The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty

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One of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation. Tracy Borman A riveting, pacy page-turner the Tudors as youve never seen them before. Alison Weir Why did Henry VIII marry six times Why did Anne Boleyn have to die Why did Elizabeth Is courtiers hail her as a goddess come to earth The dramas of courtly love have captivated centuries of readers and dreamers. Yet too often theyre 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 this nation.

Reviews

Sarah Gristwoods book is a masterclass in marshalling a vast canon of research into a riveting, pacy page-turner Here are the Tudors and a good few others as you have never seen them before.

-- Alison Weir

One of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation.

-- Tracy Borman, author of The Private Lives of the Tudors

This book stands out on the crowded bookshelves [Gristwood] does a superb job in distilling the vast amount of modern scholarship on this topicThe Tudors in Love also expertly tells the story of a two-way love affair that of the Tudors with their imagined past and ours with the Tudors.

-- Gareth Russell, The Times

Just when we think we know everything about the Tudors, along comes a book that turns that all on its head The prose is as seductive as the subject matter. Be prepared to fall in love.

-- BBC History Magazine, Books of the Year 2021

With verve and erudition Gristwood takes us to the dark heart of courtly love and exposes the deadly Tudor dance of sex and power.

-- Leanda de Lisle, author of Tudor: The Family Story

Meticulously researched and beautifully crafted into a narrative that reads like a romance, prepare to see the Tudors as youve never seen them before. The Tudors in Love is a magnificent work of art painted by one of our most exceptional historians. Nobody writes like Sarah Gristwood, truly stunning.

-- Nicola Tallis, author of Uncrowned Queen

Captivating and entrancing, the exquisitely detailed The Tudors in Love explores the entanglements of love, sex, marriage and politics in the Tudor dynasty, revealing how the famously spectacular love affairs intersected with political propaganda and the business of governing, and how the medieval game of courtly love became pressed into the business of shoring up a brand-new monarchy. Full of insight and fascinating.

-- Kate Williams, author of Rival Queens

One of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation. The seductively rich prose and endlessly engaging narrative bring an entirely fresh perspective to this celebrated dynasty. By placing courtly love on an equal footing with war, politics and religion, Sarah Gristwood unlocks the Tudor mindset with fascinating and often surprising results. Never mind the Tudors, Im in lovewith this book.

-- Tracy Borman, author of The Private Lives of the Tudors

A highbrow chronicle.

-- Daily Mail

Reading The Tudors in Love feels like having a cipher to decode the letters that passed between Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Catholic conspirators. For the first time there are satisfying answers to such conundrums as why Henry VIII took six wives (and executed two of them) and why the male favorites of his daughter Elizabeth I worshipped her as a goddess, even in old age.

-- Wall Street Journal, Best Books on the British Monarchy

'Passionately written.'

-- The Economist

The ideas and analysis are fascinating.

-- Tudor Times

It is rare that a book doesnt just offer new knowledge (previously ignored facts or under-reported quirky episodes) butnew ways of thinking. This is whatThe Tudors in Lovedoes: it invites and encourages an entirely new way of considering how these well-known figures interacted with one another there is much here that will be new. This marvellously readable book is like discovering a Rosetta Stone, whereby we dont just discover what people did and how they did it but come to understand the language of courtship and love as something quite alien to modern conceptions and expectations.

-- Aspects of History, Best Books of 2021

The Tudors in Loveprovides a unique lens on this period and shows how courtships shaped everything, down to power and politics this fascinating read presents Tudor history as youve never seen it before, and provides a compelling insight into the evolution of the social codes of romance.

-- This England

Sarah Gristwood is one of our finest historians, and a great writer. Her latest book is a masterclass in marshalling a vast canon of research into a riveting, pacy page-turner. She takes us on a virtuoso romp through the loves and tropes of medieval and Tudor royalty, all seen from the novel perspective of courtly lovehere are the Tudors (and a good few others) as you have never seen them beforeGristwoods inimitable style is elegant, her approach concise, measured and incisive.

-- Alison Weir, Catholic Herald

Author Bio

Sarah Gristwood is the author of four previous books of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century history: the Sunday Times bestseller Arbella: Englands Lost Queen; Elizabeth & Leicester; Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses; and the widely-translated Game of Queens. A former journalist, contributing to papers such as the Guardian and the Telegraph, she has also written a number of books on twentieth-century subjects. She features frequently at history festivals, and on radio and television discussing the past and present of Britains monarchy.@sarahgristwood