I am pleased to welcome Rosemary Hayes to my blog today as part of the blog tour for her latest novel, “The King’s Command: For God or Country.” I would like to thank Rosemary Hayes and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to be part of this tour.
In the early 16th century, the reformist ideas of John Calvin and Martin Luther spread through France and many embraced their new Protestant doctrines. These French Reformists became known as the Huguenots. They believed that the Bible alone gave divine guidance, they rejected the authority of the Pope and the priesthood and they argued for separation of church and state.
All this directly challenged the authority of the Catholic church and led to bitter division between Catholics and Protestants, leading to the Wars of Religion which raged in France from 1562 until 1598. Hatred ran deep, armies were raised and atrocities were committed by both sides.
These wars were finally brought to an end through the actions of King Henry IV.
As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion and, while King of Navarre, led Protestant forces against the French royal army. When he succeeded to the French throne in 1589, he at first kept the Protestant faith – the only French king to do so – but had to fight against the powerful Catholic League, which denied that he could wear the French crown as a Protestant. After several years of stalemate, he converted to Catholicism, reportedly saying “Paris is well worth a mass”!
Henry was a pragmatic politician, and he promulgated the Edict of Nantes (1598) which granted official tolerance to Protestantism, thereby effectively ending the Wars of Religion and, for eighty years or so, the Huguenots thrived.
While the Edict of Nantes brought religious peace to France, some hard-line Catholics and Huguenots remained dissatisfied and in 1610 Henry was assassinated by a Catholic zealot. Henry was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.
Louis XIII and his Chief Minister, Cardinal Richelieu, were not at all tolerant of the Huguenots. They abhorred their growing influence and attacked their strongholds.
After the capitulation of La Rochelle (the most important of the Huguenots’ strongholds) the Grace of Alais was signed in June 1629. Although this reaffirmed the Edict of Nantes, it ordered that the Huguenot military organization should be broken up and the Huguenot fortresses destroyed.
So, although the Huguenots continued to be allowed to practice their faith, their trades, and their professions, their position was considerably weakened by having no fortifications and no army.
When Louis XIII’s son, Louis IV, finally took control of his kingdom in 1661, he quickly set about reforming France according to his vision.
His vision included making France a wholly Catholic country. His mantra was ‘One realm, one religion, one King’ and he swore to wipe out the ‘false religion’ of Protestantism once and for all.
Many Huguenots could see the way the wind was blowing and quietly left France to find refuge in Protestant countries.
In France, the rights of Huguenots continued to be systematically eroded by Louis and his advisers, and the Edict of Nantes, which had protected them for so long, was finally revoked in 1685. At the time of the revocation, Huguenot pastors were given two weeks to leave the country or face death. However, their congregations were forbidden from leaving because Louis did not want to lose the skills of these hard-working and successful people.
Pressure continued to mount and Huguenots’ lives became impossible if they continued to be loyal to their faith. Unless they converted to Catholicism, they would forfeit their property, be unable to practice their professions or trades and their children would be forcibly removed from them to be brought up as Catholics. They were banned from holding gatherings, even in private, and their temples were destroyed.
In many places, on the King’s orders, brutal soldiers were sent in to force households to convert and thousands did, to save their skins.
Some held out and suffered terribly, others tried to flee the country and were caught and punished, the men sent to row in the galleys in the Mediterranean (a death sentence) or executed, the women imprisoned and the children sent to be brought up in Catholic institutions.
There are stories of escape where fleeing Huguenots managed to elude their pursuers and make their way to other countries, but also horrific accounts of greedy sea captains taking money from them and then tossing them overboard, of tortures inflicted on those who refused to convert and of refugees hiding on board ships having noxious gas fed into their hiding places. There were plenty of financial rewards offered to those betraying Huguenots and to soldiers finding stowaways, with spies and informers everywhere.
Little wonder, then, that France was emptied of some of its most skilled citizens during these unsettled times. The Protestant countries to which the Huguenots fled were hugely enriched by their presence. Doctors, lawyers, weavers, gold and silversmiths, clockmakers, lace makers, shoemakers, jewelers, glove makers, bookbinders, perfumers. These folk passed on their skills to those who gave them refuge and became valued citizens of their adopted countries.
My ancestors were a prosperous Huguenot family from Gascony and for the last two years, I have been researching what happened to them and how they escaped to London in 1692. My book ‘The King’s Command’ is very loosely based on their experience.
Blurb:
16-year-old Lidie Brunier has everything; looks, wealth, health, and a charming suitor but there are dark clouds on the horizon. Lidie and her family are committed Huguenots and Louis XIV has sworn to stamp out this ‘false religion’ and make France a wholly Catholic country. Gradually Lidie’s comfortable life starts to disintegrate as Huguenots are stripped of all rights and the King sends his brutal soldiers into their homes to force them to become Catholics. Others around her break under pressure but Lidie and her family refuse to convert. With spies everywhere and the ever-present threat of violence, they struggle on. Then a shocking betrayal forces Lidie’s hand and her only option is to try and flee the country. A decision that brings unimaginable hardship, terror, and tragedy and changes her life forever.
‘One of the very best historical novels I have ever read’
Sandra Robinson, Huguenot Ancestry Expert
Buy Links:
This title is available to read with #KindleUnlimited.
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/bW6zGG
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CB4RH68S
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Command-God-Country-ebook/dp/B0CB4RH68S/
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Kings-Command-God-Country-ebook/dp/B0CB4RH68S/
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Kings-Command-God-Country-ebook/dp/B0CB4RH68S/
Author Bio:
Rosemary Hayes has written over fifty books for children and young adults. She writes in different genres, from edgy teenage fiction (The Mark), historical fiction (The Blue Eyed Aborigine and Forgotten Footprints), middle-grade fantasy (Loose Connections, The Stonekeeper’s Child and Break Out) to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books. Many of her books have won or been shortlisted for awards and several have been translated into different languages.
Rosemary has traveled widely but now lives in South Cambridgeshire. She has a background in publishing, having worked for Cambridge University Press before setting up her own company Anglia Young Books which she ran for some years. She has been a reader for a well-known authors’ advisory service and runs creative writing workshops for both children and adults.
Rosemary has recently turned her hand to adult fiction and her historical novel ‘The King’s Command’ is about the terror and tragedy suffered by the French Huguenots during the reign of Louis XIV.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.rosemaryhayes.co.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HayesRosemary
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosemary-Hayes/e/B00NAPAPZC
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/80106.Rosemary_Hayes
I am pleased to welcome James Gault to my blog to share a bit of information about his novel, “King’s Warrior.” I want to thank James Gault and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to be part of this blog tour. 
Blurb:
Author Bio:
The Crusades were a series of wars between Christian and Muslim warriors for the right to control the Holy Lands of the Middle East. Many men on both sides earned legacies that would surpass their earthly bodies during bloody battles. It created many bands of knights that would last for generations, such as the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights. The Templars were the most famous of these knight groups, who may have lasted only for less than two hundred years, but whose legacy would turn into myth. Dan Jones has taken on the arduous task of discerning fact from fiction about the Templars in his book, “The Templars: The Rise and Fall of God’s Holy Warriors.”
Rulers cannot govern alone. They require a team of men and women behind them to operate as a cohesive unit. The same can be said for rulers during the Tudor dynasty. We know the stories of men like Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell, two men who rose through the ranks to prominent seats of power to ultimately have disastrous falls from grace. However, there was a third Tudor politician who should be in this discussion about rags-to-riches stories. He was the son of a common merchant who went to serve most of the Tudor monarchs as an advisor. Conspiracies and rebellions kept him on his toes, but he ultimately survived the Tudor dynasty, which was a difficult thing to achieve. His name was Lord William Paget and his story is told by his descendant Alex Anglesey in his debut book, “The Great Survivor of the Tudor Age: The Life and Times of Lord William Paget.”
Have you ever watched a historical drama and wondered what it might have been like to wear the outfits for that period? You see so many reenactment groups online and you are envious of their talents for being able to bring clothing from the past, especially clothes from the 16th century, to life in the modern age. What might it have been like to dress like a lord or a lady? What about a commoner or a monk? How did fashion change throughout the Tudor dynasty? Judith Arnopp answers all of these questions and more in her latest book, “How to Dress Like a Tudor.”
Romances in the Tudor era are legendary for their effects on English, European, and world history. From international matches to domestic love stories, the Tudors had a way of capturing our attention with whom they married. The one Tudor whose relationships caught everyone’s attention just as much as Henry VIII is his daughter with Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I. The legendary “Virgin Queen” did have some men who caught her eye and some that she even considered marrying. There was Robert Dudley, but the one who may surprise a lot of people is the French prince, Francis Duke of Anjou. So how did this whirlwind romance begin and why did Elizabeth choose to stay single instead of marrying to secure a strong alliance with France? In his latest book, “The Queen’s Frog Prince: The Courtship of Elizabeth I and the Duke of Anjou,” David Lee explores the heart of this long-forgotten international romance.
In any society throughout history, there are certain rules and regulations which citizens must follow to maintain order. When there is a transfer of power, those rules and their punishments shift a little bit to fit the vision of those who are in power. England was in a chaotic spiral as law and order were thrown asunder during the Wars of the Roses. The rise of the Tudors marked another shift to the justice system of England, with each monarch during this dynasty, the legal system changed yet again. In her book, “Crime and Punishment in Tudor England: From Alchemists to Zealots,” April Taylor examines the crimes of Tudor England and their respective punishments through case studies.
King Henry VIII’s six wives each have their unique story that transcends time. Katherine of Aragon was his first wife, the mother of Mary Tudor, and the one Henry left behind after 24 years to marry his mistress Anne Boleyn, the most famous of his wives and the mother of Elizabeth Tudor. Anna of Cleves had the shortest marriage to Henry VIII and ended up with an excellent annulment deal. Catherine Howard was young and a bit naive when it came to the ways of men, which led to her downfall while Catherine Parr survived until the end of Henry VIII’s reign. These five women are stories we know by heart, but the one whose story remains a mystery is Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife, and the mother of the future King Edward VI. In her debut book, “Jane Seymour: An Illustrated Life” Carol-Ann Johnston tells the story of the wife who gave Henry his desired son.
I am pleased to welcome Chris Thorndycroft to my blog today to share a blurb for his novel, “Buccaneer: The Early Life and Crimes of Philip Rake.” Thank you, Chris Thorndycroft and The Coffee Pot Book Club, for allowing me to be part of this tour.
Blurb:
Author Bio:
A war between brothers and cousins to determine the future of England is raging, but it is not the same kind of war England saw during medieval times. It is a clash of ideas, religious beliefs, and a fight for the survival of the reigning English king. On one side were the Catholic supporters of King Charles I, known as Cavaliers, and on the other were the Protestant Roundheads who wanted to see the king removed from the throne. Caught in the middle was the home of the Winchesters, known as Basing House, a royalist stronghold, which withstood sieges and bloodshed for two years amid the conflict. Jessie Childs’ latest book, “The Siege of Loyalty House: A Story of the English Civil War,” is dedicated to telling the story of this remarkable house and the men and women who fought to the death to defend it.
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 