David Loades provides a masterful overview of this formative period of British history.Exploring the reign of each monarch within the framework of the dynasty, he unpacks the key questions surrounding the monarchy; the relationship between church and the state, development of government, war and foreign policy, the question of Ireland and the issue of succession in Tudor politics.Loades considers the recent scholarship on the dynasty as a whole, paying particular attention to Henry...

The Reader's**Guide to British History is the essential source to secondary material on British history. This resource contains over 1,000 A-Z entries on the history of Britain, from ancient and Roman Britain to the present day. Each entry lists 6-12 of the best-known books on the subject, then discusses those works in an essay of 800 to 1,000 words prepared by an expert in the field. The essays provide advice on the range and depth of coverage as well as the emphasis and point of...

The reign of Queen Mary is popularly remembered largely for her re-introduction of Catholicism into England, and especially for the persecution of Protestants, memorably described in John Foxe's Acts and Monuments. Mary's brief reign has often been treated as an aberrant interruption of England's march to triumphant Protestantism, a period of political sterility, foreign influence and religious repression rightly eclipsed by the happier reign of her more sympathetic half-sister, Elizabeth....

This is the history of the men and women who occupied the highest position in English, and later British, society. From Richard III’s infamous life and death, to Henry VIII’s wives, Charles I’s execution and Queen Victoria’s exceptionally long reign, their dramatic story unfolds within the pages of this book. For about a thousand years they were superior lords, the leaders of a nobility which ruled, and for about three hundred years thereafter they were sovereigns, whose servants ruled in ...

Loades explores England's religious cultures during the reign of Mary Tudor. He investigates how conflicting traditions of conformity and dissent negotiated the new spiritual, political and legal landscape which followed her reintroduction of Catholicism to England.

William Paulet, first Marquis of Winchester, was one of the most remarkable and influential men of sixteenth-century England. Born in Wiltshire in 1475, he lived to the advanced age of 97, during which time he held the posts of Lord Treasurer, Master of the King's Wards, Controller of the Household, Lord Chamberlain, Speaker of the House of Lords, and President of the Council. In recognition of his services, Edward VI promoted him to the Marquisate of Winchester in 1551, cementing his posi...

First published in 1999, This book is a wide-ranging and authoritative review of the reception in England and other countries of Foxe’s Acts and Monuments of the English Martyrs from the time of its original publication between 1563 and 1583, up to the nineteenth century. Essays by leading scholars deal with the development of the text, the illustrations and the uses to which the work was put by protagonists in subsequent religious controversies. This volume is derived from the second John...

Henry’s fifth queen is best known to history as the stupid adolescent who got herself fatally entangled with lovers and ended up on the block. However, there was more to her than that. She was a symptom of the power struggle that was going on in the court in 1539–40 between Thomas Cromwell and his conservative rivals, among whom the Howard family figured prominently. The Howards were an ambitious clan, and Catherine’s marriage to Henry appeared to signify their triumph. However, her weakne...

Thomas Cromwell was a self-made lawyer who served first Cardinal Wolsey and then Henry VIII. His time with Wolsey served him well in his work for the king after the cardinal’s fall from power in 1529. Cromwell’s time in office from 1530 until his execution in 1540 was one of the most crucial periods in English history. This biography explores Cromwell’s relationship with Henry VIII and why it failed. It also shows how he manipulated the politics of the court that eventually destroyed him. ...

'A paradise - tall, slender, grey-eyed, possessing an extreme pallor.' The contemporary view of Henry VIII's younger sister, Princess Mary Rose, as one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe, was an arresting one. Glorious to behold, this Tudor princess, with her red hair flowing loose to her waist, was also impossible for Henry to control. She first married the King of France, a match of great importance to Henry's diplomatic plans. He was dead within three months, 'danced to death' b...

The Tudor Navy is a subject which is very unevenly known. The last significant general histories were written at the end of the last century. Since then much detailed research has been undertaken, particularly on the Armada, the end of Henry VIII's reign and the early Elizabethan period. As a result, it has been generally thought that the navy went through a series of booms and slumps during the sixteenth century. Further research on the intervening periods now presents a much more even pi...

Although the Seymours arrived with the Normans, it is with Jane, Henry VIII’s third queen, and her brothers – Edward, Duke of Somerset, and Thomas, Lord Seymour of Sudeley – that they became prominent. Jane bore Henry his longed-for son, Edward VI, and both her brothers achieved prominence through her. Her brother Edward was central to Henry’s activities in Scotland and became Lord Protector for the young king, his nephew, a hugely powerful position. Thomas married Henry’s sixth wife, Cath...