Tag Archives: medieval history

Book Review: “Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England” by Thomas Penn

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Winter King book cover

I have to start off by saying Thomas Penn has written a rip roaring biography here. It is certainly easy to see how this book won the 2012 H.W. Fisher Best First Biography prize. If you are looking for an in depth survey of the reign of Henry VII, this is your answer.

Penn begins by reminding us how Henry’s reign is overlooked by many historians because of the notoriety of his son Henry VIII and grand-daughter Elizabeth I. He likens the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign to a metaphorical spring, a second coming of sorts because Henry VIII seemed to be the opposite of his father. This is why he named the book the “Winter King”.

Henry VII had a dubious claim to the throne of England based on ancestry alone. He had spent most of his early years in exile on the continent and essentially had no thought or chance of becoming King of England. But when dissent in England reared its head during the reign of Richard III, Henry’s horizon opened up to possibilities. Disenchanted nobles gathered by his side and an invasion was planned, executed and carried forth with worthy results for Henry. This part of the story is genuinely exceptional. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York. Almost immediately she gave birth to a son, Arthur, and the Tudor dynasty was on its way to establishing its splendid reputation in history.

After Henry quelled a few rebellions and crushed the hopes of a few imposters to the throne, the reign became relatively quiet. But in 1501-2, Henry’s heir Prince Arthur and then his wife died. It was a time of crisis for Henry. All his hopes were placed in his second son, Prince Henry. This was when Henry became physically ill with the tuberculosis which would eventually be fatal. His paranoia became even more evident. He was cautious and secretive and began resorting to extra-judicial measures. He found men to carry out his rare and extraordinary methods for collecting money and keeping people under control.

Penn is masterful in setting the scene here. He tells us about the men Henry relied on. He talks about secret plots and behind the scenes diplomatic maneuvers. He gives us great insight into the personality of Henry and what his motives were. There are delicious descriptions of visits of ambassadors, Elizabeth of York’s funeral, the entry of Catherine of Aragon into London and her wedding to Arthur Tudor. Really the entire panoply of Henry’s reign is described in great detail.

For me, the best chapters are in the last third of the book. After the death of Arthur and Elizabeth, King Henry brings Prince Henry to court to give him every advantage and to make clear the hopes of the dynasty rested on his shoulders. The education of Prince Henry as well as a great awareness of how he spent his leisure time is recounted. Prince Henry was closely guarded by his father and not allowed much leeway in his behavior. But the descriptions of him and his pals and their military training and jousting antics are really fun to read about.

I found that reading S.B. Chrimes biography of Henry first laid the foundation for a better understanding of Penn’s book so I would recommend that course of action. But it’s not totally necessary. For me the book seemed to start off a little slow, however it certainly picks up after a few chapters and begins to read more like an enjoyable historical fiction book. Only it’s not fiction! Really I can’t recommend this book enough if you are interested in the Tudor era and this overlooked king.

Book Review: “Edward VI” by Jennifer Loach

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Edward VI book cover

This biography is another volume in the Yale English Monarch series. Author Jennifer Loach, before her untimely death at forty-nine in 1995, was a Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Somerville College, Oxford. Ms. Loach started out as an historian of parliament with a specialty in the Marian parliaments but she soon widened her field of study to cover European history in general and the reigns of Mary I and Edward VI in particular, bridging the gap between Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. Most of the work on the reign of King Edward VI had been published in the early to mid-twentieth century. In 1988, Loach was commissioned to write this book for Yale University Press and spent the last years of her life solely concentrating on its writing and publication.

It is unfortunate Ms. Loach died before the completion of the book. Her husband brought her notes and computer disks to Penry Williams and George Bernard, a student of Loach’s. The Preface of the book describes how these two editors managed to complete the project, a process in and of itself that is very interesting. Ms. Loach had discussed with them how she would construct the narrative of the book so they had a clear idea of her methods. For the reader, it is apparent the book was unfinished in some places although this doesn’t detract from the basic historical information provided.

Because Edward’s reign was short, he was young and had little say in the running of day-to-day government, it is necessary to concentrate on the regencies of his regime. This encompasses the retelling of the leadership of Edward’s maternal uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, later Duke of Northumberland. In this volume, there is not a lot of detail about these men’s command but it is enough to give the reader an idea of the overall impact on the reign. Dr. Loach also gives a general overview of the social and economic difficulties of the reign as well as the religious policy.

The most interesting part of this biography is about the king himself. She tells us how Edward received one of the most complete humanist educations of his era. There is some fascinating information on Edward’s court and how he enjoyed magnificence, panoply and intricate ceremony and ritual, very much following in the footsteps of his father. Edward loved to dress in sumptuous clothes and personally participate in court entertainments as a performer and in inventing them. In many ways he was a typical sixteenth century teenager albeit fortunate enough to have a superb education and access to the royal treasury.

Loach includes an entire chapter on Edward’s last illness, containing her personal thoughts on a possible medical diagnosis for what ultimately proved to be fatal. The information on Edward’s “device” for changing the succession to Lady Jane Grey is most interesting. There is a brief description of Edward’s funeral and a chapter for what followed his death with the proclamation of Lady Jane Grey as Queen and how Mary fought to claim her throne and who fought with her. There are some wonderful illustrations in the book and an appendix describing a selected list of portraits of King Edward. This is a wonderful, no-nonsense history of the life and reign of the young King Edward.

Book Review: “Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII” by S.B. Chrimes

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Chrimes Lancastrian book cover

Upon the recommendation of a respected history friend, I purchased a used copy of this book. In my pursuit to learn more and understand the Wars of the Roses, it appeared this would be a valuable read. It is easy to get confused among all the descendants of King Edward III and the possible contenders for the English throne in the fifteenth century. I also had enjoyed Chrimes biography of King Henry VII.

My friend was right, this is an excellent book. In the forward, Chrimes tells us the origins of the term “Wars of the Roses” and how it didn’t come into being until the eighteenth century. He swears he will not use the term in the course of the book and he keeps his promise. The only thing I’m wondering is what, if anything, the people of the time period called the conflict. This question is not answered.

Chrimes begins with the children of King Edward III and traces the roots of the family feud to John of Gaunt’s son Henry of Bolingbroke’s usurpation of the throne from his cousin King Richard II. This was the beginning of the Lancastrian dynasty which lasted until the deposition and eventually the death of King Henry VI in 1471. The first section of the book describes the Lancastrian dynasty, how it came into being and how it ends. The second section of the book tells us about the rise of the Yorkists. He goes into great detail about the reign of King Edward IV and how he reestablished a strong working government after the lapses of the Lancastrian kings.

After the sudden death of King Edward, the House of York divided itself with Richard III usurping the throne from his nephew. Chrimes’ point of view is that Richard started out strongly but after the death of his heir, Prince Edward, followed by the death of his wife, Anne Neville, things began to unravel. It was too soon after Richard took over and some Yorkists defected to Henry Tudor. Henry was an unlikely heir assumptive to the throne, having only a weak at best claim and no experience in government or military matters. Richard should have won the Battle of Bosworth but there was no controlling the behavior of the Stanley’s or Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.

It was clear the powers that be were tired of the civil strife. Henry Tudor’s oath to marry Elizabeth of York promised peace. Chrimes is very complimentary of Henry Tudor’s grasp of governing and stresses how he kept in place the Yorkist administration, exploiting and expanding on it. The book includes many pictures from illuminated manuscripts of the central characters and my copy has a family tree of Edward III and a map of England with areas marked for Lancastrians and Yorkists. The entire panoply of characters are presented here in a concise retelling of the history. Chrimes is fair-minded and even-handed, not taking sides or judging and all of this is done with an amiable and kindly sense of humor. I was sorry the book ended and will likely use it for reference in the future.

Book Review: “Henry VII” by S.B. Chrimes

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Henry VII Chrimes book cover

As historians, we are lucky to have a selection of biographies on English kings published by the Yale University Press called “The English Monarchs Series”. For over thirty years, the biographies, written by eminently qualified historians, have given us the latest research on these important figures in history. S.B. Chrimes, born in 1907, was head of the department of history at University College, Cardiff, the University of Wales, from 1953 to 1974. This biography of Henry Tudor was first published in Britain in 1972 by a British publisher. A paperback edition was issued in 1977 and Yale University Press published their edition in 1999 with a new forward by George Bernard, reader in Tudor history at the University of Southampton.

Bernard’s forward essentially updates the research done by Chrimes since the original publishing of the work in 1972. For the most part he states the work is still valid with a few revisions based on new research. The earliest works on Henry were from James Gairdner and Wilhelm Busch from the 1890’s so Henry was definitely due for a fresher look. Chrimes is quick to point out the biography of Henry VII’s life from Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) should be taken with a grain of salt and refutes several of Bacon’s arguments.

Part one of this book gives us an overview of Henry’s life up to the Battle of Bosworth in August of 1485. This is followed by a chapter on his accession, coronation, marriage and family. Next he covers the issue of security which Henry dealt with for the rest of his reign. Chrimes recounts the uprisings and pretenders who haunted Henry for many years. This section of the book is very interesting.

The rest of the book gives us many details on Henry’s reign based on meticulous research by Chrimes and others. Part two of the book is entitled “The Personnel and Machinery of Government” with sections on the King Council, Seals and Secretariats, Financial Administration, Parliaments and Great Councils and Judicature. While this section is very informative, some may find the material dry and uninteresting. If you are a Tudor historian, you will learn a lot about the workings of early Tudor government.

Part three is entitled “Statecraft”. This section deals with law-making, law enforcement, fiscal and financial policy, economic and social policy, relations with the church, Henry’s policies toward Wales and Ireland and his handling of foreign policies. Again, some of this information may appear dry but I found the chapters on Wales and Ireland and Henry’s foreign policy to be very appealing. It was especially interesting to read about how Henry made overtures to find a wife after his queen, Elizabeth of York died in 1503 and how this impacted his foreign policy. For most of his reign he lobbied for a diplomatic and trade alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor and sought to marry Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy and Regent of the Netherlands. Ultimately, Margaret refused to marry him.

Chrimes addresses the viewpoints that Henry was rapacious and miserly. He basically argues yes and no to both. One item of interest is he refutes Francis Bacon’s statement that when Henry died he left a fortune of two million pounds. He says this isn’t true and that most of what remained in the treasury was precious items and jewels, Henry’s favorite investments. There is a diverse selection of appendixes in the book and a myriad of great photos. There is a valuable bibliography and a nice selection of family trees as well. This book is an excellent and reliable overview of King Henry VII’s life and reign and I highly recommend it to lovers of Tudor history.

Book Review: “The Medieval Housewife and Other Women of the Middle Ages” by Toni Mount

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Medieval Housewife book cover

Toni Mount was teaching a course called “The Role of Medieval Women” in 2007 and her students asked her to write down her information because they couldn’t write notes fast enough to keep up. Those notes turned into this book. And what a delightful read this is.

We have lots of information on royal or noble women but there is not much information on how the ordinary medieval woman lived. Mount has studied what meager sources there are to give us as complete a picture as can be expected of everyday life in a medieval household. There are chapters on the role of medieval women, medieval housewives, and women in trade such as selling of wares, weaving, prostitution and ale brewing. She tells us about peasant women as well as medieval ladies. Other chapters deal with women’s dress and fashion as well as women in the church.

Interesting information is given on buying and making clothes, child care, cleaning, the cooking, serving and baking of food. Women had their own businesses and also aided their husband’s with their businesses. Mount tells us what medieval women wore and how they laundered the clothes.

All of Mount’s material in the book comes from primary sources such as a book written in the 1390’s by Guy de Montigny (The Goodman of Paris) where he details the domestic duties of a household for his new wife. She also uses material from “Piers Plowman”, Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” as well as wills, manor court rolls and medieval mystery plays. All of these sources reveal pretty compelling evidence.

Mount has a concise bibliography and the book is filled with lovely pictures from illuminated manuscripts. Also provided are photos from recent medieval reenactment groups. I highly recommend this book. I learned a lot.

Book Review: “Isabella: The Warrior Queen” by Kirstin Downey

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Isabella the Warrior Queen book cover

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Spain recently! There were two biographies of Isabella of Castile on my book shelf and I’ve now completed reading both of them. My interest in Isabella is a result of my lifelong love of Tudor history and the fact that Isabella was the mother of Catherine of Aragon. I tackled Peggy Liss’ biography first which was very interesting. Downey’s book is also a worthy read.

Downey explains in her afterword that she has a lifelong fascination in the life of Isabella. When she was a young girl living in the American-controlled Panama Canal Zone, she was captivated by the ruins of Spanish buildings which have existed since the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Panama was a trade hub for the shipping of the treasures from the New World to Spain and beyond.

While Liss’ biography is an academic work with exceptional detail, Downey has a different, but still relevant approach to Isabella’s life. She writes about the life events of the Queen, sometimes giving a keen insight into her life and at other times giving an overall picture. There is a little more detail in Downey’s book about Christopher Columbus and his voyages and their impact on Spain as well as the entire world.

Downey covers some new material here as well. She describes the cannibalism the Europeans discovered in the Caribbean and tells us about the possible origin of the sexually transmitted disease of syphilis coming from the New World. She also believes, based on her own journalistic work, that there was a history of sexual abuse in Isabella’s family.

There is some good information about Isabella’s children, especially Prince Juan and her daughter Juana. I particularly enjoyed the details of the life of Juana. Personally, I go back and forth on whether Juana was actually mentally ill or a victim of the men around her. Downey makes the case that Juana was perfectly sane but was unprepared and untrained in how to rule. Juana just wasn’t up to the task. There are some great descriptions about how Juana’s husband, the Archduke Philip, basically abused Juana as well as accounts of how her father plotted to take the throne of Castile from her. This is some really intriguing information and I may have to look into the biographies of Juana listed in the bibliography.

Isabella was an accomplished administrator and a warrior. There are many things to admire about her. But there is also a dark side to her personality. Even taking into account the mindset of medieval and Renaissance Spain, Isabella’s personality is full of religious fervor and rigidity. This leads to some objectionable events during her reign such as the mistreatment and exile of Jews and Muslims as well as the evils of the Spanish Inquisition. Downey argues the Inquisition was mostly the brainchild of Isabella’s husband Ferdinand and he used it for his own purposes for political gains and to increase his personal wealth.

I don’t want to get into a comparison between Downey’s and Liss’ work as both books have their own merits. I will say that Downey’s work is an easier and more enjoyable read and I highly recommend it. Reading both books gives a complete historical rendering of the life of this extraordinary Queen.

Book Review: “Anne Neville: Richard III’s Tragic Queen” by Amy Licence

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Anne Neville Licence book cover

It is very unfortunate that little historical evidence or records exist regarding the life of Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick and wife of Edward of Westminster and finally King Richard III. There doesn’t seem to be enough to fill a two hundred page biography but Amy License delivers with this book. As I have mentioned before I try to avoid the Wars of the Roses but this book piqued my interest because it’s about a medieval noblewoman who became Queen of England.

This book gives us the scant detail we know of Anne and fleshes it out with interesting historical details. There is a lot of information about the Earl of Warwick, Anne’s father, known to history as “The Kingmaker”, because details of his life give us insight into the home Anne grew up in. Warwick was Captain of Calais so Anne spent a few years of her childhood in France. Warwick’s machinations in bringing the Yorkist Edward, Earl of March to the throne and his about face in supporting Margaret of Anjou’s attempt to bring her husband Henry VI back to the throne are described. Licence gives us a great lesson in these events in easy to understand narrative. This is important to Anne’s story because it explains how she came to marry Edward of Westminster, the son of Margaret of Anjou and King Henry VI.

It is also important to Anne’s story because her father was killed in battle and eventually her husband Edward was killed too, leaving her a widow in the care of her sister Isabel and her husband the mercurial Duke of Clarence, brother of Anne’s future husband, Richard Duke of Gloucester. It is interesting to note that no one knows how the marriage of Anne and Richard originated. There was opposition to the alliance and it is a mystery who first suggested it. But marry they did with no expectation they would be king and queen.

The early years of Anne’s marriage and the birth of her son Edward of Middleham are recounted. Licence tells us of the castles the couple lived in and how they acquired more property and renovated some of them, along with the religious institutions they patronized. Using contemporary sources regarding how medieval women ran their households and aided their husband’s, we can get an idea of Anne’s daily life. All of this was to change with the sudden death of Richard’s brother, King Edward IV in the spring of 1483.

Richard was appointed Protector and regent for Edward’s young son, King Edward V. In a mysterious turn of events, Edward V and his brother and sisters were declared illegitimate and the Council asked Richard to be king. King Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York disappeared in the Tower of London sometime during the summer of 1483. Richard and Anne were crowned king and queen and then circumstances seem to have unraveled over the next two years.

This book is enjoyable, easy to read and fascinating. This time period of the Wars of the Roses brings up way more questions than answers based on the existing evidence. Licence poses all these questions and leaves it up to the reader to decide what they think really happened.

Book Review: “Isabel the Queen: Life and Times” by Peggy K. Liss

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Liss Isabel the Queen cover

My knowledge of Queen Isabel of Castile is very limited. She is remembered for the Reconquista, the Spanish Inquisition and of course for sponsoring the voyages of Christopher Columbus. And being a fan of Tudor history, I knew of her as the mother of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII. But I’m interested in knowing more so I’m reading a couple of biographies about her, including this one.

Ms. Liss wrote this book in honor of the 500th anniversary of the landing of Christopher Columbus in North America and a revised edition was released in 2004 for the 500th anniversary of Isabel’s death. It is an academic work, printed by the University of Pennsylvania Press and has been on my shelf for some time. Liss is an expert on Isabel and the book is filled with many great details about the era and Isabel’s reign and personal life.

This is a comprehensive work. As I don’t know much about Spanish history, the short timeline Liss gives is most appreciated. Liss writes a great deal about Isabel’s motivations for her actions as monarch in the context of the history of Spain and she is possibly a bit of an apologist for Isabel. I realize we shouldn’t put our 21st century sensibilities onto an older era. But much of what Isabel did was repugnant as many of the aspects of this book describe.

There is also much to admire about Isabel. She and Ferdinand had something very rare; a loving marriage. She was adamant that her children be educated too, especially her daughters, giving them something she lacked as a child. Isabel worked very hard at consolidating government on the Iberian Peninsula and administering justice. While executing war on various surrounding kingdoms, Isabel acted as quartermaster, raising funds and supplies and getting them to the theater of operations. Basically, whatever Fernando needed, she delivered. When asked by her husband, she would appear before the troops to lift their spirits.

I loved the description of Isabel’s first meeting with her future husband Fernando of Aragon. It was quite romantic. There is an honest assessment of her relationship with her daughter Juana, also known as Juana la Loca. While Isabel knew Juana had mental difficulties, she followed tradition and wrote in her will that she was to succeed her as Queen of Castile. The epilogue of the book describes how a lot of Isabel’s lifetime work for Spain was undone by Juana.

To be honest, Liss’ grammar and syntax are dense and a little hard to read. This is not a curl up with the cat and cuppa tea read and is more suited for historical research. But I still recommend it if you want to learn more about this complex and admirable queen as the details of her reign are extraordinary. On to the next biography.

Book Review: “Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings” by Amy License

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Cecily Neville book cover

Just being truthfully honest, I avoid the War of the Roses like it was the plague! It’s my least favorite era of English history. Enormous egos, unlikeable characters, convoluted plotting, treachery, bloody battles and cousins killing cousins, all in an attempt to take the English throne. However, there are a few appealing women that are of interest such as Cecily’s contemporary Margaret Beaufort and her daughter Margaret of York who were vigorous and effective during the conflict and have great stories. This also includes Cecily Neville, “The Rose of Raby”, mother of King Edward IV and Richard III and great-grandmother of King Henry VIII.

Amy License gives us a very thorough look at the long and fruitful life of Cecily. She has gone over all the sources to glean as much information as possible about her. There are descriptions of ceremonies and castles giving us a taste for what Cecily’s life was like. Cecily was a valuable helpmate for her husband Richard, Duke of York who had vast and rich holdings all over the country. She managed the many properties effectively while producing many children and carrying out her pious observances in the tradition of a wealthy medieval woman.

In a biography like this, the workings of the politics and infighting of the men have a bearing on the woman’s life. License gives us succinct and understandable explanations of these circumstances, giving plausible scenarios for what was happening such as why her husband made a play for the throne of King Henry VI and the role her nephew, Richard, Earl of Warwick had in the conflict. One thing I found interesting was Cecily’s friendship with Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI. Even though their husbands were at odds, they managed to have a common bond.

License gives us an abundance of details about Cecily’s life. I enjoyed the list of bequests from Cecily to her family and servants. She also gives us history and background of Cecily’s children and grandchildren as well as some of her siblings and their descendants. There are some handy family trees in the book and some great pictures of locations and portraits of people relevant to the biography. Cecily lived a long, conflict filled life and this biography does her justice. I highly recommend it.

Book Review: “The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria” by Tracy Adams

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Adams Isabeau cover

This is in no way a conventional biography of this German princess who was the wife of the mentally unstable King Charles VI of France and mother of King Charles VII in the early fifteenth century. This book is part of a series called “Rethinking Theory”. The author’s mission is to examine how Isabeau’s reputation as a reasonably competent regent and mediator came cascading down through the centuries until it was believed she was wallowing in debauchery.

Isabeau’s husband began suffering from periods of insanity and while he was ill, she would take on the role of regent for her husband and promoter and protector of her son the dauphin with the explicit trust and authorization of Charles by official ordinance. Her husband’s illness put Isabeau in unique and tenuous position. This period of French history was filled with strife as Armagnacs and Burgundians looked to take over control of the government from the ailing king while the English waged war and encroached on French territory. Adams explains medieval queens were allowed to perform the role of intercessor and mediator in various conflicts and Isabeau served as a mediator during these dark days of war and feuding among the nobility.

Adams gives us a chronology of the Queen’s life and roles throughout the book and examines all the chronicles and sources from the contemporary to the present day. She explains the various slanderous aspects of Isabeau’s reputation that appear in the sources. Then she dissects the origins of these slanders and gives plausible explanations for why they are inaccurate. There are no contemporary records of the Queen engaging in debauchery, having affairs or being obese. Also there is no evidence her household servants engaged in scandalous behavior. Adams says what biased passages in the chronicles that do exist had their source in the Queen’s enemies, namely the Burgundians. These slanders have been repeated over and over by historians for hundreds of years without footnotes and references.

The author is very clear in explaining the position of the feuding nobles and giving highlights of the history and Isabeau’s position during the troubles. She gives good arguments for her points and quotes the relevant passages from the chronicles in French as well as English. The book is full of exceedingly thought-provoking information and as a reference book on the roles of medieval queens it’s a tremendous resource. I learned a lot about this complicated and intriguing era of French history and Adams is good at defending her arguments. I highly recommend this book. It’s a terrific read.