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Bezig met laden... House of Treason: The Rise and Fall of a Tudor Dynastydoor Robert Hutchinson
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Good non-fiction that helps explain the House of Norfolk. Just in time for me as I am watching "Wolf Hall". It can be quite difficult keeping all those Thomases and Henrys in their proper places, but an appendix at the end of the book helps with this a great deal. ( ) House of Treason: Rise and Fall of a Tudor Dynasty is a work of monumental academic proportions. It tells the story of the ill-fated Dukes of Norfolk and is set against the stunning and bejewelled background of the Tudor court. The book takes us from Henry VII, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Bosworth field to the 4th Duke’s son Philip who lost the dukedom under James I but gained canonisation in 1970, embracing the whole glittering Tudor period in which the Norfolks played so vitally important a role. It is no ‘easy’ read but little wonder. The sheer breadth and depth of content is breathtaking: but do not give up …. the experience is worth every word. An absorbing account of the highs and lows of the Howard family, probably the most influential aristocratic families in Tudor England. The book provides fascinating insight into the machinations of the English court in what was the most dangerous period for aristocratic families with a lust for power and wealth in English history, as a succession of aristocrats were executed for treason. The Howard family certainly illustrate this more than most, as for generations they perceived themselves as the power behind the throne and meddled in Royal affairs. During Elizabeth’s reign many members of the family became recusants, also a treasonable offence. So it is no surprise that the first, second, third and fourth Dukes of Norfolk were attainted - accused of treason and their lands and titles confiscated - and several members of the family were executed, most notably two of Henry VIII's Queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, and the fourth Duke of Norfolk. Many other members of the family languished in the Tower, often for years.
It is a riveting story, splendidly told. It is amazing that academic historians have so often written admiringly of Henry VIII while others have portrayed the 16th century as a glorious age. Robert Hutchinson suffers from no such illusions. Tudor England was as cruel and vile as Stalin’s Russia or Hitler’s Germany. It was a place where spies and informers flourished, where men and women were condemned to death on trumped-up evidence in rigged trials where there was only one possible verdict – guilty. The 3rd Duke characteristically explained while dealing with the prisoners taken after the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace, that he had dispensed with trials by indictment because some of those charged might have been found not guilty. The king however was angry because Norfolk had neglected to have the corpses quartered. He had previously ordered the duke to kill his prisoners “without pity or respect”. Stalin and Hitler would have approved
King-makers - Conspirators - Criminals - Nobles - Seducers The Howard family - the Dukes of Norfolk - were the wealthiest and most powerful aristocrats in Tudor England, regarding themselves as the true power behind the throne. They were certainly extraordinarily influential, with two Howard women marrying Henry VIII - Anne Boleyn and the fifteen-year-old Catherine Howard. But in the treacherous world of the Tudor court no faction could afford to rest on its laurels. The Howards consolidated their power with an awesome web of schemes and conspiracies but even they could not always hold their enemies at bay. This was a family whose history is marked by treason, beheadings and incarceration - a dynasty whose pride and ambition secured only their downfall. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)942.050922History and Geography Europe England and Wales England 1485-1603, TudorsLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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