The Tudors in love? Well, let’s hope they don’t lose their heads over that. Hehehe, bad pun, I know, but let’s face it — their lives were basically a neverending telenovela, with Henry VIII single-handedly responsible for quite a few bloody seasons.

(With my recent readings I think I’m reaching the point where the all the goings-on in the English monarchy/nobility lives of the 12th-16th century seem like current gossip. And I’m starting to forget what’s history and what comes from the lovely Lymond series by Dunnett. Hello there, Margaret Lennox-Douglas!).

Sarah Gristwood in The Tudors in Love is trying to view the lives of those monarchs through the popular at the time idea of "courtly love" - basically exaggerated flirting in the era that venerated chastity - while tying the idea to the legends of Guinevere and Lancelot, with varying success. For some it worked (Elizabeth I, who reversed the usual gender tropes in courtly love), for others less so (Anne Boleyn, who lost her head following them). At some points I thought it was a bit of a stretch, admittedly, but regardless of whether courtly love made sense in any particular sense of circumstances, it was still an interesting history of that age with the strong focus on women, accessible and interesting.

3.5 stars rounding up.
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Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Tudors in Love is a fascinating book about courtly love during the Tudor era. The author goes into a well researched path of letters and poetry from that age. From King Arthur to Queen Elizabeth I everyone was influenced by love or was it only a facade for bigger games behind the scenes?

Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII are the most fascinating personalities of the Tudor age for me. Once the book goes into their story, I had a wonderful time reading this book. It is a well researched book drawing from whatever material still exists. An interesting perspective of how shallow boundaries existed for the courtly love but how easy was it for men to cast aside women. Powerful men and their politics played their games and women were the pawn or the victim.

I really enjoyed the book though the writing could have been little simpler. With the heavy prose of Tudor era and the long sentences it was a little tough for me to follow the book especially very early on.

For the all the lovers of The Tudors, this book is perfect.

Tudors? Of course you know who they are. King Henry VIII and his six wives, most famously Anne Boleyn. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth I.

Gristwood takes us back in time to the Middle Ages, where courtly love was just a game to some, but others a political mean. You may find your favor with the royals one day, and be in the Tower of London the next.

During these times, courtly love was used as a way to gain political power. Not love as we know it, but love as a way to align countries together. Most times you didn't see your future wife or husband until a deal had been made. As for King Henry VIII it didn't matter if you were already to be someone else's, he was King, so if he wanted you to be his wife, you were. As for Queen Elizabeth I, she surprised everyone by never marrying. She came to be known as the 'Virgin Queen', but was she really.

From the Tudors, comes the line of the Stuarts, which is a direct line to today's monarch. Read this book, and learn how what happened during these times, still effect some things today.

Gristwood researched this book extensively. You can tell by the depth of the book. This will publish on December 27, 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Gristwood for the Kindle Version of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

😊 Happy Reading 📚😊

This was a great insight into the royal dealings of love and lust long before and during the Tudor Era. It helped to put everything into perspective when it came to situations that happened hundreds of years ago.

The Tudors in Love: Passion and Politics in the Age of England's Most Famous Dynasty by Sarah Gristwood is a great nonfiction that takes me back to one of my favorite periods in English history, the Tudors! Loved it!

Title: The Tudors in Love
Author: Sarah Gristwood
Release Date: December 13th, 2022
Page Count: 571
Start Date: December 11th, 2022
Finish Date: December 12th, 2022

Review:

I've read many books about King Henry VIII. Mostly fiction if I'm being honest. It's always had me curious to learn more about that time frame. Most of the books that I've read have mostly focused on him and sometimes his wives. This covers the family in general. This was very informative. I actually wound up buying a copy so I can read it a second time and make highlights and notes. I'd also like to explore the book references made in the book for further reading on the family. I really recommend this for all the history buffs who love to read about the time period and about the Tudors.

When I saw on the NetGalley website that Sarah Gristwood had written a new book and it was up for review, I applied for a copy before I read the blurb. I am glad I did because this is a fascinating look at the Tudor Dynasty through the angle of love, and how it affected them. The Tudors, individually and as a family, have been well-studied, so it is very interesting to have a fresh approach to the research.

Most people respond to the zeitgeist of their times, and the Tudors were no different. "Courtly Love" was in the air, and these human beings, regardless of their place in life, responded to it. Courtly Love was an ideal, of course, but the Tudors absorbed the tropes and tried to use them to their own advantage; who wouldn't have?

You can always count on Sarah Gristwood for an interesting, well-researched and well-written book, and this tome is no different. A little heavier and more scholarly than some of her books ``The Tudors in Love '' is a worthy addition to anyone's history shelves.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have read several nonfiction and historical fiction books about The Tudors, and especially about Henry VIII and his many wives. This book added a new spin on this popular topic with a well researched look into how courtly love shaped politics and how it affected the lives of Elizabeth I, Henry VII, and The Tudors in general.

All history buffs will enjoy this fascinating and informative look at the lives of important figures in the Tudor Dynasty.

Courtly Love and the Tudor Dynasty

Europe was enthralled with courtly love from the time Christien De Troyes wrote about Lancelot and Guinevere. Eleanor of Aquitaine brought the Courts of Love and practice of chivalry to England when she married Henry II. However, the proponents who used courtly love to their advantage and disadvantage were the Tudors.

Jousts, greats feasts and romantic games played major role at Henry VIII’s court, particularly in the later years. Henry had mistresses, notably Mary Boleyn, however, his romance with her sister Anne was in a different category. Anne was trained in the courts of Europe and knew how to entice a man in large part through the games of chivalry. Henry, loving to joust and seeing himself as a knight was caught up in the game. The game became serious when Henry divorced Katherine to marry Anne, but the magic faded, and when she couldn’t produce an heir her days were numbered.

Elizabeth, Henry’s daughter by Anne Boleyn, used chivalry and romantic love to her advantage. The court was filled with her cavaliers. She was the untouchable virgin queen for whom they all strove. It helped her to keep her reign as a single woman supported by her male courtiers.

The book is well researched and engaging to read, particularly if you’re interested in the Tudor Dynasty. It is written as history rather than a historical novel, but for me the reading was easy and went quickly, possibly because I was very familiar with the historical era. If you are interested in courtly love and the Tudors, this is an excellent book.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

This new non-fiction book puts an interesting spin on the Tudor dynasty by examining how they used courtly love to legitimize, and inform, their reigns.

Courtly love as an idea, and an ideal, was prevalent in medieval culture, and the author has some cool insights on how we can still see traces of it in our society today.

This book is well researched, but
a genealogy chart would’ve been helpful for me (so many kings/queens/nobles had the same names, even within families). It was hard for me to keep track of all the Marys, Margarets and Elizabeths.

There’s so much ground covered, it feels like I never really got to know much about the individual players (specifically, the royals before Henry VIII). Once we get to Henry VIII, there’s much more information (not surprising).

Due to lack of surviving letters and sources, Anne Boleyn remains something of a mystery. But the beats of their relationship are covered in detail.

Most of the book is spent on Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, but I found my attention wandering. Not sure if it was the writing style, or just me.

Check out this book if you want insight into the entire Tudor dynasty, or have an interest in courtly love.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC. This book will be released on December 13, 2023.

Tudors in Love provides an overview of one of the most tumultuous families in British history and their loves.
Gristwood begins in the medieval era until the end of the Tudor line with the death Of Elizabeth I.
She offers commentary and substantiation through letters, poetry, and some conjecture.
Some readers might find the genealogy a bit confusing in the early chapters but the chapters about Henry VIII and his subsequent wives are Straight forward and flow well.
It’s a good addition to social history, royal history, and English history.

I am not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I think she has a valid point about the pervasiveness of the trappings of courtly love in the Tudor court, especially in the time of Henry VIII who loved to see himself as a courtly gentleman serving his lady. On the other hand, it seems to be a short and not entirely warranted leap from "this explains some things" to "this explains everything." While there was a lot of courtly flummery between Elizabeth and her favorites, I am not sure the idea of courtly love explains it all or even most of it.

There are many pages where courtly love leaves the building and we are just reading history, even if it is mostly a history of the Tudors' love lives which will interest most people. That isn't bad in itself, but I think it's a sign that maybe the thesis doesn't completely work. Since I've already read a lot about the Tudors, that was ground I'd covered before so I was skimming waiting for something else interesting to be said.

This is not the first time it's occurred to me that the rules of flirtation at court were fine until a woman was to be got rid of, when suddenly they were treason. That point does bear making again.

Late in the book she says, "The cult of courtly love had made possible Elizabeth's unmarried female monarchy." What? I don't know exactly what she means by this. I'd been thinking the material was overworked a little, and this went over the top for me. It seems a major overstatement.

The Postscript sums up her points, maybe grab the book at the library or in a store and read that to see if you want to read the whole book. If you haven't already read a lot of Tudor history, maybe you will like this as a way in. But I am really not convinced that everything love and marriage at court for the whole 16th century can be attributed to the medieval idea of amour courtois.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I love the Tudor dynasty and their many romances, scandals, and tragedies, and while I know a lot about many of them, I love how this book contextualizes them. In the previous centuries, the courtly love tradition was established by their medieval forebears, and I enjoyed seeing how the Tudor monarchs employed and subverted these traditions.

I learned a lot from this book! It was really unique and informative! Would definitely recommend to any Andglofile/Royalist!

I love the Tudor dynasty. I love new lenses with which to look at historical figures and events. I have a great deal of respect for researchers and writers who try to take a sociocultural approach to analyzing monarchy, war, religion, and even economic systems. The abstract of this book intrigued me so much because merely thinking about the notion of “courtly love” having an influence of such depth and breadth on European royalty made all things in me tuned to Arthuriana, Tudor, and Elizabeth I perk up as if I had just finished a quad caramel macchiato.

I don’t know if reading this book in ebook format (I’m not fond of reading nonfiction in ebook format) affected my experience, but the whole text just felt dry and flat to me. I know for sure it’s not because the material was above my intelligence level: I’m well aware of the players spoken of, a lot of the battles and locations mentioned, and a great many of the texts mentioned. The prologue, while very long, is truly a fascinating piece of the book you will not want to miss simply because of how Gristwood manages to connect dots between the topics in her book to topics even in the modern day. The vast amount of material she has gathered in her research efforts for this book is absolutely mind-boggling, and the prologue is only a small taste of just how hard she worked on this book.

There are downsides, though. Like I said, the text does come across as uneven, with some great anecdotes paired with large amounts of information dumps that managed to lull my eyelids down as the text grew dryer and flatter. I don’t know if the physical copy is different, but in this ebook version, all of the photographics and graphics are at the back of the book, and on my Kindle Paperwhite they are of very poor resolution and too small to be of much interest (the images are one of the main reasons why I dislike reading nonfiction in ebook format so much).

I will not comment on the validity of Gristwood’s research, because I’m not an expert in the field and not one of her contemporaries. I did find the theories proposed to be of great interest and she makes a compelling argument. I am not ready to say I don’t recommend the book, but for me it’s just not something I enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me access to this title. Due to personal policy, this review will not be posted to any social media or bookseller website owing to the 3 star or lower rating.

Did not finish at 7%. Thought this was a fiction novel, similar to Fatal Wives based on the six wives of Henry Tudor. Did not get that kind of book. Do not particularly care for love in English court throughout the centuries leading up to the Tudor dynasty, everyone loves the Tudor dynasty for a reason, nothing was seen like it before. The writer lacks the pizazz that Alison Weir has to keep me caring about things I dislike to get to the juicer bit.

Special thanks to NetGalley.com, for recieving an Advanced Reader's Copy ahead of the rerelease of this edition.

This was a very interesting read that kept me reading and needing more until the very end. It moves along at a pace that is perfect for this story. These characters are interesting and unique and no matter what happens you want to know more about them. This book is a must read for those that are interested in the monarchy and history. There is no doubt about it.

If you know me, you know that I love the musical Six, which is about the six wives of Henry VIII. I have been eager to learn more about the real women Henry married. I was eager to read Tudors in Love and spend some time with the Tudors, especially the queens who have fascinated me.

Tudors in Love starts off with several chapters dedicated to centuries of British history that preceded the Tudor dynasty. Of course, it makes sense to set the stage for the beliefs on love, politics, religion, etc that led to the behavior of the Tudors. However, I didn’t need a quarter of the book to be about Dante, Eleanor of Acquitane, and King Arthur. As I read, I was just counting down to when the first Tudor monarch was going to take the throne.

In my many times seeing Six, Catherine of Aragon has never won me over, but Gristwood’s portrayal of her managed to do so. Tudors in Love spends a lot of time with Aragon, which makes sense as she was married to Henry VIII for over two decades. Gristwood focuses on Aragon’s advisory role in her early marriage and emphasizes her education. It was also cool to compare the text of Aragon’s plea to Henry to not divorce her to the lyrics of “No Way” (Aragon’s song in Six). Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss did an excellent job conveying her actual words through their song.

As one of many fascinated by Anne Boleyn, I enjoyed learning more about what led to Anne’s downfall. It is disturbing to think that her downfall was orchestrated because she was seen as a threat to Thomas Cromwell’s foreign policy (and because Henry wanted to marry Jane Seymour). Gristwood is sympathetic to Boleyn, and she emphasizes that Anne was likely not guilty of the adultery of which she was accused. Unfortunately, Gristwood does not give the same thoughtful treatment to Katheryn Howard (Anne’s cousin and Henry’s fifth wife).

Katheryn Howard is my favorite of Henry VIII’s wives. She was famously beheaded after being accused of treason and adultery (much like her cousin). I was very disappointed in Gristwood’s portrayal of Howard. Gristwood dismisses Katheryn as someone who was uneducated and indicates that she had “an inability to understand that actions have consequences.” Howard was the victim of sexual abuse who was taught that her sexuality was her only worth. It was frustrating to see her described as simply silly and irresponsible.

I don’t know as much about Elizabeth I as I do about her mother, but Gristwood’s portrayal certainly brings forward dualities in Elizabeth’s reign. She portrays Elizabeth as a regal and confident ruler who rejected the societal pressure to share her power and throne with a man. She paints a picture of Elizabeth as educated and thoughtful, and includes a lot of Elizabeth’s poetry and other writing. However, she also describes Elizabeth as a jealous woman who would lash out whenever one of her courtiers showed favor to another woman.

Gristwood has a very distinctive narrative style. She tends to write in long sentences that include parenthentical commentary. This adds voice and dimension to the historical facts, but it also means that this is not an easy or casual read. Gristwood throws a lot of information at the reader and quickly.

This is certainly not Gristwood’s fault, but it was at times difficult to keep track of the players in the historical tale as so many of them had the same names. Henry VIII’s father was named Henry, and he had two sons named Henry. He and Anne Boleyn named their daughter, Elizabeth, as both of their mothers were named Elizabeth.

I’ve spent a lot of time with fictionalized versions of the Tudors, and I enjoyed learning more about the facts and how they differ from portrayals like Six and The Other Boleyn Girl. It left me wondering where the truth about these historical figures lies and how the Tudor women would want to be portrayed nearly five centuries after their deaths.

A must-read for any fan of Tudor or Elizabethan English history. This book is chock full of palace intrigues and who was (maybe, probably) sleeping with whom. Sometimes there was love, most times it was political, but the relationships depicted here were always interesting. Not only will you get information on the Tudor line, but also the Plantagents and the Stuarts. Courtly love was not just hearts and flowers.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-arc.*

As a historian I love the Tudor's, so when I saw this new book about them I had to have it! Even though it was enjoyable to read, if you do not know anything about them this could be a more difficult book. It is very informative but doesn’t add much to the knowledge I already have on them. But it was still a very enjoyable read that got me excited to do even,ore research now.