Tag: Amy McElroy

Book Review: “Mary Tudor: Queen of France” by Amy McElroy

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

The life of a 16th-century princess is not all that it is cracked up to be. You can have jewels, and glamorous dresses, attend the glittering yet treacherous court, and have numerous homes. You must marry the person the king says you should marry to create strong alliances for the kingdom, so the concept of marrying for love is not in your vocabulary. You had to ensure your opinions were kept in line with the monarch’s views so you didn’t meet a disastrous end. In other words, the closer you are to the throne, the more scrutiny is forced upon you. No one understood this advice better than Mary Tudor, the daughter of King Henry VII and the younger sister of Henry VIII. She was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a queen, a duchess, and a mother. Her remarkable story is told in Amy McElroy’s book, “Mary Tudor: Queen of France.”

I want to thank Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I have read Amy McElroy’s previous books, “Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era” and “Educating the Tudors,” and I enjoyed both books. When I heard that she would write her first-ever biography on Mary Tudor, I jumped at the chance to read it because Mary is my favorite of the children of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

McElroy begins with a quick overview of the conflict that brought the Tudors to the throne, the Wars of the Roses. The marriage of Mary’s parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York united the kingdom and started the Tudor dynasty. Like any dynasty, it was important to have heirs, spares, and daughters who could be used essentially as pawns in the marriage market to create strong alliances. Mary’s eldest brother Arthur married Katherine of Aragon to form an alliance with Spain and her older sister Margaret married James IV of Scotland for another alliance. From a young age, Mary Tudor was a proposed bride for Charles of Castile, the son of King Philip the Handsome and Queen Joanna of Castile and Aragon, who would become Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Unfortunately, this marriage plan fizzled, but another bride groom was waiting in the wing, King Louis XII of France.

Mary’s marriage to King Louis XII of France and her time as Queen of France did not last long because Louis died mere months after their wedding. Now Mary could have returned to England or stayed in France and waited for another royal match to happen, but Mary chose option number three. Mary’s heart belonged to her brother Henry VIII’s best friend Charles Brandon, and the two devised a plan to marry in secret. It was out of the ordinary and it did create quite the scandal, but at the end of the day, it was a love match. Charles and Mary had a family and were involved in court politics including the Great Matter, before Mary died on June 26, 1533.

I think what has impressed me about McElroy’s books, including this one, is her ability to reveal something new to the subject material. While I knew quite a bit about Mary’s life, it was the marriage negotiations and her inner circle that truly fascinated me. If you want a new book about the sister of Henry VIII with new insight into her life and the politics of marriage, I highly suggest you read, “Mary Tudor: Queen of France” by Amy McElroy.

Book Review: “Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era” by Amy McElroy

On By hmalagisiIn Book Reviews1 Comment

Women's Lives in the Tudor EraWhen we think about the Tudor dynasty, we often think about the famous men and women who defined the era. An era full of change in all aspects of life, from religious and political, to the arts and literature. Throughout these changes, we tend to focus on how they affected the lives of Tudor men, but there is a growing field of interest in the lives of the average Tudor women and how their lives were affected. In her latest book, “Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era,” Amy McElroy explores women’s life stages in 16th-century England and how their roles changed.

I want to thank Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I enjoyed McElroy’s debut book, “Educating the Tudors,” and when I heard that she had another book about Tudor women, I knew I wanted to read it.

McElroy explains that like the centuries before and since the 16th century, it was riddled with negative views of women in all aspects of life. Women were seen as beneath men, which corresponded with the teachings of Aristotle. Wives, mothers, and daughters were supposed to be obedient and seen rather than heard. However, when we look at the different stages of life, we cannot separate the roles of women from everyday life.

To understand what it meant to be a Tudor woman, McElroy breaks down life into different stages, starting in childhood, going through adolescence, becoming a wife and mother, working life for women, how women relaxed, embracing widowhood, and finally, wills and death. Each stage of life is represented in a chapter in this book. McElroy takes the time to explore what it meant to be a woman at each stage of life and how their social standings changed. We see women receiving an education, going through courtships, getting married and becoming wives, starting their own families and the dangers of childbirth, how women earned a living, what they would do as recreational activities, and how they would survive if their husbands died. In each chapter, McElroy highlights women of different social statuses to show how they survived during the Tudor time.

This was an engrossing and utterly fascinating book. Some elements were completely new information for me, which was quite thrilling. The amount of details that McElroy included in such a short amount of pages was incredible. Another brilliant book by McElroy. If you want a fascinating glimpse into the lives of Tudor women, I highly recommend you read, “Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era” by Amy McElroy.

Book Review: “Educating the Tudors” by Amy McElroy

On By hmalagisiIn Book Reviews1 Comment

63112680._SX318_ (1)When we think of the word “education,” images of sitting in school rooms for hours, listening to lectures, and doing endless homework pop into our minds. Our modern education system tends to focus on math, science, language arts, and history as the core subjects we study, with music and physical education as something that we in America call an “elective.” But have you ever wondered what education looked like in the past? How did the Tudors pass on their knowledge to future generations? What subjects did the Tudors consider essential, and how did the amount of education you received change depending on your class? Amy McElroy explores these questions in her book, “Educating the Tudors.”

Thank you, Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley, for sending me a copy of this book. When I heard about this book, it grabbed my attention because although many books about the Tudors have talked about elements of education, I have yet to see a book about Tudor education. I was curious to see how the rise of humanism would affect Tudor education throughout the 16th- century.

Before we dive into the differences in classes regarding education, McElroy gives her readers a breakdown of the different types of schools and what subjects each school teaches, including the trivium and quadrivium. She then dives into the Tudor monarchs and their education, starting with King Henry VIII, the first monarch in England to receive a humanist education. With royal children and their education, we are introduced to their royal tutors, like Giles Duwes, Bernard Andre, John Palsgrave, Roger Ascham, Desiderius Erasmus, and John Picton.

McElroy takes her readers on an educational journey through the different social classes, like nobility, gentry, and knights, to the common people. As she points out, the lower you get on the social ladder, the less critical education is to have a career. With the introduction of the printing press and the Reformation, the way students were taught and discussed religious issues changed throughout the 16th century. I loved learning about the popular books of the time, the different instruments and dances that were enjoyed, and what games were played during down times.

For McElroy’s first book, I found it very educational, informative, and easy to read. Her passion for humanism and the evolution of Tudor education exudes on each page. I took pages of notes about this book, and I learned so much from this debut. I cannot wait to see what Amy McElroy will write about next. To learn more about how the Tudors approached education and humanism, you should check out “Educating the Tudors” by Amy McElroy.