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Home>Services>For Book Lovers>Off Our Shelf>Off Our Shelf 2011>June 2011: The Tudor Factory
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 Divorces, beheadings and deaths.
Henry VIII 1509-1547
Edward VI 1547-1553
Mary I (Bloody Mary) 1553-1558
Elizabeth I 1558-1603
Mary, Queen of Scots 1542-1567
| Divorces, beheadings and deaths. | | | I remember being given a story book of the Kings and Queens of England when I was 4 or 5. I used to pore over this book intensely looking at the pictures. I was partially fascinated by one page which had six beautiful women on it, all dressed in long dark dresses, all with delicate head dresses on, some with their hair up and some with their hair down. Much, much later I recognised that the picture was of the six wives of Henry VIII. Later still, I was introduced to the little ditty:
Divorced, beheaded, died.
Divorced, beheaded, survived
At nine years of age I watched with complete concentration Keith Michell as Henry the VIII (in The Six Wives of Henry VIII) and in a different period drama Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth R. As with the picture in the book of Kings and Queens, I was fascinated by the dresses and the jewels. I loved the heavy fabric of the dresses that slowed the women down when they walked along a passage; I loved that the dress made a swishing sound when anyone changed direction and I loved the regular shapes and patterns of the fabric. I loved the big pearls that looked like stones, the large ruffs that prevented one from turning one's head. I particularly waited for the scenes of betrayal and crime that led to time in the tower or a missing head. I loved it when protagonists fell in love and changed the course of history.
Starting in 1485 the Tudor dynasty grew out of the War of the Roses where Henry Tudor (1485-1509) defeated the Yorkish, King Richard III. Henry’s descent included Henry VIII (1509-1547); Edward the VI (1547-1553); Bloody Mary I (1553-1558); Mary Queen of Scots and The Virgin Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). These were the Tudors and there are many stories surrounding them. The fall of the House of York; the rise of the Church on England and splitting from Rome; the trashing of the monasteries; and not least of all how the Dynasty ended in the merging of England and Scotland under one Monarch, James I. For more detailed information check out Britannica Online.
At school we read Robert Bolt’s A Man for all Seasons. I read the play and I saw the 1965 film with Paul Schofield as Thomas Moore. When I watched the scene where Henry tries to convince Sir Thomas of the invalidity of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, the penny dropped for me and I made the link between the romance of Henry and Anne that I had idealised at the age of nine and the history that was the establishment of the Church of England. My fascination was set. From that moment on I have made the effort to read, watch and devour other people’s imaginings of this period of history - and there are many, many imaginings. From my childhood I remember, Anne of a Thousand Days and The Prince and the Pauper – an out of character tale from Mark Twain. But these few and far between gems of easy to read history have blown out in recent time to become an industry unto themselves.
Perhaps the most pervasive of retelling around this era from recent times is the Philippa Gregory books. Most noticeably The Other Boleyn Girl tells the story of the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII and the instigator of the reformation in England. Gregory’s re-tellings, focus on the romance and the intrigue, but do not ignore the history. She takes a kernel of truth and invents the back story. In this book the story highlights the lesser known sister of Anne Boleyn and uses her to tell of love and betrayal; family and public life. Other books by Gregory focus on other figures in the Tudor tale. These include: The Boleyn Inheritance; The Constant Princess, The Other Queen; The Queen's Fool; The Red Queen; The Virgin's Lover and many more.
Before Gregory there was Plaidy. Jean Plaidy was a a pseudonym for Eleanor Hibbert. She wrote historical romance and many of her titles were part of many a self respecting girl’s upbringing. One of her most loved series was the Tudor saga, eleven titles in all covering all of Henry VIII’s wives, the life and lives of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. A bodice ripping retelling of the Tudor story.
Other authors include Alison Weir; who wrote novels covering the short reign of Lady Jane Grey and the childhood of Queen Elizabeth. Also try Carolly Erickson who is a new writer in this period and covers both historical fiction as well as history proper.
If you wanted to go more high-brow the winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize, Wolf Hall tells the tale of Thomas Cromwell, adviser to Henry VIII during the time of his split from Katherine of Aragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn, aka the birth of the Church of England. It is a tough read expecting the reader to get on board with a style written in the third person, by a person writing in the first person! Antonia Fraser is famous for her biography of Mary Queen of Scots, which while not fictionalised, is truly a readable account of her life and loves, her disappointments and in the end her execution. But if you want a real history of the time you could do worse than reading or watching David Starkey or Nigel Spivey, popular historians of Britannia and her rulers. Spivey’s series on the Kings and Queens is highly entertaining.
Books are not the only output of the Tudor Factory. As far back as 1933 Charles Laughton immortalised Henry VIII in the Alexander Korda film The Private Life of Henry VIII. Four years later Bette Davis played opposite Errol Flynn in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex . Somewhere in between those two Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh played out their own private lives on the big screen in Fire Over England. Flora Robson played Elizabeth I in this version and a more firtatous monarch I have not seen. In 1955 Davis teamed up with Richard Todd and Joan Collins to revive Elizabeth in The Virgin Queen.
Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth launched an armada of big and small screen adaptations. The Virgin Queen with Anne-Marie Duff (2008), Helen Miriam as Elizabeth I (2006), Gunpowder Treason and Plot (2004) which tells the story of Mary Queen of Scots and her son James the First, successor to Elizabeth, are all nail biting to watch with burnings at the stake, dismembered bodies and at least one depiction of someone being horse drawn and quartered. The Other Boleyn Girl was filmed in 2008 and Cate Blanchett’s second foray into Tudor England came in 2007 in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
But perhaps the most melodramatic of them all is the Showtime retelling of The Tudors. This series breaks the mould. Henry VIII is no longer a goutish old man who limps from room to room. He is young and virile and jumps from bed to bed. I am not sure that this interpretation is my cup of tea – however, it does make the history accessible to those who would otherwise not be interested and it is a great conversation starter. Secretly I think I am enjoying being rather shocked by it.
Victoria is Our Library’s Technology Coordinator and knows all the kings and queens of England from William the Conquerer – in order. Top
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| Edward VI 1547-1553 |
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| Mary I (Bloody Mary) 1553-1558 |
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| Elizabeth I 1558-1603 |
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| Mary, Queen of Scots 1542-1567 |
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