Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe

by John Julius Norwich

John Julius Norwich―“the very model of a popular historian” ( Wall Street Journal )―is acclaimed for his distinctive ability to weave together a fascinating narrative through vivid detail, colorful anecdotes, and captivating characters. Here, he has crafted a bold tapestry of Europe and the Middle East in the early sixteenth century, when four legendary rulers towered over the era.

Francis I of France was the personification of the Renaissance, and a highly influential patron of the arts and education. Henry VIII, who was not expected to inherit the throne but embraced the role with gusto, broke with the Roman Catholic Church and appointed himself head of the Church of England. Charles V was the most powerful industrious man of the time, and was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor. Suleiman the Magnificent―who stood apart as a Muslim―brought the Ottoman Empire to its apogee of political, military, and economic power.

Against the vibrant background of the Renaissance, these four men collectively shaped the culture, religion, and politics of their respective domains. With remarkable erudition, John Julius Norwich delves into this entertaining and layered history, indelibly depicting four dynamic characters and how their incredible achievements―and obsessions with one another―changed European history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, European History, France, British Literature, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2017

About the author

John Julius Norwich was an English historian, writer, and broadcaster known for his engaging books on European history and culture. The son of diplomat and politician Duff Cooper and socialite Lady Diana Manners, he received an elite education at Eton, Strasbourg, and Oxford, and served in the Foreign Service before dedicating himself to writing full-time.
He authored acclaimed works on Norman Sicily, Venice, Byzantium, the Mediterranean, and the Papacy, as well as popular anthologies like Christmas Crackers. He was also a familiar voice and face in British media, presenting numerous television documentaries and radio programs. A champion of cultural heritage, he supported causes such as the Venice in Peril Fund and the World Monuments Fund.
Norwich’s wide-ranging output, wit, and accessible style made him a beloved figure in historical writing.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading history by historians who have ceased to give a damn is a great simple pleasure.

By "ceased to give a damn" I mean, as in this case, the historian has achieved sufficient age, dignity, and renown that he is free to tell a good story about stuff that interests him, without the tedious bowing and scraping to established opinion and other historians which often drags down other histories. Norwich knows a lot of cool stuff and enjoys knowing it, and he invites you to know it and enjoy it too.

I found Norwich’s hard-earned indifference to convention most happily on display in the footnotes when, for example, he refuses to discard the word he has been using for decades to characterize for a particular ethnic group ("Tartars") in favor of a newly-adopted variant ("Tatars") because “it is too late to change now” (Kindle location 494 of galley proof).

Similarly, he throws up his hands at the requirement that he equate prices paid in the 1500 with modern currencies. “It's no good even trying to give modern equivalents," he admits (location 182). While I admit that I am the sort of history reader who likes to know approximately how much 200,000 livres tournois would be today, I appreciate the honesty of a historian who will plainly say "I'm not going there", rather than just ignoring the issue and hoping we won't notice.

I'll admit to a lamentable failure of breeding when I arrived at one footnote (location 1510) which required that I know the difference between a Marquess and a Marchioness. In case your colonial education was as woefully inadequate as mine, there’s an explanation here.

Oh, yeah, and the part of the book that was NOT footnotes was also excellent -- a ripping good story laced with irreverent attitude. Fun to read, and also much-needed evidence that the times we live in (through no fault of our own) might NOT be the most screwed-up era on the planet. At least so far.

I received an advance review galley copy for free from Atlantic Monthly Press via Netgalley. Thanks to all for their generosity.

[K.J. Charles]

I don't know why I keep reading John Julius Norwich books. I like his breezy style and the overviews, but he's completely unreliable. Or to put it another way, he far prefers the cool stories and wonderful gossip of history to the boring minutiae of dates and facts and stuff that actually happened. This is of course why I keep reading him. It's more fun.

I was going to say "I wish my job was just randomly making up stuff and publishing it" but then I remembered I'm a romance novelist. On the other hand, I don't shelve as non fiction.

[Ruby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible.

I don't know enough about Francis I and Charles V to comment their parts, but Henry VIII's and Suleyman I's are full of inaccuracies. Moreover, the women are treated awfully in this book: Anne Boleyn is presented as "rude" and hated by everybody, by Henry as well. The author blames Anne for anything bad that Henry did, like forbidding Mary to visit her mother. He also says that we will never know for certain if Anne was really guilty of adultery and that "it may well be that she slept with one or more of them simply in the hopes of having the son that she felt she could no longer expect from her husband." Except for the fact that Anne and the accused men were recorded to be in different places on the dates of the alleged adultery

Another woman treated awfully by Norwich is Hürrem Sultan, Suleyman I's wife. She is described as being the one behind Grand Vizier Ibrahim's "assassination" (which is completely wrong since Ibrahim was executed on Suleyman's orders inside Topkapi Palace and not in his palace, where Norwich says that the blood stains were visible for three years) because she coveted his position for her son-in-law Rüstem Pasha (too bad that Rüstem wasn't her son-in-law in 1636, as he married Mihrimah Sultan only in 1639. Plus, it would take him years to finally become Grand Vizier). Of course she is also blamed for Mustafa's death (because why not) but especially for his young son Murad's? First of all, Mustafa's young son was called Mehmed, Murad was Selim's son, and secondly Mehmed was executed because the sons of executed princes were executed too. So it wasn't Hürrem Sultan who ordered his execution, but Suleyman. She couldn't have ordered someone's execution, she didn't have that power.

Laslty, the portrayal of Suleyman's heir Selim II is just terrible and full of clichés. He is blamed for convincing Suleyman that his brother Bayezid was a traitor, when Bayezid himself had done everything to look like a traitor: first he disobeyed his father, then he complained about his father's orders and lastly he fled to the Safavid Shah's court-- Suleyman's enemy. But Norwich doesn't care and muses: "How, one wonders, could the Sultan, normally so far-sighted and so shrewd, have twice allowed himself to be persuaded – the first time by his wife, the second time by one of his children – to destroy the two ablest of his sons, and indeed the only two who might have shown themselves to be worthy successors to himself?"

While I agree that Mustafa was definitely a warrior and a good general, Bayezid wasn't. He is described as interested in books only and not being a warrior at all. All Hurrem's sons, it seems, were not interested in being warriors.

Selim II, according to Norwich, is also "the worst sultan by far" ("How could he – so deliberately, so consciously – have arranged matters in such a way as to ensure that after his death that Empire would pass to a drunken debauchee, of all the thirty-six Ottoman sultans by far the worst?") even though the Ottomans had deranged sultans, ineffectual sultans and sultans who committed genocides. All Selim II did was lose the battle of Lepanto, which wasn't even that important in the great scheme of things.

Finally he concludes with:

"while Suleiman could – and should – have been succeeded by his son Mustafa, who possessed all his father’s qualities and who would surely have led the Empire on to further triumphs, his eventual successor – Selim II, always known for very good reason as ‘the Sot’ – was to prove the nadir of the Ottoman line. With him, the demoralisation of their once formidable Empire was well under way, as was its long, slow but steady decline."

which is only the last of the clichés he presents in his books. This view that Selim II's reign started the decline of the Ottoman Empire has long been disproved by numerous historians. Also, Selim II was called "the Sot" by Europeans; his subjects called him "the Blonde" and he was actually appreciated for his pleasant nature (he was also famous for loving his son dearly, something very rare in the Ottoman Dynasty, since a son was perceived as a threat to his father's rule).

In conclusion, I would never recommend this book. The premise looked interesting enough, four great kings' lives intertwined in one book, but there are too many mistakes and inaccuracies to appreciate it, and the treatment of the women is just despicable.

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fascinating book takes an umbrella view of the combined influences of four powerful rulers of the first half of the sixteenth century: Henry VIII of England, Francois I of France, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire . Between them they ruled all most of Western Europe and many of the lands between Austria and Turkey. A fifth powerful figure, the Pope, is not included in the title but is there as a crucial player in the continuing jostling for power across Europe.

Norwich described this period like this: ‘Here, packed into the space of just fifty years, are the High Renaissance, Luther and the Reformation, the exploration of the Americas, the panoply and pageantry exemplified by the Field of the Cloth of Gold and, above all, those four, magnificent, memorable monarchs – each of whom, individually, left his imprint on the land he rules and who together transformed the civilised world.’(p 267).

Charles, as Holy Roman Emperor, was the protector of Christendom, to whom the Ottoman Sultan represented the Antichrist. As a young man he had ‘dreamed of a glorious pan-European Crusade that would drive the infidels back to the Asiatic steppe from which they had come, allowing Constantinople once again to take its place as a Christian capital’. Later he accepted that this could never happen, but could never forgive Francis, his brother-in-law, for his alliances with Suleiman, whose armies encroached ever further in Hapsburg territories in Eastern Europe, arriving at the walls of Vienna itself before finally turning back eastwards in 1532.

Francis in turn felt hemmed in by the empire - Spain, Germany, the Low Countries and Austria. He needed an ally against it and at various stages looked to the Pope and to the Sultan, even combining with the Ottomans to capture Nice from Savoy during the ongoing bitter wars between France and the Holy Roman Emperor, during which time France and the Empire both invaded Italy, each held captive competing popes and Rome was sacked by Imperial troops, for which Charles apologised.

The Reformation in England was spurred by Henry VIII’s desire to divorce his queen, Katherine of Aragon, a niece of the Emperor who strongly supported her case with the pope. This dispute ended up with Henry cutting ties with the Papacy and declaring himself head of the Church in England – an incredible act at the time, given that the Popes claimed supreme authority from god and therefore the right to command kings as well as churchmen.

So this period is marked by conflict between Protestant and Catholic Christianity; the Pope and the monarchs; and Christian Europe against the Muslim Ottomans. Norwich notes, incidentally, that Suleiman, while a pious Muslim, was much more tolerant of the beliefs of others than any of the European kings. The divisions within Christianity were reflected in different views of who should exercise power and how it should be exercised. Wikipedia dates wars arising out of the Reformation to 1524 (the German Peasants War) and they tormented the continent for well over a hundred years, culminating in the terrible Thirty Years War and the English Civil War.

Norwich’s writing is always a delight. He wears his erudition lightly, his prose flows easily, almost casually at times. No mean feat in dealing with this subject matter, but then he has Byzantium, Venice, Sicily and the Mediterranean already behind him.

I've tried to paste in some images but that didn't work so here are a couple of links:

The Field of the Cloth of Gold https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_o...
Holy Roman Empire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Ro...
Wars of Religion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea...

[Dave Schoettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Dorothy is running away from home at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz, she is attracted to the campsite of Professor Marvel, in part, because of the sign on the side of his wagon suggesting that he is a friend of "the Crowned Heads of Europe". Had Frank Baum been writing this story in the early 16th century instead of the late 19th, the aforementioned crowned heads would have belonged to the subjects of this book.

These four monarchs were born within a few years of each, ascended to their respective thrones as young men and found their reigns constantly entangled with those of the other three. Professor Norwich presents his narrative chronologically, intermingling their stories and emphasizing how each impacted the others. He tries to relate the broad strokes of 16th century politics in an interesting manner and the details of some of their marital relationships are the stuff Jerry Springer broadcasts. The telling of the military campaigns may go into too many particulars to be of interest to the average reader, but over all, the story moves along briskly. Although none of these guys was particularly likable, at the end, you're still kind of sorry to see them go.

[Juliew. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really struggled with this rating.It was a very interesting perspective of the times and was told following each monarchs life events and how they interacted with each other or not.While I really liked the writing style there were moments I was not sure I wanted to finish it because quite a few inaccuracies kept popping up.The author lists all his sources but does not footnote them so was difficult to tell where all the misinformation was coming from.Nevertheless,very interesting idea for a book and I only had wished it was better researched as I love the idea for a behind the scenes look at these most fascinating rulers.

[TBV (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Francis, Henry, Charles, Suleiman: here are our four princes. Individually, they could hardly have been more different; together, they dominated the world stage and moulded the continent of Europe. None perhaps – not even Suleiman – was a truly great man; but they all possessed elements of greatness, and each left a huge and indelible footprint on the land or lands over which he ruled.”

Henry VIII of England (1491-1547)
Henry was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty. He was a scholar and theologian who spoke French, Spanish and Latin. But he was also very much the sportsman: a superb horseman who enjoyed the hunt, a tennis player and a wrestler, who also participated in archery and was prepared to take on anyone in the joust. He loved music, and he actually composed songs and masses. He also played the lute and the virginals.

Francis (François) I of France (1494-1547)
Francis belonged to the Valois dynasty. He was tall, muscular and he had a prominent nose which of course resulted in the nickname “le roi grand-nez”. However, he was very popular with the ladies as he was very charming and a good conversationalist. Like Henry, Francis enjoyed hunting and jousting. The author discusses Francis’s great love of art, and that Francis brought the great Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci to France. Earlier this year I read a book written by French historian Franck Ferrand, “François 1er, roi de chimères” in which he questions whether this was in fact true - he suggests that it was in fact Francis’s mother, Louise of Savoy, who was responsible for bringing the great artists to France and purchasing great works of art. Be that as it may, Francis had an excellent collection of art and at the time of his death his library contained over 3,000 books. "He was a personal friend of François Rabelais, for whose unforgettable giant Pantagruel he is said to have provided the inspiration."

Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566)
Suleiman became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire at the age of twenty-five. He was tall, slim, intelligent and cultivated. He spoke Turkish, Persian and Arabic, and he also knew some Greek, Bulgar and Hungarian. A patron of the arts, he was known for writing beautiful poetry. However, in order to obtain his position and secure it he murdered the male members of his family.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-1558)
Charles was born in Ghent and was of the Hapsburg dynasty. He was the son of Philip the Handsome of Austria and of Joanna the Mad of Aragon and Castile. Charles was King of Aragon and Castile, as well as of Naples and Sardinia. Subsequently he was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor. He was not physically attractive, and he was also a stammerer. He was deeply religious, and not as cultivated as Henry or Francis, but Charles loved music. He could play a variety of instruments and was said to sing beautifully. "He is frequently quoted as saying that he spoke French to his friends, German to his horses, Italian to his mistresses and Spanish to God."

John Julius Norwich explores the splendour, policies and actions of these four powerful rulers who reigned during the first half of the sixteenth century. As the title of the book indicates, each of these rulers also had obsessions which drove them to act as they did. Henry became obsessed with his succession. He absolutely had to have sons to succeed him. He also cast an eye on France. Francis was obsessed with regaining land which France had lost, but in particular Milan (Valentina Visconti of Milan was his predecessor’s grandmother). Charles, being of Burgundian origin, wished to restore Burgundy to its previous status. It had reverted to the French Crown on the death of Charles the Bold. He also saw himself as the leader of all of Christendom, and he wanted to regain the Empire of the East which had been lost to the Ottomans. A predecessor of Suleiman had conquered Constantinople in 1453, and Suleiman wanted to enlarge the Ottoman Empire. He was a serious threat to the rulers of Europe.

Having provided a very brief overview of who these four rulers were and what motivated them, I leave you to read what John Julius Norwich writes about them, their policies and their actions. The author provides much background and a wealth of detail, some of which is very amusing such as an older and hugely obese Henry being fitted with armour to go to war and having to find a horse to carry him. Many people who were important in the lives of these men are introduced, but the focus throughout remains on these powerful monarchs themselves, and their individual legacies. The author also shows how their immediate successors were rather insignificant compared to them. It is not a comprehensive history of the period, but it is a very good overview of that time. The book is written in an easy to read conversational manner; I was glued to it for two days.

Here is a painting (Wikipedia) of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, which was a summit held between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France in 1520. On this occasion each did his best to outdo the other in terms of pomp and ceremony:

[Melisende · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely in my comfort zone here - medieval history! Whilst already familiar with each of the four princes - Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain, and Suleyman the Magnificent - I enjoyed the way Norwich (whom I am rather partial too), links these contemporaries together.

For all four men were contemporaries, ruling four powerful European empires (England, France, Spain & Imperial Empire, and Constantinople). And Norwich himself writes .. "the four of them together held Europe in the hollow of their hands..."

We begin c.1500 and are taken up to the death of Suleyman (c.1566) - the last of the four. Their stories are often intertwined as they were at times often allies and fierce rivals - or both!

For those familiar with the period, it is a concise read. For those unfamiliar - it will be an eye-opener.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start of the Sixteenth Century was a period governed by four powerful figures who acted as Center's Of Gravity for the major events of this time period. All four of these giants of history were contemporaries, having been born in a single decade (ten years between 1491 to 1500). These four were, in order of age, King Henry VIII of England, King Francis I of France, The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Norwich's history looks at the four rulers, their backgrounds and upbringing, and how these four were, at various times, friends, other times they were enemies. By tracking the internal politics and the international games being played, we see how these four individuals, their desires and visions, and how they helped to shape the face of modern Europe.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This overview of four powerful leaders of the 16th century reads like a blog. In some ways that is nice. It is easy to read and doesn't get into too many details. On the other hand, it also includes opinions and outright errors. Despite the fact that this is supposed to be about four men, it felt like it focused on Henry VIII in much greater length.

[Orsolya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The early years of sixteenth-century Europe were dominated by key players: Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, and Charles V of Spain. Lesser known in Western Europe but certainly not less of a tour de force was Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Turks. These massive figures tugged and pulled at each other constantly influencing affairs. John Julius Norwich takes an uncharacteristic approach to historical biography by mainly focusing on this interplay in, “Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe”.

Norwich prefaces “Four Princes” explaining that his work takes a pop history angle without staunch academic spheres and admittedly contains errors and inconsistencies. Well, it is safe to say that Norwich – unfortunately- speaks the truth. “Four Princes” is a light piece which is suited for those new to the topic as it eschews heavy verbiage or content. Norwich introduces the figures involved but immediately confuses with his aim and thesis. The pages are cluttered and without direction which results in information being difficult to decipher or retain.

“Four Princes” also suffers from issues with cohesiveness, tending to jump back-and-forth with information often repeating facts and skipping in chronology. This adds to the jumbled writing style. On the other hand, this ‘loose’ method makes “Four Princes” easy-to-read and fast in pace.

The major downfall of “Four Princes” is the absence of any new or compelling information regarding the figures. All of the content is generally a rough summary and glossed over. However, the focus on Suleiman is appealing in the respect that this mighty figure is often only mentioned in the background of Western European history even though his hand played a part. Norwich spends an even ratio of text on each figure (even if he didn’t mean to do so) and logically attempts to display the relationships and causations between them.

Norwich is guilty of biases, sadly, which he certainly doesn’t attempt to hide. Many of these declarations are without any credibility or solid source material which lessens the impact of “Four Princes” and consequentially makes readers take the book with a grain of salt. Again, Norwich emphasis the straying from a scholarly route, but a bit more backing material with less opinion would be welcome.

On par with this, Norwich’s writing style is sometimes too familiar and conversational. This will disappoint those readers who enjoy ‘professional’ pieces.

The chapters within the final quarter of “Four Princes” envelop more riveting and lesser-known facts than the former chapters which elevates the strength of Norwich’s piece. However, the authors writing continues to drip with biases and reads like an opinion piece—one filled with many inaccuracies.

Norwich concludes “Four Princes” rather well with an on-point summary that strategically dives into the relations between the figures discussed and therefore somewhat hits his thesis (finally) that he initially planned. However, this still isn’t as memorable as one would hope for and doesn’t pack a powerful punch leaving the reader only partially satisfied.

“Four Princes” includes a very brief bibliography and no ‘Notes’. However, Norwich does include a rather gratifying section of full-color photo plates.

Norwich’s “Four Princes” is an ambitious and unique look at the history of Europe but the execution is sour, without direction, and lacks the usual pizzazz and pull of similar works. Norwich’s writing is jumpy while the content is overly biased and contains errors (at least he warns about this). “Four Princes” is only recommended for novice readers as those versed on the subject won’t gain any refreshing insight or access to any new facts. Simply, “Four Princes” doesn’t hold reader attention and needs a strong editor resulting in a weak read that can be skipped.

[A.L. Sowards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Norwich’s writing style—incredibly witty nonfiction isn’t something you find every day. Norwich had me smiling at his clever sentences and chuckling at his sarcasm. The author focused on the most interesting stories in the history and told them well. I listened to the audio book and the narrator did a great job. Did you know good readers can narrate parenthesis? My main complaint is that the book went by too quickly. It’s left me wanting more on the time period and on each of the subjects.

[Andrew Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Julius Norwich's Quartet Of Renaissance Biographies Chronicles The Lives & Reigns Of 16th Century Europe's 4 Most Influential Princes.

In the introduction to his quadruple biography on the 4 most significant Renaissance sovereigns of the 16th century, Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent & the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe, John Julius Norwich highlights the amusing & rather endearing manner in which he first came to be acquainted with who is possibly the most famous of his native land's plethora of colorful monarchs, King Henry VIII Tudor, in a quasi-nonsensical limerick excerpted from Herbert & Eleanor Farjeon's Kings & Queens of England: 'Bluff King Hal was full of beans;/He married half a dozen queens./For three called Kate they cried the banns;/One named Jane and a couple of Annes.' First published in 2016, Four Princes was Lord Norwich's penultimate written work, before he released his final book, A History of France, & in many ways it is a departure from his prior writings, most significantly in the areas of style & format. The writing style can best be described as the kind of book that an author writes who has already written a number of bestsellers according to a prescribed formula & then, upon reaching a certain point in their career, decides to write another book in their own style, & on their own terms. Norwich's prose is humorous when it needs to be, florid & dramatic when the plotline requires it to be, & detail-oriented & action-packed during the intense battles & sieges appearing in the story -- Four Princes is very much composed in an 'as needed' literary style, & this works well within the context of the book's plotline & subject matter. The main text consists of 267 pages that are split into 9 informally written chapters with flowery titles such as Like a Brother to the Sultan & Fray Carlos & 'the drum of conquest', & which jump back & forth between rulers, featuring useful paragraph break symbols to denote the narrative's frequent perspective changes.

Explanations of the diverse array of ordinances, edicts, & treaties which were perpetuated by these 4 influential princes of the Renaissance are expertly woven into the narrative by the author, regardless of whether they are crucial to the progression of the plot or fascinating digressions providing depth & dimension to each ruler's personality. In Chapter 1, The Hollow of Their Hands, while discussing the overall character of perhaps the most colorful of the quartet, the French king François I of the House of Valois-Angoulême, Norwich touches upon 2 of the ruler's famous laws concerning literature & writing which assist the reader in understanding how François' passion for books & reading directly (& positively) affected the lives of his subjects. The first of them was the 1537 Ordonnance de Montpelier, aptly reflects the Renaissance sovereign's avid interest of & patronage in literature, & it mandated that one copy of every book that was either sold or manufactured in France be housed in the Royal Library, while the second law, the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterets, published in 1539, officially replaced Latin with French as the new national language as well as implementing a birth, marriage, & death register for all of the country's parishes. Dashing, cavalier & sophisticated, Francis was the quintessential 'Renaissance Man' of his era -- he was knowledgeable in literature, art, music, & even academics -- he made an unsuccessful attempt to recruit the renowned Erasmus of Rotterdam to serve as Chancellor for a Greek, Hebrew, & Latin college that he planned to establish at some point, but the scholar's refusal caused the project to become delayed, & it ultimately died on the vine, never to see fruition.

The relationship between the powerful House of Bourbon & the ruling Valois bloodline had never been comfortable, & was well personified with the uneasy association between Charles, 3rd Duke of Bourbon, & the French king François I. When Charles' wife Suzanne, also a Bourbon as well as his second cousin, died in 1521, the substantial Bourbon lands & estates that she had inherited from her father were, according to King François, lawfully the property of the French monarchy, as the king's mother, Louise of Savoy, was a member of the Bourbon line on her mother's side. Louise, in an attempt to soften the blow, offered to marry Charles as both a consolation & in order to provide him with a male heir to further the Bourbon line, as he & Suzanne had left no children, but she was 14 years his senior & Charles rejected the match outright, a decision which insulted & infuriated the king in equal measure. Naturally, Charles proceeded to form an alliance with two of his homeland's bitter enemies, England & the Holy Roman Empire, & in 1523, following a series of secret diplomatic meetings, the Duke of Bourbon & his 2 erstwhile foes signed a joint agreement entailing a joint invasion of France. Short, interesting page-long anecdotes such as this one assist in bolstering & enriching the main narrative, & Norwich is adept at integrating each of them smartly & seamlessly into his primary chain of events, with the result being an engaging historical work that reads at times more like a fantasy novel featuring multiple branching plotlines than it does a history title.

Chapter 2, The flower & vigour of youth, discusses the comparatively negligible importance of King Henry VIII's & the Holy Roman Emperor Maxamillian I Habsburg's minor skirmish with the French during the Siege of Thérouanne, the Battle of the Spurs, which was exaggerated by Henry to be a valiant struggle, & where among the French captives taken were a duke, a marquis, & the Vice-Admiral of France, & contrasts it with the tactically significant victory achieved by the English over the Scottish at the Battle of Flodden Field. At Flodden, near Branxton Hill, it was the army of Scotland's King James IV pitted against the English force led by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, & Henry's intelligent, capable wife, Catherine of Aragon, to whom he had wisely awarded the position of Captain-General of the Forces for Home Defense. The reason for the battle stemmed from Scotland's Auld Alliance with France, established in 1295, which stipulated that if either country were to suffer military aggression from England, the other would come to their aid, & it was invoked after Henry's invasion of France in 1513. Throughout the text Norwich has treated his readers to his usual high-quality set of expanded reference notes, & while this title does not necessarily require lengthy, detailed annotations on the scale of his A History of Venice or the Byzantium trilogy, they are nonetheless both informative & a pleasure to read.

First discussed in Chapter 3, All is lost, save honour, the Battle of Mohács was an unmitigated disaster for Western Christendom that effectually put an end to Hungary's status as an independent sovereign state & served as a gateway for the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleyman the Magnificent, to stage future operations which encroached upon the safety of Western Europe in a way it had never before been able to do. Despite repeated petitions to his fellow European monarchs by the Hungarian king, Louis II, to procure military assistance from the looming Ottoman threat, none was forthcoming, & rather than wait for an estimated 30,000-40,000 reinforcement troops led by his lieutenants John Zápolya & the Croatian Count Cristoph Frankopan, Louis was pressured by his own nobility to immediately attack Suleyman & his subaltern Ibrahim Pasha's colossal Turkish army, which has recently arrived after constructing a 332 meter wooden bridge at the town of Osijek in order to ford the Drava river. Norwich includes an interesting excerpt from the histories of the Ottoman scholar Kemalpaşazâde which provides an formidable description of Sultan's fearlessness & ferocity on the battlefield. Suleiman's extensive military campaigns comprise a fairly large portion of Norwich's storyline, & the action in these sequences complement the narrative's other portions very well. Suleiman's numerous victories & conquests are often compared with those of his great-grandfather, Mehmet II the Conqueror, & the reader who is searching for a quality biography on Mehmet should look no further than Professor John Freely's The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II-Conqueror of Constantinople and Master of an Empire.

With the exception of Suleiman, one large common thread shared amongst the lives & reigns of the main characters in Four Princes is their intricate, fragile, & at times outright dangerous relationships with the Catholic pope. Whether it was Henry VIII's repeated (& tiresome) attempts to successfully petition for annulments or dispensations to facilitate his 6 different marriages, or Charles V's sojourn to the Italian papal city of Bologna in 1530 to receive his official coronation as Holy Roman Emperor, papal relations facilitated a important role in all of the 16th century European rulers' royal prerogatives. Early Renaissance Europe was ruled by an extremely delicate, & volatile, balance of power which was shared between the sovereigns & the Catholic Church. The pope himself was an extremely powerful figure in this political chess match, capable of granting or withholding marriage dispensations & coronations, & even levying interdicts & excommunications on entire cities as a way of controlling their recalcitrant sovereigns. In chapter 3 Norwich discusses the circumstances which arose after King Henry VIII's repeated endeavors to procure an official religious title for the ruler of England that could match the prestige of his counterparts, the Most Christian King of France & the Most Catholic King of Spain. In 1521 Henry published his own book, the Assertio Septum Sacramentorum, a refutation of Martin Luther's written work on the Avignon Papacy, which was then known as the Babylonian Captivity, & upon presenting it to the reigning Pope Leo X, the pontiff was so impressed that he praised it 'to the skies' & presented Henry with the title of Fidei Defensor, or 'Defender of the Faith', of which the abbreviations Fid. Def. or F.D. still appear to this day on British coin currency.

Chapter 8, Fray Carlos & 'the drum of conquest' contains Norwich's exceptional account narrating the later reigns of Charles V & Suleiman the Magnificent, both very different in their tone & atmosphere & involving polarizing scenarios. Charles V's later years were spent in Extremadura in luxury & comfort at the secluded Spanish Monastery of Yuste following a complex abdication ceremony where he officially relinquished his title as Holy Roman Emperor in favor of his brother, Ferdinand, who had already secured the necessary electoral votes from the German dukes to be considered King of the Romans. Charles was the last Holy Roman Emperor to receive a papal coronation recognizing his title of emperor, & the tradition was abolished thereafter. Also discussed in this chapter are several momentous events occurring during Suleiman's later reign, such as the dramatic Siege of Malta in 1565, which involved a monumental Ottoman invasion force consisting of 40,000 troops spread out & transported on a fleet of 200 ships -- including 130 oared galleys, 30 galleasses, & 11 merchantmen -- pitted against this titanic army were 1,000 beleaguered knights from the Order of St. John, bravely defending Malta's Grand Harbour from the bastioned outposts Fort St. Elmo & Fort St. Angelo. The map of Mount Sciberras & the Valletta, Senglea, & Birgu peninsulas becomes invaluable as the reader learns about the different phases of the siege & the manifold tactics utilized by both armies as they maneuvered against each other while struggling for dominance over the island.

In closing, John Julius Norwich's Four Princes is a wonderfully refreshing alternative to the standard history book formula that still retains enough of the Viscount Norwich's signature style, wit, & historical accuracy to ensure its lasting appeal to both general readers & history buffs alike. The author's interesting decision to write this title in what is most certainly not a uniform style or format does not at all prevent it from being an extremely enjoyable reading experience which does not whatsoever alienate traditional history readers who are more accustomed to the format & layout of such of his titles as The Normans in the South: 1016-1130, its sequel, The Kingdom in the Sun: 1130-1194, & A History of Venice. Portions of the narrative in Four Princes, particularly the military expeditions & naval operations of Suleiman the Magnificent, are additionally discussed in John Julius' sweeping chronicle, The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean, which is written from a more detail-oriented, objective perspective that is concerned with how those events affected the general history of the ocean & its coastal cities, whereas the title being reviewed relates them in a way that highlights how they influenced the lives & reigns of the rulers themselves. There is a 2-page bibliography at the back of the volume which features biographical selections such as André Clot's Suleiman the Magnificent: The Man, His Life, His Epoch, & Robert J. Knecht's Francis I, of which there is a newer, updated version entitled, Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I. All in all, Four Princes would make an exceptional addition to any history enthusiast's collection & measures up well with the mainstream selections of John Julius Norwich's already-impressive library of titles. It is highly recommended. Hopefully you enjoyed the review, thanks so much for reading!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious. When you read non-fiction history, you often go in knowing that you're going to have to slog through the slow bits, and you accept this, because that's just the way it is. Well. Not with THIS book. Four Princes has been written by the incomparable John Julius Norwich, himself a man about whom a book should be written! He's not concerned with political correctness. He's not trying to throw your 21st century morals onto 16th century people. He understands how important religion could be to a man, or a woman, that it would profoundly affect why they did things, and he doesn't apologize for it. He doesn't blink at the horrid-ness of life during the Reformation. He tells wonderful anecdotes about the various persons involved in the lives of the Four Princes, and brings in that human factor that makes historical figures so appealing. One thing that he does not do, is imagine motives, or put his own spin on the machinations of the rulers and their supporters. He just tells the stories, which is so very refreshing in this age of opinionism. It's humorous, packed with facts, and reads quickly. I learned some new things, especially about Suleiman, which led me into a bit more study, which is always fun. I heard about this book from the BBC History magazine, and am so glad I decided to read it.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Norwich has written a fluffy book that contains very little new information. Several major mistakes are in the book and at other places I couldn't tell if it was just poor writing or yet more incorrect information. For example, on p. 197 he writes (of Mary I and Henry VIII of England), "a certain Sir Francis Englefield, on of Mary's privy councillors, later revealed that he had been present at Windsor when Henry's grave had been opened, and what was left of his body pulled out and ceremonially consigned to the flames. He may have been the Queen's father, but he was an unrepentant heretic and schismatic; in the eyes of his daughter, no other fate was possible." What. Norwich leaves it at that, seemingly saying that this happened. Henry's tomb was not disturbed until much later and in 1813 when opened, his not burned corpse was inside. Anyone reading this to actually learn some history is in for a world of trouble.

[Rindis]

Norwich's book on the beginning of the Sixteenth Century successfully covers a lot of ground, is a great, somewhat light, read, and if you're like me, perhaps to be missed.

I do generally recommend the book, and if you know just a little on the period, this a great entry point. This has been called Here I Stand , the book. And if you're a fan of that game, then this will help give some background to what's going on. The real point of both is the number of things that we hear about separately that were happening all at the same time. This is a very dynamic period in Europe's history, and that gets lost in all the examinations of individual bits. And my biggest problem with this book is that Here I Stand shows all of this so much better than Norwich does.

My second biggest problem isn't Norwich's fault. Knowing all the things that were happening already, I have already done a fair amount of reading on some of the subjects here, and this light overview can't—and shouldn't—compete. So, if you don't know so much, I do recommend this book, and then I recommend going on to some very good popular histories on the period. To that point, I would recommend Roger Crowley's Empires of the Sea, James Reston, Jr.'s Defenders of the Faith, Leonie Freida's Francis I, and Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII. That certainly doesn't cover everything, which does point up just how much Norwich is tackling here.

[晓木曰兮历史系 Chinese · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is called "Four Monarchs". The subtitle is "How the obsession of Henry VIII, Francois I, Charles V, and Suleiman the Great shaped modern Europe". The four people mentioned in the title are from the first half of the 16th century. Four monarchs of the same time in Europe. The 15-16th century was an important watershed in European history. From the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century BC, Europe began to enter the Middle Ages. In 1453, the Turks captured the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople, the fall of Constantinople, is generally regarded by posterity as a sign of the end of medieval Europe. It was also in the 15th century. In 1492, with the discovery of the new continent by Columbus, the era of great navigation began and the development pattern of the whole world began. This began to change. During this period in Europe, religious reforms began to appear. It was also in this era that traditional European feudal forces began to decline, and modern Europe and countries began to form. These four monarchs were exactly at the time. The four most influential people in Europe. The confrontation and cooperation between the four of them and each other profoundly affected the later Europe and the world.

The author of this book is John Julius Norwich, a famous British popular history writer. He has written a large number of best-selling history books, including the famous Byzantine Trilogy, Venice and many other best-selling books, this book The selected perspective is to focus on the stories of the four monarchs with each other, and at the same time interspersed with the stories of the respective dominations and personal lives of the four people, trying to show the readers a picture of the European macro situation at that time, focusing on these far-reaching influences. How did the monarchs and their respective main pursuits affect the development of Europe at that time

These four monarchs grew up in age: Henry VIII, the second-generation monarch of the Tudor dynasty of England, who was born in 1491, Francois I of the Valois dynasty of France, was born in 1494, and was also born in 1494. Suleiman the Great of the Osman Turkish Empire and Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, born in 1500. They almost represented the most powerful secular monarchs on the European continent at that time except for the Pope. The four people were very involved in their reign. The longest Emperor Suleiman was 47 years old, which was the longest rule in the history of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The longest monarch, Henry VIII reigned 39 years, Charles V reigned 38 years, and the shortest Francois I reached 33 years.

It is impossible for a book to describe the history of the four monarchs for more than half a century. Therefore, the focus of this book is to revolve around the most obsessive goals of the four monarchs during their reign, and the cooperation and conflict between each other. The author believes that the stories surrounding them and their respective countries influenced the later development of Europe. This book introduces Henry and François, François and Charlie, and Charlie and Suleiman, three pairs of monarchs. The story between

We first introduce the rivals of England and France. The grievances between the two countries can be traced back to the 11th century. At that time, the Duke of William from Normandy, France, later the conqueror William established the Norman dynasty in England. Since then, the confrontation between the two rivals has never ceased. Even in the late Gorse Dynasty after the Norman Dynasty, the famous Anglo-French Hundred Years War broke out in history. It can be said that the British and French monarchs who were slightly ambitious and aspiring in the past. , I have a heart to occupy the other’s territory

In the author's view, these two monarchs, who were supposed to be enemies of the same period, have limited achievements in their respective battles. On the contrary, other aspects are more far-reaching. Specifically, Henry's personal divorce affected the later rise of Protestantism, while François laid a solid artistic foundation for France.

The first is Henry VIII of England. Henry VIII is the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty of England. He is the second son of Henry VII. But because his brother Arthur died very early, he was able to become England’s The king. Henry VIII was an extremely influential monarch in British history. The most important thing was that he broke with the Pope due to his personal divorce, and inadvertently promoted the religious reform in Britain, which has a profound impact on future generations.

Here we need to introduce some background knowledge. Under the Catholic doctrine at the time, marriage partners are lifelong. If the spouse is not dead, even if divorced, they cannot remarry. As a monarch, Henry’s six wives divorced two, beheaded two, and died of illness. One, only the last Pal survived his death

Since Henry's first wife, Catherine, from Spain, has never been able to give birth to a son for him, Henry, who was already romantic, had the idea of ​​divorce, but as mentioned earlier. He could not remarry through divorce, so Henry and his think tank thought of asking the Pope to declare this marriage invalid, but Catherine’s nephew is the other protagonist of the book, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlie, and the Pope naturally did not dare to offend him. , Henry reluctantly chose to leave the Holy See, declared himself the religious leader of England, and was expelled by the Pope for this reason. But the consequences of this incident are not only Henry’s successful divorce. Economically, Henry has gained a huge income, because the income previously required to be turned over to the Holy See has flowed into the royal family’s income. Religiously, England has broken away from the constraints of the Holy See. Later, after evolution, under the rule of his daughter Elizabeth I, the Protestantism rose and eventually became the state religion of England. The rise of Protestantism is also closely related to the rise of British capitalism.

In terms of diplomacy and military affairs, although they have caught up with the great nautical era, during this period the European maritime power belonged to Charlie’s Spain, and even Francois’ France also took a share of the pie, but Henry, regardless of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the east, It is the New World America, and the participation is not very high. It also makes England relatively weak under his rule. The biggest goal of Henry VIII is to fight against Francois I and France. He repeatedly tried to invade France and occupy more. Many territories

The Valois dynasty of France on the other side of the strait. At this time, the king was François I. François himself was not as handsome as Henry VIII. He had a nickname of "Big Nose", but François was A monarch full of personal charm and humanity. The author believes that although François has military ambitions, his achievements are limited, but he is one of the four who has a real Renaissance temperament.

He admired and admired Italian art throughout his life, and encouraged all artists to live and create in France, including the great Leonardo da Vinci. The neoclassical master Ingres painted a work in 1818 called : "The Death of Leonardo", depicting Leonardo’s death in 1519, lying in the arms of François I

At the beginning of Francois I's accession to the throne, there were only a few famous oil paintings in the French court, and there was no statue. The many collections of the French royal family that people see in the Louvre today actually started from the time of Francois I. But his role is really indispensable for France's ability to become the world's art capital in modern times.

Because of this, in the evaluation of later generations, the favorite monarch of the French is Francois I and Henry IV who later led France to rebuild from the ruins.

During the reign of the two kings, there was in fact no large-scale all-out war between Britain and France. In 1513, Henry and the then Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I went to France together. Through the Battle of Spurs, the British army Occupied a small area far away from Paris. However, in terms of the results and casualties, this can only be regarded as a small victory. In fact, during Henry’s expedition to France, he almost caught fire in the backyard. At that time, King James IV of Scotland borrowed The plane wanted to invade England. Fortunately, Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, as the regent, successfully organized the army to defeat the rebels and killed James IV.

Since then, in Henry's lifetime, he has declared war on France twice, each time the process is similar: on the one hand, he has to worry about allies leaving himself to negotiate peace with France at any time, on the other hand, the threat of the Scots is always present. In 1525, the French army was defeated by the Spanish army at the Battle of Pavia, and Francois I was captured. At this time Henry VIII once thought that he saw a good time to occupy France, but it turns out that Charles V had no intention of taking this opportunity to invade France, and his financial situation did not support it, so he had to give up, and then Henry VIII began to deal with his Divorce matters

Generally speaking, from a military point of view, although Henry VIII had always been ambitious and obsessed with building military exploits during this period, he was limited by his own strength and domestic situation at the time. On the other hand, the French king also paid more attention to Milan in the south. Therefore, the two sides are actually fighting more and less military affairs.

It’s worth mentioning that both of them died in 1547.

The next thing I want to introduce is the story between François and Charlie

At that time, the most powerful in the entire European continent was the Holy Roman Empire Charles V at that time. Under Charles V, the territory of the Holy Roman Empire reached unprecedented strength. As the monarch of the Habsburg dynasty, he was also King of Spain. During his reign, he fought successively with France, Rome, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and colonized the Americas. His domains of rule include Spain, Naples and other regions of Italy, Austria, the Netherlands (now the Netherlands and Belgium), and Luxembourg. , Nominally the entire German Confederation, as well as Tunisia in Africa, etc., long before the later Britain, his empire was first called "the empire that the sun never sets."

Unlike the extravagance of the kings of England and France, he is not as clever as the first two, but he is an extremely diligent king. Until the final abdication, he spent his entire life busy traveling back and forth between the vast territory under his rule. Complete the emperor's mission conscientiously.

In the author's opinion, he was obsessed with two things all his life: 1) capturing the Burgundy region of France and 2) launching his own crusade. During Charlie’s reign, one of the biggest influences on Europe at the time was the establishment of Spanish hegemony. Externally, expansion and colonization were fruitful. Colonies were established in the Americas and gained a lot of wealth, establishing the status of Spanish maritime hegemony on the European continent. Because the territory of the Holy Roman Empire included Spain, parts of Italy and Germany, it actually surrounded France from three sides. Therefore, during this period, the struggle between François and Charlie was more than any previous one. At one time, France believed that there were threats around it, so it always wanted to seek new allies against Charlie, and Charlie also wanted to further expand his territory and weaken France, which blocked his own territory.

Charlie’s personal ambition to further expand the influence of the empire is not just facing the challenge of France: during this period there were internal worries about the impact of Protestantism on the European continent, and religious forces were affected. In fact, they were unable to unite with various countries to launch a new crusade. As a devout Catholic, Charlie was busy suppressing Protestantism everywhere on the European continent, and threats from the Ottoman Empire have always plagued Charlie. Due to the need to take care of France, Protestant forces and the Ottomans at the same time, he has never been able to initiate a campaign against the Ottoman Empire. Effective proactive counterattack. But considering that the empire that Charlie wants to govern is an unprecedentedly large territory, the author believes that Charlie has worked very hard under his circumstances.

Specifically, the main contradiction between France and the Holy Roman Empire lies in the Italian region, especially Milan. Charlie inherited Naples, Sicily and Sardina from his maternal grandfather Ferdinand. He has no intention of continuing to occupy other Italian regions, but he cannot allow France. The expansion of power in Italy.

I introduced the natural confrontation between France and the Holy Roman Empire on the territory. In the first process of competing for the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, François lost to Charlie. In the aforementioned meeting with Witch Hazel, François once Tried to join Henry with Charlie, but Henry was obviously not interested

Later in 1525, the French army was defeated by the Spanish army in the Battle of Pavia, Italy. Francois I was captured, but Charles V needed to unite with France against the Ottoman Empire in the east, so France and the Holy Roman Empire finally reached an agreement. Madrid Agreement: François left two sons as hostages, and later married Charlie's sister, but François actually did not intend to comply at all.

Then Pope Clement VII concluded the Cognac League to unite France against Charlie. Charlie attacked Italy in 1527 and burned Rome

Later, François even became the first European Catholic country to establish a formal pagan alliance with the Ottoman Empire, hoping to use the power of the Ottomans to fight Charlie, but this approach also made him notorious among European Catholic countries.

In general: For François obsessed with regaining Milan, military and foreign ambitions, the confrontation between France and the Habsburgs throughout his reign, in order to fight Charlie, he tried to unite Henry, the Pope, Suleiman and other forces, but the actual achievements were not great. In turn, the search for ideals wanted to further expand the dynasty's territory and actively resist the efforts of the Ottoman Empire externally. It was also affected by internal and Francois efforts. Constant confrontation and the impact of religious reforms, the whole of Europe was constantly threatened by the Ottoman Empire during this period, more often it can only choose defense.

The last part to introduce is the main theme story of this period in Europe:

The confrontation between Catholic Europe and the Muslim Ottoman, or the confrontation between Charlie’s Holy Roman Empire and Suleiman’s Ottoman Empire. The confrontation between the two sides is not only a confrontation between the two empires, but also a confrontation of religious ideology.

Suleiman the Great is the longest reigning sultan in the history of the Ottoman Empire, and is also the greatest sultan. Under his rule, he ruled most of the territories of Eastern Europe, the entire Middle East, including North Africa, and reached Algeria to the west. , The sea also occupies most of the Mediterranean area, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf

The author believes that at least for a period of time at that time, the balance of power tended to the side of the Ottoman Empire. Suleiman the Great was ambitious, carefully studying the situation of other European monarchs and countries, and fully grasped the split state of religious shock within Europe at that time. Moving westward, the European empire was forced to pay money to the Ottoman Empire, and it also implemented a series of reforms within the Ottoman Empire. Although he also made mistakes on the issue of successor, overall, he was worthy of the emperor’s Title. From the perspective of Europe, the long-term threat of the Ottoman Empire weakened Charlie’s ambition to further dominate the European continent. Even the Protestant forces that emerged at this stage need to be thanked to a certain extent by Suleiman the Great. With this powerful threat, perhaps the Protestant forces may suffer even stronger suppression on the European continent. From this perspective, it can be said that the invasion of Suleiman the Great accelerated the reformation of Europe into the city.

Like Charlie in Europe, Suleiman also had an ambition to conquer Europe and make contributions. After Suleiman succeeded to the throne of the Sultan, he soon resumed his grandfather Mohammed II's unfinished business-the conquest of Hungary, and the Ottomans successfully captured it in 1521 In Belgrade, following the fall of Constantinople, Europe was once again shocked. In the first battle of Mohaci in 1526, Suleiman once again defeated the King of Hungary. In 1529 Suleiman led his army to the army. Under the city of Vienna. The Siege of Vienna was the most ambitious expedition in this period of the Ottoman Empire, marking the culmination of its military threat to the West. But the Austrians made Suleiman the taste of failure for the first time. In 1532, the Ottoman Empire tried again to occupy Vienna, but Suleiman's army retreated before reaching the city.

In 1541, the Habsburgs tried to launch another war against the Ottomans, but unfortunately they lost the battle and lost more fortresses. Charlie and his brother Ferdinand were forced to sign a contract with Suleiman. The agreement stipulated: Ferdinand Give up the attempt to the Hungarian throne and pay a fixed fee to Suleiman every year in exchange for Suleiman's recognition of the Hungarian territory that is still under his control. This is no less than a great humiliation for European Catholic countries. The authority of the pope and emperor was further affected.

However, even as powerful as Suleiman the Great, he left great regrets on the Ottoman Empire. He listened to the slander and executed his talented sons Mustafa and Bayezid, and finally brought his incompetent son Selim to the board. After the throne, the Ottoman Empire quickly declined. It can be said that the rise of Suleiman's Ottoman Empire has sounded a wake-up call to Europe, and to a certain extent also promoted the reform and progress within Europe. Although Charles V was ambitious, he was trapped in the struggle between the empires in Europe and the impact of Protestantism, and he was unable to counter Suleiman effectively.

Probably because the author introduced it from the perspective of the British, so the length of this book for Henry VIII is significantly higher than that of the other three, and the length for European monarchs is higher than for the Ottoman Turk Empire and his Soviet Union. Introduction to the Lehman Empire

Summarize the main content: In the early 16th century, the four monarchs successively ascended the thrones of the Holy Roman Empire, England, France and the Ottoman Turk Empire. In half a century, Catholic Europe and Muslim Ottoman, England and France, France and France The Holy Roman Empire launched a series of confrontations and competitions out of the individual will of their respective monarchs and national interests. In this process, Henry VIII was once ambitious to conquer France, but then he was busy solving his own marriage problem. While having an impact on the later British Reformation, François intended to regain Milan and actively fight against the Holy Roman Empire, but he failed to do so.

[Alex Sarll]

An immensely readable history of the first half of the 16th century, told through the lives of four rulers who between them dominated Europe throughout it: England’s Henry VIII, France’s Francis I, the Habsburg Charles V and the Ottoman Suleiman the Magnificent. For the British reader, much of the interest lies in seeing Henry’s story taken out of the semi-detached context in which we normally encounter it and tied back into a wider world; for instance, while I was obviously aware that Henry’s fight with the Church went differently to eg King John’s on account of coinciding with the Reformation, it had never occurred to me that the reason the Reformation went differently to precursors such as the Cathars was the external pressure of the Ottomans on outraged but straitened Catholic powers.

Not that this extra dimension does much to shake one’s accumulated picture of Henry as a sort of monstrous baby, mind. Which is no criticism of Norwich’s account of him: there’s plenty of detail here, it just tends to fit what one already knows. As against Francis, say, who is certainly still the chivalric paragon on whom Henry had something of a man-crush as per the Field of the Cloth of Gold – but also prone to odd failures of impulse control in the field, a determined persecutor of Protestants, and a ‘Most Christian Majesty’ who was happy to ally with the Turks against his neighbours. Charles, like many Habsburgs, seems a rather sad figure, hideous but charming, wishing to abdicate long before he could; Suleiman is perhaps the most successful of the lot, but weirdly unlucky with (of all things) the weather. And while all of the four perhaps look larger by comparison with their hopeless successors, only Suleiman can be considered the author of his own misfortunes in that regard, though undoubtedly the Ottomans’ bloodthirsty succession system didn’t help. Which is one of many parallels between the four which Norwich is happy to show, but on which he commendably resists any temptation excessively to commentate.

This is only the second book of Norwich’s I’ve read, but it has all the strengths of his history of the Papacy; it’s wry without being silly, and fair while still being happy to take sides (the valour of the Knights Hospitaller looms particularly large). More than anything, it's put together with all the erudition, dignity and wit characteristic of an earlier age’s writers, while being happily free of their prejudices; I can’t think of another historian working today who could so naturally and justly say of an inept pontiff that "He might have made a moderately good major; as a general he was a disaster."

(Netgalley ARC)

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first half of the 16th century in Europe was a fascinating era for power politics, spiced with a hefty dash of religious conflict. As western Christendom was rent by the Reformation and threatened by the rising power of the Ottoman Empire, four memorable monarchs were the stars of the show, so to speak, and J.J. Norwich's group portrait of Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire and Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire follows the trials and tribulations of the various states trying to cope with the complex combinations of war, peace and dynastic politics. As usual, Norwich's beautiful and entertaining narrative (in the grand tradition of Gibbon; he even puts the naughty bits in the footnotes) makes for a pleasurable read. You don't really have to be a major history buff to enjoy this, but if you are, so much the better. The Renaissance and Counter-Reformation was never so much fun. Highly recommended.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received from NetGalley.

I ended up listening to the audio book for this and it really helped me get through the book. I loved the book but for some reason actually reading it seemed to take forever. My favorite part of history to read/learn about is Tudor England so I knew quite a bit about Henry VIII, but I knew little to nothing about the rest of the princes in this book. I learned a lot about the rest of Europe during this time period and thought it ended up being a great book.

[Candida · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well written book. Not a dry read at all, this book reads like a historical fiction book. This book follows the life of the kings of the world in the time of King Henry VIII. It's a subject that you seldom get to learn about. It was an interesting comparison of them all and see the bigger picture of how they shaped history.

[Carol Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun to read, but it's spread too thin to really hold your interest. The most glamorous moments in Henry VIII's life get about three sentences each. There's almost nothing about how brave and intelligent Anne Boleyn was, just nasty remarks about her hot temper and difficult personality. On the other hand, if you're into military history, the passages about the battles at sea in the eastern Mediterranean are really interesting. The Ottoman Turks and the Venetians fought many battles, and sometimes whole islands got enslaved and carried away by the Turks. Othello would have been so much more interesting if Shakespeare had ever tried to explain the big picture. Or if Desdemona had ended up enjoying herself in a harem and Othello had ended up a eunuch!

[Jacob Stelling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Off the bat, something which needs tackling with this book is its unashamed adoration for great man history, describing this period as an ‘age of giants’ — with a constant refrain that Europe was reshaped almost solely by the efforts of these men alone. This seems a major over-simplification to me.

That being said, this was undeniably a successful great man history, with its rigid focus on the lives and actions of these men and women allowing a well crafted narrative to take shape. Given I knew little about any of the monarchs in this book (bar Henry VIII ofc) this was very interesting reading for me - particularly on Suleiman - and has left me seeking out answers elsewhere.

[Alejandro Gilabert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ameno, interesante y bien escrito, como suele ser habitual con Norwich. Pero peca bastante de plasmar su ideología en un odio desmedido hacia Felipe II aceptando bastante ciegamente la leyenda negra.

[Alatea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, lively and super easy to read. Adapted for non-historians, but still contains a lot of useful information, so I was completely okay with that ;)

[M.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free E Arc from Netgalley of this book.

It's been a long time since I read a non-fiction history book that wasn't set in the Anglo-Saxon/Viking period, but the Tudor period - or rather Elizabeth I was my first great history crush and I was fascinated by the idea of this accounting of the first half of the sixteenth century. History books too often focus on one person, one event or one series of events, it's high time that 'history' looked at the wider reach of events and this is exactly what the author tries to do.

There can be few who know nothing about the reign of Henry VIII and his two 'frenemies' Charles V and Francis I of France, but by offering an account of the interactions of these three men, and adding Suleiman the Magnificent into the mix, a far richer landscape of Europe at this time is revealed. It was a time of great change, and all four of these men strove for something different, but all of them wanted, perhaps, to earn the biggest reputation for themselves, and they all seemed determined to bankrupt themselves in order to do so.

The author treats each king in a similar way; he might not agree with their actions but he can at least offer an explanation for their actions, and, with not a little humour, he's able to find their achiles heel - for Suleiman it seems to have been the weather, for Charles V his unambitious son, the later Philip II, for Francis I his hatred of Charles V and we all know about Henry VIII and his need for a son and heir. And yet these men all dealt with far greater issues as well and I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Charles V who seemed to face some sort of disaster from everywhere simultaneously.

I would have liked more information about Suleiman as I know so little about him, but the purpose of the book precludes that - indeed I think some understanding of the period is needed beforehand in order to appreciate all that the author has to offer.

Overall, this is a very readable account of the time period - the Papacy looms large, as to be expected, as do some of Suleiman's piratical allies, but each king is given his own space and time and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading history books.

[Grace Achord · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting look at this time period from the vantage point of four men who found themselves in positions of great authority.

Henry VIII: This was probably the most flattering portrayal of him I have come across. Norwich does well in helping his readers understand the motivations behind Henry's infamous actions.

Francis I: In my opinion, Francis was the worst of the four. He was unprincipled, broke nearly every alliance or treaty he made, persecuted Protestants, and allied himself with the Islamic Ottomans against fellow Europeans and Christians.

Charles V: Charles is the one of the four for whom I have the most respect. He was level-headed, honorable, and really seemed to be working for the good of his kingdom and of Christianity (though only Catholics counted in his eyes).

Suleiman the Magnificent: It was fascinating to read about Suleiman in contrast with the Christian kings. He was not a barbarian, but was an equal with his European contemporaries in terms of wealth, power, and integrity.

An intriguing book all around.

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it was about four of the most important historical figures of the 16th century I didn’t find this book particularly riveting. The four princes were in fact a Christian emperor and two Christian kings - who were all to a greater or lesser extent related to each other - and one Muslim sultan who survived them. I liked Mr. Norwich’s style well enough though I would have preferred for him to call the Spaniard and the Frenchman as well as other personages by their proper names, i.e. Carlos, François, Fernando, Henri etc.

Basically the story of the four princes is a long list of terrestrial and naval battles, wars of succession with the wholesale murder of rivals, sieges, the razing of towns and obliteration of villages, soldiers let loose on civilians, invasions, piracy, treaties and alliances, the breaking of treaties and alliances in order to sign treaties and enter into alliances with the erstwhile foe, marriages of convenience, divorces of convenience, torture and beheadings on a large scale, utmost pomp and desperate money troubles, sectarian massacres, the burning of heretics, excommunication, the founding of a new church and last but by no means least a succession of meddling popes and what felt like a cast of thousands.

At the end of the book we learn a bit more about Suleiman the Magnificent who seems to have been a much more interesting character than the other lot. Not only was he a great patron of all the Islamic arts, he was also the only ruler who was not dominated by religion, in fact, though a pious Muslim and probably as cruel to his rivals as the next person, he displayed a degree of religious tolerance and respect that are unimaginable today. Mr. Norwich goes as far as saying that “In Suleiman’s dominions tolerance was absolute; if only his fellow princes had followed his example, how much happier Europe would have been.”

[Lily P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Audible)

Four legendary leaders of 16th century Europe. How about telling an integrated story of their history? Norwich does this, focusing by necessity on some important dates and locations, but interjecting spicy details and connecting the dots between what's happening here--to what's happening over there and how they affect each other.

I was struck by some of the footnotes. The author must be well established in his field and writing this book out of interest. “It's no good even trying to give modern equivalents," he admits in one foot note, not bothering to try and convert currency to modern levels.

Well okay then. I can understand that.

Most of the book is about Henry VIII. Francis I and Charles V are tied for second place with Francis edging out Charles a bit. I wish there'd been more about Suleiman. I feel this is the area I had the weakest knowledge prior to reading the book. I certainly have a better knowledge base, but I'm still left with a lot of questions.

Ironically it was Suleiman, the Muslim, who was the most religiously tolerant of the bunch. The religious wars, the rise of Protestantism, the Papal excess and abuse of power . . . . rather depressing all in all. But not a surprise. These are facts that have been raised in historical texts before, but perhaps not with the level of detail in Norwich's book.

Really feel sorry for the princesses. They were powerless pawns in a clumsy game of world domination. Disney--you got it wrong.


Recommend

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable, fast-paced narrative about four men who loom large in the first part of the 16th century. I knew bits and pieces of Henry and Charles, less so about Francis, and even less so about Suleiman. The book explores the ways in which each of their lives overlapped with the others. Some of the insights were deeply insightful and helped give some context to parallel events at the same time. For example: Charles didn't encounter the Lutherans after the Diet of Worms in 1521 until the Augsburg proceedings a decade later. The reason for this was largely due to Suleiman's military achievements pushing toward the west.

There were other small things like that that were very helpful and interesting (e.g. the origin of the King or Queen of England being formally titled the Fides Defensor). Definitely recommended for a fun read in history.