devoted a historical novel to Anne of Cleves; perhaps because Margaret Campbell Barnes had already done it in 1946?
I'm also learning a lot I didn't know regarding Mary, Queen of Scots in the book I'm reading now. It sounds as though she was quite a piece of work as well.
If you enjoy reading novels about Mary, definitely look into 'Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles' by Margaret George. Jean Plaidy wrote two novels about Mary: 'Royal Road to Fotheringay' and 'The Captive Queen of Scots.'
An often-overlooked out of print novel about Anne Boleyn (another interest of mine) is 'The Concubine' by Norah Lofts. I found my copy for sale at Abebooks.
Another fascinating Tudor woman was Elizabeth Hardwick who became Countess of Shrewsbury. History remembers her by her nickname, "Building Bess" because among the beautiful manor houses she built was Hardwick Hall, known far and wide as "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall". She had a knack for marrying men (4 in all) whose wealth allowed her to indulge her passion for building. Bess was also at one point one of the 'guardians' of Mary Queen of Scots during her imprisonment by Elizabeth I.
I find Anne of Cleves very interesting and savvy as well. When things didn't work out with Henry, she stepped aside without a big fuss (learning from the example of her predecessors?). However, she stayed in England the rest of her life and was treated as Henry's "sister." I think that she probably got the last laugh in that situation, seeing as how things with Katherine Howard worked out!
Thanks for the references as well. I'm hoping to have some free time this summer to read, and those will definitely go on my list!
I guess Mary I was really affected by the way the protestants treated her beloved mother Catherine of Aragon as she exacted a reign of terror ( Bloody Mary) on them of what i remembered reading about her years ago. I assume she must have hated her father King Henry VIII.
By the way, if any of you other Tudorholics don't already know, there is a new Phillippa Gregory novel coming out in September (April in the UK): 'The Other Queen', about Mary Queen of Scots. The USA Amazon site has no details yet, but you can go to the link below to check the cover out:
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