The Tudor Society
  • The White King: Charles I, Traitor, Murderer, Martyr – A review

    I don’t really do book reviews anymore, I leave them to Tudor Society book reviewer Charlie Fenton, but when one of your favourite historians asks you if you’d like a review copy of their next book then you just don’t say no, do you?! Saying no would be rather silly.

    Let me start by saying that I haven’t studied Charles I and the English Civil War since History A’ Level and that’s quite a long time ago now [cough, cough, splutter, splutter]. I hadn’t read a book on his reign since then, so my ideas about Charles I were rather dated, to say the least. I knew that the traditional view of Charles as weak and stupid was probably an unfair one so I was looking forward to reading Leanda de Lisle’s take on this man, particularly as her book on the Grey sisters, “The Sisters Who Would Be Queen”, is one of my all-time favourite history books. If anyone was going to challenge the myths, peel back the layers of propaganda and bad history, and reveal the real man then I was sure it was going to be Leanda.

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  • Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey: Heirs to the last Tudor – Talk by Leanda de Lisle

    Thank you to Leanda de Lisle, Byland Media and the Ryedale Book Festival for this video of Leanda’s recent talk, given at the Ryedale Book Festival. Accompanying Leanda are Chris Parsons, trumpet, and Nicholas Brooksbank, art advisor.

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  • Tudor Pin Badge Competition

    Hello to all full society members!

    Well, we’ve had an incredibly busy time packaging up all the pin badges for full members, and we’ve sent them all out now… they should be arriving in your post box any day now!

    We thought we’d have a little fun, with a fantastic prize to give away too!

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  • 10 minute Tudors with Leanda de Lisle

    Historian Leanda de Lisle has just sent me a link to a podcast she’s just published, the first in a new series on the Tudors and Stuarts. This one is called “Anne Boleyn: The Last Mystery”.

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  • The Last Tudor and The Sisters Who Would Be Queen

    “The battle for the throne isn’t over yet” is the tagline of Philippa Gregory’s latest Tudor novel, “The Last Tudor”. Released yesterday, this novel focuses on the Grey sisters: Jane, Katherine and Mary, who, of course, had claims to the throne through their grandmother Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII.

    The lives of these three young women were explored in one of my all-time favourite history books, “The Sisters Who Would Be Queen” by Leanda de Lisle. It is a wonderful book. It’s meticulously researched and highly readable, a winning combination, and deserves pride of place on every Tudor history lover’s bookshelf. Philippa Gregory’s novel is actually inspired by Leanda’s research so I’m looking forward to reading this novel. To celebrate the release of Philippa’s novel, Leanda has kindly shared the following excerpt from “The Sisters Who Would Be Queen” with us today:

    “On 10 October 1562, when Elizabeth was at Hampton Court, she had begun to feel unwell, with aches and pains in her head and back. She had decided to have a bath and take a short walk to shake it off. When she returned to her chambers, however, she became feverish. A physician was called. To Elizabeth’s irritation he diagnosed the potentially deadly Small Pox. Since there were as yet no blisters, she refused to accept the diagnosis, but sickness and diarrhoea followed and she became delirious. By 16 October the Queen could no longer speak. On the 17th she was unconscious.

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  • Leanda de Lisle talks Tudor

    One of my favourite historians, Leanda de Lisle, has just shared details of two talks she’s doing, one at Bosworth Battlefield and one in Yorkshire. Here are the details:

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  • Leanda de Lisle talks Tudor on Radio Leicester – 4 July

    Leanda de Lisle talks Tudor on BBC Radio Leicester.

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  • Leanda de Lisle’s review of Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant by Tracy Borman

    Leanda de Lisle’s review of “Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant” by Tracy Borman.

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