The Tudors The Complete Story of England’s Most Notorious Dynasty By G.J. Meyer
For the first time in decades, here, in a single volume, is a fresh look at the fabled Tudor dynasty, comprising some of the most enigmatic figures ever to rule a country. Acclaimed historian G. J. Meyer reveals the flesh-and-bone reality in all its wild excess.
In 1485, young Henry Tudor, whose claim to the throne was so weak as to be almost laughable, crossed the English Channel from France at the head of a ragtag little army and took the crown from the family that had ruled England for almost four hundred years. Half a century later his son, Henry VIII, desperate to rid himself of his first wife in order to marry a second, launched a reign of terror aimed at taking powers no previous monarch had even dreamed of possessing. In the process he plunged his kingdom into generations of division and disorder, creating a legacy of blood and betrayal that would blight the lives of his children and the destiny of his country.
The boy king Edward VI, a fervent believer in reforming the English church, died before bringing to fruition his dream of a second English Reformation. Mary I, the disgraced daughter of Catherine of Aragon, tried and failed to reestablish the Catholic Church and produce an heir. And finally came Elizabeth I, who devoted her life to creating an image of herself as Gloriana the Virgin Queen but, behind that mask, sacrificed all chance of personal happiness in order to survive.
The Tudors weaves together all the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes, that reveal the Tudor era to be, in its enthralling, notorious truth, as momentous and as fascinating as the fictions audiences have come to love.
For the first time in decades, here, in a single volume, is a fresh look at the fabled Tudor dynasty, comprising some of the most enigmatic figures ever to rule a country. Acclaimed historian G. J. Meyer reveals the flesh-and-bone reality in all its wild excess.
In 1485, young Henry Tudor, whose claim to the throne was so weak as to be almost laughable, crossed the English Channel from France at the head of a ragtag little army and took the crown from the family that had ruled England for almost four hundred years. Half a century later his son, Henry VIII, desperate to rid himself of his first wife in order to marry a second, launched a reign of terror aimed at taking powers no previous monarch had even dreamed of possessing. In the process he plunged his kingdom into generations of division and disorder, creating a legacy of blood and betrayal that would blight the lives of his children and the destiny of his country.
The boy king Edward VI, a fervent believer in reforming the English church, died before bringing to fruition his dream of a second English Reformation. Mary I, the disgraced daughter of Catherine of Aragon, tried and failed to reestablish the Catholic Church and produce an heir. And finally came Elizabeth I, who devoted her life to creating an image of herself as Gloriana the Virgin Queen but, behind that mask, sacrificed all chance of personal happiness in order to survive.
The Tudors weaves together all the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes, that reveal the Tudor era to be, in its enthralling, notorious truth, as momentous and as fascinating as the fictions audiences have come to love.
I have to admit that I was a little daunted when I first picked up this book to read. Not because of the size of the book (it is over six hundred pages and my edition is hardcover and rather big) but because of the sheer amount of information that was held within the pages. In this book Meyer aims to cover one hundred and eighteen years of Tudor monarch history. Considering all the momentous changes that Henry VIII alone brought to England, I could only imagine how much information would need to be covered in his book. Despite feeling a little daunted I dove right in and began to read with an open mind and I have to say that I was not in the slightest disappointed, or overwhelmed for that matter!
There was not a great deal of information about Henry VII, although from what Meyer wrote it appears that there is not that many historical resources about the Henry VII to source from - though I cannot say for sure as I have read very little about Henry VII. What Meyer did include in his book about Henry VII was very interesting and I really enjoyed learning about the family history of the first Tudor monarch and how he very loosely tied back into the Royal house of Lancaster. I can understand now why Henry VII had to fight so greatly for the stability of his thrown, especially since his ties to royal blood were far less than others living during his life time.
I also enjoyed reading a little about the previous Kings of England, Henry V, Richard III etc. and how Henry VII tied into the family tree. I always find a person’s history very interesting and I think Meyer did a wonderful job giving a brief overview of the last few decades before Henry VII came to the throne.
After Henry VII we move on to look at Henry VIII who inherited the thrown from his father due to the death of his older brother Arthur. Meyer gave a fascinating look at how Henry's quest to become supreme head of the church and have total and utter dominance over his kingdom, affected his subjects. Meyer talks about those that accepted the oath and swore that Henry and not the Pope was the head of the church, and also at those that refused to swear the oath. Meyer added in many chilling tales of the punishment, which clearly was unjust and unlawful, that was brought down upon men and women who refused to sweat the oath. He also spoke about how Henry’s views about religion seemed to flip flop and how his subjects were caught up in this. Many were burned for heresy and countless others executed for treason, often for denying religious laws which had previously been lawful. It appears that even Henry could not keep track of what he wanted, especially in his desperate attempt for uniformity throughout his country. There were so many horrific tales of unjust and unlawful murders that I had shivers running up and down my spine. If the head religious bishops during the reign of Henry VIII did not even understand or worse could not agree on religious laws, how were the common man and woman with little to no literacy or education supposed to understand them? With so much confusion no wonder there were so many deaths. It must have been quite a confusing and even terrifying time to practice religion.
As well as how Henry’s new ideas on religious reform affected England, Meyer spent a great deal of time looking the Roman Catholic faith in Europe. He looked at the Catholic faith and how the new reforms and Henry's determination to become supreme head of the English church really challenged many of the fundamental Catholic beliefs. Meyer also looked at the Catholic religion and the uprising of Luther throughout Europe and Germany and how the Lutheran and Catholic faiths differed from one another and where Henry and his beliefs seemed to fit into this jigsaw of life across England and Europe. It was really quite an interesting and captivating read and Meyer managed to bring so many elements and events together to give the reader a great deal of insight into the religious turmoil in the latter half of Henry VIII’s reign.
As well as how Henry’s new ideas on religious reform affected England, Meyer spent a great deal of time looking the Roman Catholic faith in Europe. He looked at the Catholic faith and how the new reforms and Henry's determination to become supreme head of the English church really challenged many of the fundamental Catholic beliefs. Meyer also looked at the Catholic religion and the uprising of Luther throughout Europe and Germany and how the Lutheran and Catholic faiths differed from one another and where Henry and his beliefs seemed to fit into this jigsaw of life across England and Europe. It was really quite an interesting and captivating read and Meyer managed to bring so many elements and events together to give the reader a great deal of insight into the religious turmoil in the latter half of Henry VIII’s reign.
I found that Meyer covered the last ten years of Henry’s life quite quickly despite quite a lot happening the King’s last decade. He did however look at the Pilgrimage of Grace and those involved and of course Henry’s stubborn reaction to having his authority challenged. I have to admit that I have always felt quite sorry for many of the people involved with the uprising, especially those who were considered to be the ring leaders of the pilgrimage. Many of these people simply wanted a return to the traditional Catholic faith and even though they were promised a pardon from Henry if they disbanded their uprising, it turned out that in the end Henry’s words meant very little. So many men, women and children lost their lives all because Henry turned back on his promise and took such great offence to anyone daring to challenge him or his authority.
Henry VIII’s final weeks were a sad, lonely decline until finally the great King Henry VIII who had caused so much political and religious upheaval passed from the world. Meyer went into great detail about the accession of Henry’s son Edward VI and those that were appointed to the council to guard and provide for England until the young Edward became of age. Meyer looks at some very interesting movers and shakers during these turbulent years including Edward and Thomas Seymour – brothers of the late Queen Jane Seymour and John Dudley. A detailed outline is given over the next few years of the Seymour brother’s great rise and then one at a time their magnificent falls. We are also shown how John Dudley came to power and the role young King Edward played in all of these events.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the short reign of Edward VI. Meyer gave a great deal of information over these years and as a reader I was able to build up a detailed and intricate picture of what life would have been like during this time. I cannot help but wonder what Edward VI would have been like if he had lived. It seems in his younger years that he cared little for the traditional Roman Catholic faith and cared even less at the death of his uncles Thomas and Edward Seymour. Would he have been a kind and loving King who thought of his subjects? Or would he have been more like his father, selfish, self absorbed and his view of the world completely distorted? Unfortunately Edward died before he could rule in his own right and we will never know how he would have affected the dynamics of England.
After Edward’s death at such a young age, Lady Jane Grey succeeded to the English thrown. These few days of chaos are not spoken about in great detail and only the basic outline of what happened is given. Meyer focuses more on Mary Tudor, daughter of Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII and how she claimed right to the thrown and with much of England on her side rode triumphantly into London as future Queen.
Unfortunately Meyer does not go into much detail about Mary Tudor’s reign as the Queen of England. I was a little disappointed, but I do understand what with so much to cover the author does have to pick and chose what is essential and what can be left out (otherwise the book would be several volume’s long!) Meyer did explain Mary’s determination to convert England’s religion back to the Roman Catholic faith and how many people lost their lives because they did not wish to return to the old faith. It truly must have been a difficult time to live in England during these years, always wondering what was the right thing to do in regards to religion and faith or being terrified that the way you worshiped would be considered heresy in the eyes of the church. I am not surprised that some people pretended to worship in way one when behind closed doors they practiced their faith in another.
Mary’s marriage was outlined in some detail and it seemed right from the start that Phillip of Spain was only putting on a face as the loving husband to create an alliance between England and The Holy Roman Empire. I felt quite sad for Mary, falling madly in love with a man who did not return the feelings and eventually left England never wishing to return. It really did seem that from quite early on in her tragic life right up until the end, the only thing that Mary had to hold onto was her faith. In the end Mary’s utter dedication to her faith is one of the things that she is most remembered for - unfortunately though not for positive reasons.
And as Mary passed the Tudor line of succession came at last to Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of Anne Boleyn, wrongly executed for false charges of adultery, incest and treason. The second living daughter of Henry VIII bastardized and then finally brought back into the line of succession. In his section about Elizabeth, Meyer talks a lot about one of Elizabeth’s greatest goals being simply to survive. She inherited a country deeply and drastically in debt, a country that was undergoing such tumultuous religious changes that it must have been quite terrifying for anyone having faith! Also in addition to this Elizabeth had to live with the image of being the daughter of a goggle eyed whore who was declared a bastard when she was not even three years of age – not to mention she was a woman living in a time where men were more important! The sheer pressure that must have been upon Elizabeth’s shoulders!
Meyer spent a great deal more time looking at Elizabeth’s reign, but that is understandable as she did reign for many decades longer than both her brother and her sister. We see her coming into her own as a young Queen, her constant wriggling out of marriage proposals and alliances with countries from all over Europe. It seems that even right from the start Elizabeth had no determination to marry anyone that was not of her choosing. From what Meyer writes it would appear that young Elizabeth had her eyes set firmly upon Robert Dudley, son of John Dudley who was executed for putting Lady Jane Grey upon the thrown. But alas love was not to have its way and Meyer talks about all the different reasons as to why Elizabeth and Robert Dudley were not able to be together – first and foremost that Robert was married, then that his wife died in extremely mysterious circumstances. Rumours were spread about court that it was in fact Robert and Elizabeth that ordered the murder of Robert’s wife and in addition to all of this Robert was the son of a disgraced former Duke executed for treason! I do feel quite sorry for Elizabeth, I seriously wonder if the circumstances were different if she and Robert would have married. But then again that is something we will never know.
What I absolutely adored about this final section of the book is how Meyer focuses on Europe and the leading King’s, Popes and people of high importance during Elizabeth’s reign. Meyer spends a great deal of time talking about all the different players in the political and religious fields across Europe and how these people played varying roles at different times to the structure and stability of England’s laws and Elizabeth’s rule. I really enjoyed looking at different events, wars, marriages etc. in France, The Holy Roman Empire, Spain and other parts of Europe and how these shifting and ever changing events eventually played parts directly or indirectly into the life of England. Meyer did such a brilliant job of setting Tudor England into the wider and greater view of the civilized world. To learn about the reign of the Tudors is not just to learn about the happenings and events in one country – England. To fully understand these events, laws, uprisings etc. one has to understand and learn about the wider world and how this world, namely Europe, affected England. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed learning about all the different religious, political and other events, wars, marriages etc. in Europe. To learn about this I was able to create a detailed background picture in which to place England the Tudor rulers into.
Lastly Meyer talks about the slow and harsh decline of Elizabeth’s final years as Queen of England. In the end England was still in dept, religious persecutions were still taking place, unrealistic and cruel laws were being inflicted upon the common people – many of whom were homeless and starving. At the end of Elizabeth’s reign is was not a glorious time for England. And even on a personal note Elizabeth’s end in itself is tragic. She was still determined to be seen as the most beautiful and stunning woman at court even though time and age had stolen both her looks and allure. Most of her teeth were gone, her hair having fallen out in chunks after contracting smallpox as well as losing her beautiful pale complexion from the disease. Nearly all of her close friends and favourites had gone to the grave before her leaving her almost alone. She came to a point where she would refuse to eat and would simply stare off into the distance without uttering a word for hours on end. She may have been severely depressed or perhaps reliving her life and all the possibilities of the choices she had made. Meyer paints such a tragic and pathetic image of the dying Queen that I found myself quite moved, almost to the point of tears. Here is a woman who has reigned for forty four long years, having survived so much, brought so much – both good and bad – to England and here she is, in her bed a mere shadow of the beauty that she used to be. All has gone before her and now she waits for death to take what it is owed. Truly Meyer did a wonderful job of outlining the final years of Elizabeth Tudor’s reign.
I also loved the addition of a “background” chapter after each chapter of the book. These background sections related to the wider history surrounding the Tudors during the period of time just discussed in the previous chapter. The background section gives detailed information about the wider world and what was happening while for example Henry Tudor was battling for the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. In these background sections Meyer is free to look at other relevant information which ties into England and the Tudors. He looks at all sorts of background information including the history of Catherine of Aragon’s family, the history of The Empire and France, he speaks about what life was like in Tudor England during Henry VIII’s reign, the happenings of different monasteries, other people loosely tied in with the Tudors, medicine, education and many, many more topics.
I thoroughly enjoyed these background additions to each chapter as for me it gave me a wider and more detailed stage into which I could fit in the Tudor monarchs. I think this was a brilliant addition to the book as it gives the reader a broader picture of the world in the late fifteenth, sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. I feel understanding the world, the religion, the polities and family life really helped to explain why the Tudor monarchs made many of the decisions they made. A clever and excellent addition to the book!
This book was quite remarkable really; with so much information to detail – the reigns of five Tudor monarchs encompassing one hundred and eighteen years – it could easily have ended up being several volumes long! I found that Meyer picked out all the most important and relevant information and was able to provide the reader with a clear and detailed picture of the reign of each of the Tudors. At first this book seemed quite daunting but once I started to read I was quite captivated. Meyer has a laid back and easy to relate writing style and he wrote in such a way that I wanted to keep reading, wanted to keep finding out more information. Meyer also gave such wonderful trinkets of information about the general life in Tudor England, from the medicines to the everyday running of life to the class levels to education and even to heresy, treason and torture. In this book Meyer did not just look at each Tudor monarch, he was able to place the Tudor Kings and Queens into the world in which they lived and ruled. It was beautifully written and this is one book that I would recommend as a must have on any bookshelf!
