On January 30, 1649, the Stuart monarchy took a major hit when Charles I was tried and executed by the Rump Parliament, making way for the Commonwealth of England to take control. His eldest son, Charles II, fled England leaving the control of the country in the hands of Oliver Cromwell. Two years later, in 1651, Charles tried to make his triumphant return to restore the monarchy. However, it failed miserably at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651; Charles II was able to escape with the help of those loyal to the crown. The story of his escape from Cromwell’s men and his exile in Europe are told in Martyn R. Beardsley’s book, “Charles II and His Escape into Exile: Capture the King.”
I would like to thank Pen and Sword Books for sending me a copy of this book. I know that this book is not in the particular timeline that I normally read, but it looked intriguing to me for some reason. It is one of those subjects that I knew absolutely nothing about, so I was looking forward to learning something new.
Charles II was known as the “Merry Monarch” who restored the monarchy, his very extravagant lifestyle, and his numerous mistresses who produced quite a few illegitimate children. His wife, Catherine of Braganza, was unable to provide him with the desired heir that would be able to continue his legacy. He would also endure plots that would try to remove him from the throne and the quagmire of religious struggles between Catholics and Protestants, plus a small event known as the Great Fire of London of 1666. This legacy would come after he became king, but his struggle to achieve his father’s crown was just as dramatic as his actual reign.
Charles II had been in exile ever since his father, Charles I, was executed and replaced by the Commonwealth led by Oliver Cromwell. He returned to his native England with the support of the Scottish soldiers and decided to engage Cromwell’s men in battle at Worcester on September 3, 1651, which ended in a horrific defeat for the royalists. Charles II was able to miraculously escape the carnage with the help of those loyal to the crown, like the Penderel brothers and Jane Lane, Lady Fisher. His rescuers did everything they could to smuggle the young king out of the country, from hiding the king in a tree to disguising him as a Shropshire countryman.
Beardsley does an excellent job to take his readers along the same route that Charles II took to freedom. He uses the writings of Samuel Pepys to start each chapter, goes into depth about each stop, and includes a few fun notes at the end.
It is a relatively easy book to follow, but the problem for me is the fact that I did not the background behind the conflict between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. Beardsley tries to explain the concepts behind the conflict, but it a bit too brief for my liking.
Overall, I think this was a very well written book about a king on the run for his life. It makes me wonder if other kings escaping their countries had a similar experience. It takes guts to return to a country that you called home after your own countrymen kick you out time after time to become king. The adventures of Charles II and the stories of those who helped him escape to fight another day are thrilling. If you are like me and want to read a daring story from a different dynasty full of action and danger, check out “Charles II and His Escape into Exile: Capture the King” by Martyn R. Beardsley.
Two cousins fighting for the right to rule England during the 16th century. One was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn who fought tooth and nail to rule without a man by her side. The other was the daughter of Mary of Guise and King James V of Scotland whose marriage record would prove to be fatal. Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, may have been sister queens, but the way they were treated in their own countries differed completely. While Elizabeth I was praised and protected from harm in England, Mary was a scapegoat for so many in Scotland. The way that Mary was used as a pawn even though she wore a crown was nothing short of extraordinary. The story of how these two queens came on a collision course that would leave one queen beheaded and the other forever changed has been told in many different ways from both sides of the tale, but it has rarely been told as a cohesive nonfiction book. That is until Kate Williams’ marvelous biography, “The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots: Elizabeth I and Her Greatest Rival”.
Today, I am pleased to share my book review of the latest Elizabethan novel by Tony Riches as my contribution to his “Essex: Tudor Rebel” blog tour. Thank you to Tony Riches for sending me a copy of his latest novel, and to The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to take part in this tour. 
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One of the most infamous families in the history of England lasted for over three hundred years and it was filled with numerous princes that fought for their right to rule, much to the chagrin of the Tudor dynasty. The Plantagenet Dynasty was full of scandals and bloodshed, testing the core values of what it meant to be a family and rulers of an emerging country like England. This dynastic clash for power that came to define this dynasty began with Henry II and his sons by his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. When their father refused to give the boys any true power, which was to be excepted with all princes, his sons waged war against Henry II and their brothers. The stories of these bonds and what ultimately tore them asunder are told in Douglas Boyd’s latest collection of biographies aptly titled, “Plantagenet Princes: The Sons of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II”.
The year is 1586 and Ursula Blanchard is on a mission to protect Queen Elizabeth I. After returning home from a previous mission, Ursula and her household come into contact with a countrywoman named Etheldreda Hope who has brought a peculiar case to the forefront. In the forest by the village that Etheldreda calls home, there have been strange rituals occurring that include reference to an evil queen. Are these rituals harmless or is there a sinister motive behind the beliefs of the pagans who meet in the forest? Will Ursula and her household solve the case in time? This is the premise of Fiona Buckley’s latest Ursula Blanchard Tudor mystery, “Forest of Secrets”.
The life of a medieval princess was not a life of luxury that we often see in fantasy films. It can be filled with lovely gowns and castles, but it can change in an instance. Take, for example, the lives of the daughters of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. One minute their father was King of England and life was comfortable; the next minute, they were in the sanctuary, hoping and praying that they would be able to be reunited with their father one day. Their lives were planned out for them when their father was alive, but when Edward IV died unexpectedly in April 1483, the princesses found their world taking another turn. We know what happened with the eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, as she married Henry VII and became the first Tudor queen, but what about her sisters? In her second book, “The York Princesses: The Daughters of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville”, Sarah J. Hodder explores what happened to Elizabeth of York and her sisters once the House of York fell and the Tudors became the new dynasty.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Anne O’Brien to my blog to discuss the inspiration for her latest novel, 
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When one studies the history of the English monarchy, we tend to consider those who ruled and those who advised the ruler as significant characters. We rarely study the family members of the monarch who did not win the right to rule the kingdom. Yet, they are often either extremely loyal or they desire the crown with such ferocity that they rebel against their own family. It seems like a rather cruel world, but that was the life of a medieval monarch. True loyalty for one’s family was a rare feat. One man showed the depth of his loyalty to his family, even when the people despised him. He was the son of King Edward III, the brother of the famous Black Prince, the uncle of King Richard II, and the father of Henry Bolingbroke who would become King Henry IV. Gaunt’s reputation and legacy have been marred by his wealth and the role that he played with the Peasants’ Revolt, but was he such a bad person? In Helen Carr’s brilliant debut biography, “The Red Prince: The Life of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster”, she looks to uncover the truth about the man behind the throne and why he never desired the crown for himself.
A woman twice widowed with no children of her own has the opportunity to choose who she will marry next. Will she marry the man of her dreams or marry the man who has been married numerous times and has killed two of his wives already? It seems like a no-brainer who she should choose, but the man she married for her third marriage was the man who was married numerous times before simply because he is the notorious King Henry VIII and you do not disobey the king. However, his last wife, Katharine Parr, is willing to fight for the religious reforms and her stepchildren that she loves dearly. In the last book of the Six Tudor Queens series, “Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife”, Alison Weir takes her readers on an extraordinary journey to explore who this brave woman was and why she is the one who survived Henry’s last days.
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 