Tudor History Lovers discussion

Sorry if maybe there was already a topic on this, i may have missed it. Just wondering what the best and most interesting book on Mary Tudor is? Fiction or Non fiction. Thanks!

Assuming you mean Henry VIII's daughter rather than his sister, I haven't found many books about her, but I liked Bloody Mary by Carolly Erickson.

For nonfiction, try Linda Porter's biography. The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary"There's also one by Anna Whitelock, Mary Tudor: England's First Queen

My favorite fictional work on Mary is Hilda Lewis's trilogy.

Here are some I know of....

Denise wrote: "Assuming you mean Henry VIII's daughter rather than his sister, I haven't found many books about her, but I liked Bloody Mary by Carolly Erickson.

[bookcover:Bloody Mary: The Life of Mary Tudor|23..."

I probably should have specified that this is nonfiction.

This book really opened my eyes to Mary Tudor and how broken she was as an individual. Trying to find true love was taken from her in the politics of the time. She would be promised to one man after another as it suited Henry & his advisors - Mary never had a chance.

I liked Linda Porter's work (mentioned above by Susan) and thought it was well researched. Porter was more sympathetic toward Mary than I am (my pity is diluted by her murder of Jane Grey) but it was nonetheless a very good book.

I'm going to go find these books ...great suggestions!

Reading Mary Boleyn by Alison Weir. On page 22. Lots of detail on the history of the Boleyn family, Carrey family and other families associated with Mary Boleyn and her forefathers and ancestors. So important when wealth and prestige are inherited. The family originally came from France probably around Norman times and made money through trade. Marrying into the Howard family brought old titles and royalty while the Boleyn family brought the money.

Still reading Mary Tudor by Alison Weir. Pretty good but gets confusing with all the comparisons with the letters and documents available.

Mary Tudor by David loades was excellent. I did get it at a used book store but that was before the Tudors TV show...so maybe it can be found more easily in the US now. And per another comment, it is about Queen Mary not Henry VIII's sister of the same name.

Just finished Mary Boleyn by Allison Weir - I enjoy her writing immensely.

I enjoyed The Queen's Foolby Phillipa Gregory. It tells the story of the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth. I feel it was written before Gregory was got at by her publishers!

You know, I can't keep all these books straight anymore. I no longer know what I've read and what I haven't. There are SO MANY!

Kyra wrote: "... more sympathetic toward Mary than I am (my pity is diluted by her murder of Jane Grey) but it w..."


I don't have a problem with Mary Tudor's eventual execution of Jane Grey. It is apparent that she didn't want to do this and indeed, Jane felt secure for some time in comfortable Tower-complex accomodations that she would not be executed. But there were more political uprisings, led by Jane's father, and it became only too obvious that she had to do what all Tudors were forever doing: kill off any persons of competing royal bloodlines. The persons themselves were often quite inoffensive, but enemies of the throne were forever making plots around them in these times.

I am reading Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel, and that has a lot about Mary Tudor (the daughter) in it. And not very sympathetic: Cromwell doesn't like her and describes her as frankly dwarfish, and never healthy.

Mary 1 Tudor is one of my favorite queens. Thank you for this subject.

I am reading Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel, and that has a lot about Mary Tudor (the daughter) in it. And not very sympathetic: Cromwell doesn't like her and describes her as frankly dwarfish, and never healthy.

Hillary Mantel provides a fresh perspective on Cromwell, but I've never found him to be a sympathetic character in history. As for Mary Tudor...I just feel pity for her--pity and frustration. I'm glad you like her so much, Lucrezia. I've never run into many in that club. (I need a tutorial on how to UN-italicize this paragraph!!!)

May have needed to put < / i > (without the blanks) where you wanted to stop italicizing?

Is it true that Elizabeth I was quite a bit taller than Mary?

It's not known how tall Mary was, but she is said to have been about as short as her mother. Maybe 5 feet?

The estimates of Elizabeth's height that I've seen are all taller than that (generally 5-3 to 5-5), but I don't know that I've seen a period source that attests to height.

I have recently read Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy. It 's fiction and is based on the life of Princess Mary Tudor, the younger sister of Henry VIII. I have read several books by Alison Weir and Phillipa Gregory on the Tudor's, but very little about this Mary.
She is married young, and against her wishes, to King Louis of France who dies shortly their marriage. It 's primarily the story of her and her lifelong love Charles Brandon and how they navigate through the turmoil of the reign of her brother Henry.
I haven't posted my review on Goodread's yet but I enjoyed it enough to read more of Jean Plaidy's work in the future.

Which of these non-fiction books would you say is favorable but not fawning about Mary I? Doing research and I need a better grip on her personality.

A couple of books I have enjoyed on Mary I are
The Children of Henry VIII by Weir (non-fiction)
In the Shadow of the Crown by Plaidy (fiction)

I have never read Weir, but I have read Plaidy/Carr; what kind of research, Dawn?

Skye wrote: "I have never read Weir, but I have read Plaidy/Carr; what kind of research, Dawn?"

Working on an AU Tudor novel with my husband. We want to feel like the new choices she'll make are plausible as well as treat her a little more fairly than she often is (at least when compared to Elizabeth).

That's a very interesting route to take - good luck with it!

How lovely; where do you live?

Have you read The Tudor Throne by Brandy Purdy?

It looks good.

Tammy wrote: "Have you read The Tudor Throne by Brandy Purdy?"

How Mary is portrayed there?