It is March 1603, and the Virgin Queen is dying. She has no children to inherit her throne directly, so she must choose a successor. She chooses the son of Mary Queen of Scots, the queen who had been executed a few years before. James VI of Scotland will become James I of England, but was it as easy as William Camden makes it in his account? What does a recent discovery about Camden’s original manuscript of Annales tell us about James’ succession to the throne of England? Tracy explores the messy conflict to find an heir to the English throne in her latest book, “The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty.”
I would like to thank Grove Atlantic and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I have been a fan of Tracy Borman’s books for a few years now because of how she is able to present new information about stories from the past that I already know and give them a fresh look. When I heard that James might have stolen the crown from Elizabeth I, that thought intrigued me so much that I knew I wanted to read this book.
So how did the Stuarts come into power, and why did Elizabeth have James as her successor? To understand that question, we have to explore briefly the origins of the Tudor dynasty and how Elizabeth I came to the throne. After we are firmly established in the reign of Elizabeth I, Borman goes through why Elizabeth needed to elect a successor and the nominees. Those up for Elizabeth’s throne were: James VI, Arbella Stuart, Lady Katherine Grey, Mary Grey, and Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon. We get to see how Elizabeth handled each of her potential choices as the next ruler of England, but the two that are highlighted significantly in this book are Arbella Stuart, the daughter of Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Lennox, and Elizabeth Cavendish, and the man who would become King James VI of Scotland.
Borman shows her readers the complex relationship between Elizabeth and James, a tumultuous relationship, especially after the death of James’ mother, Mary Queen of Scots. It was not the most cordial relationship that has been shown in history, including the Annales written by William Camden. However, due to extraordinary research that was revealed in 2023, it was shown that Camden’s writing had serious revisions to paint James in a better light during the fight for succession. In fact, there were attempts on Elizabeth’s life that James knew about, including one incident where he might have been directly involved. Just because James became King of England after Elizabeth’s death does not mean that he had an easier time in England. In fact, the Stuarts lasted less than a hundred years before the monarchy was dissolved with the execution of James’s son Charles I in 1649.
This is another spectacular book by Borman, one that changed how I viewed the relationship between Elizabeth and James in the final years. It reads like a political thriller and offers a deeper appreciation for Elizabeth’s fight for the English throne, while also highlighting how the Stuarts employed similar tactics to the Tudors in securing their right to rule England. Suppose you want an extremely well-researched book that provides great insight into the end of Elizabeth’s reign and provides new information about this period. In that case, I highly recommend you read “The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty” by Tracy Borman.
We all know the story of the last Tudor monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, who often viewed herself as a female king and who remained a virgin for her entire life. With her death, the Tudor dynasty ended, and a brand new dynasty made its mark on English history. It was a dynasty in England that the son of Elizabeth started I’s rival, Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI of Scotland. King James was not just a king, but a man in love with numerous lovers, and when he fell in love, he fell hard. Gareth Russell explores the life of King James VI/I, who ruled two nations while searching for true love in his latest book, “Queen James: A New History About the Life and Loves of Britain’s First King, James Stuart.”
I am pleased to welcome Justin Newland to my blog today to share some background information about his novel, 
In England in 1570, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth suppressed the Catholic-inspired Northern rebellion and for her troubles was excommunicated by Pope Pius V. In a Papal Bull entitled 
Anthony Babington was the next English Catholic noble to attempt to depose Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. But when her letters to Babington were intercepted by Walsingham’s spies, proving her involvement to depose Elizabeth, Mary, Queen of Scots, was tried and executed in 1587. For King Philip, Mary’s death was the tipping point. He decided to despatch the Armada and bring England and its heretic Queen to heel once and for all. 
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Have you ever had an incident that was so impactful that it defined your entire life from that moment on? For Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel, it was the death of her younger brother, George. She vows vengeance against those who were behind his untimely demise. In the present day, Sarah must return to her godmother’s home, which holds a lot of memories, mostly painful. It is in the halls of this ancient house that Sarah meets Anne through a book of poetry. Can these two women find peace or will the truths bring even more disasters? Clare Marchant tells the stories of these two women, the tragedies and the poetry that unite them, in her latest novel, “The Shadow on the Bridge.”
English royal history is filled with fantastic stories of triumphs and tribulations, grand romances, and divorces that shook the foundations of the monarchy. It is also filled with struggles over religion, wars both inside England and with foreign nations, and heartbreaking child losses. We often think about the spouses of the Plantagenets and the Tudors when we think about royal romances, but we shouldn’t forget about the dynasties that came after, like the Stuarts. So how did the Stuart dynasty come to be and how did the unions between monarchs and their significant others affect the dynasty and England? Heather R. Darsie explores this often-overlooked dynasty and the stories of their marriages and romances in her latest book, “Stuart Spouses: A Compendium of Consorts from James I of Scotland to Queen Anne of Great Britain.”
Women rulers in the past have either been praised or pushed down. They are either seen as ideal women or power-hungry villains. One such figure who suffered the worst from having her image raked through the mud for centuries was Mary Stuart, known throughout history as Mary, Queen of Scots. The Queen of Scotland who was married three times, was once the Queen of France, the mother of the future King of both England and Scotland, accused of having a hand in her second husband’s murder, plotted to overthrow Elizabeth I, and was executed for treason. Her story is well known, but what does the archival information tell us about Mary Stuart? John Guy scoured the archives to find the truth about this queen and presented his research in his biography, “Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.”
The world of the 16th century was full of change and equally colorful characters. Most of the dynamic figures of this century were women, who were willing to fight in their ways for what they believed in, whether it was family, faith, or their country. They were heroines in different ways, and each had a story to tell. Each woman had to deal with her obstacles to reach their desired goal, no matter what her station was, from queens and great heiresses to nuns, and even a pirate. Sharon Bennett Connolly has decided to include a handful of these stories in her latest book, “Heroines of the Tudor World.”
In the late 16th/ early 17th centuries, Scotland was chaotic and full of dynamic characters near or on the throne. People like Mary of Guise, Mary Queen of Scots, Lord Darnley, Earl of Bothwell, the four Maries, and James VI/I show how turbulent the Scottish court was to those around it. However, the stories of those who lived outside the court system and tried their best to maintain control of the country for their monarch tend to fade into obscurity. Take for example the story of Jean Gordon. A noblewoman who was married three times; to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, Alexander Gordon, Earl of Sutherland, and her true love, Alex Ogilive. Jean’s story is full of heartaches, clashing clans, religious squabbles, and loyalty to one’s family, which is told in Jennifer Morag Henderson’s book, “Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots.”
A life of luxury from birth, destined to be crowned King or Queen of England. This is what we often think life must have been like for royal heirs who reached the ultimate destination of a crown and a throne. However, the stories of those who failed to reach the throne are mired in tragedy and heartache. The question of royal succession in England is a complex issue, especially when the heir to the throne dies unexpectedly, leaving doubts on whether a dynasty will survive through blood or dissolve in conflict. How did the deaths of these potential rulers radically transform the fabric of English history as a whole and what can their lives tell us about what kind of rulers they might have been? Ashley Mantle hopes to answer all of these questions and more in his latest book, “Uncrowned: Royal Heirs Who Didn’t Take the Throne.”
Today, I am pleased to welcome Heather R. Darsie to my blog to share an excerpt from her latest book, “Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings.” I would like to thank Heather R. Darsie and Amberley Publishing for allowing me to be part of this blog tour. \
If this excerpt piqued your interest, consider reading Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings, set for release in the UK on 15 June 2023 and in the US/Internationally on 12 September 2023. Can’t wait until September? The US Kindle version is released on 15 June, too! You might also like to read Heather R. Darsie’s biography on Anna of Cleves, the first researched and written from the German perspective, Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s Beloved Sister. Links below.
Heather R. Darsie works as an attorney in the US. Along with her Juris Doctorate, she has a BA in German, which was of great value in her research. She completed multiple graduate-level courses in Early Modern History, with her primary focus being the Holy Roman Empire under Charles V. She runs the website MaidensAndManuscripts.com and is a co-host of the Tudors Dynasty podcast.
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 