Tag: Sarah Gristwood

Book Review: “Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses” by Sarah Gristwood

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Blood SistersWhen it comes to studying wars from the past, we often focus on the men who fought during the battles the strategies that were implemented to win and the plans that backfired spectacularly. So frequently in the study of wars, we forget about the women left behind, but in fact, they had bigger roles to play than sitting on the sidelines. For example, the royal women who lived in England during the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses played an essential role in how the wars concluded. These women are slowly coming into the spotlight in biographies and historical fiction novels, but it is rare to read a book about the Wars of the Roses where the central figures are the women, until now. Sarah Gristwood has taken seven women from this age and weaved their stories into her book, “Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses.”

I have been interested in the Wars of the Roses and the women who lived during that period for years. I heard about this book when I started studying this period, but I have never had a chance to read it, until now.

There were so many strong women from this period, but Gristwood narrowed her choices down to seven remarkable women to focus on; Margaret of Anjou, Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York, Cecily Neville, Anne Neville, and Margaret of Burgundy. By choosing these women, Gristwood is presenting a story of a conflict that spanned multiple generations, both York and Lancaster, and showing how both the English and Burgundian nobility dealt with the changes that were happening when the Tudors took control.

Gristwood begins with the marriage of Margaret of Anjou and Henry VI. Though she was French by birth, her loyalty was always going to be with her husband’s Lancasterian family. That meant she would eventually become enemies with the proud Cecily Neville, the wife of Richard Duke of York and mother of King Edward IV and King Richard III, but Margaret was allied with Margaret Beaufort, the tenacious mother of King Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. The conflict passed onto the daughters of these women, like Anne Neville and Margaret Burgundy, as well as the daughter of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Elizabeth Woodville. These women would continue the conflict and help seal the fate of the Lancastrians, see the rise and fall of the Yorkists, and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty through the marriage of Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville, and Henry Tudor. This book spans decades and includes events like the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, well into the Tudor dynasty such as the pretenders, the marriage of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon, the death of Prince Arthur, and the rise of Henry VIII.

This was a delightful look into the Wars of the Roses through the eyes of the women who lived through this period. They were mothers, daughters, wives, queens, fighters, and survivors. They showed that without their tenacity and determination to fight for what they believed was right and for their families. If you are a fan of the women who defined the Wars of the Roses, I highly suggest you read, “Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses” by Sarah Gristwood.

Book Review: “The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty” by Sarah Gristwood

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

58218928._SY475_When we think about love, we have ideas about how people fall in love through dating and wooing one another. Sweet words and gestures. Flowers and chocolate. Dates at fun venues and romantic dinners. This is a more modern interpretation of romance and love, which was vastly different than the concept of courtly love that was common in royal circles in medieval Europe. What exactly was courtly love, and how did it play a role in the Tudor dynasty? Sarah Gristwood explores this topic in her latest nonfiction book, “The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty.”

Before we dive head deep into Tudor history, Gristwood gives us a history lesson into the origins of courtly love and how it evolved. We begin with the 12th century and the stories of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Lancelot that Chretien de Troyes wrote. Troyes’ romantic tales were known to Eleanor of Aquitaine and the troubadours that would spread them to every royal court in Europe. This game of romance between royals and the ideas of knights protecting their fair maidens from danger would change over time. Still, the basic idea that emotions and feelings were central to courtly love would remain prevalent. We see different authors, like Chaucer and Dante, approach the concept of courtly love from different directions and specific rules of this love game set in stone for future generations.

Gristwood traverses the complex family drama known as the Wars of the Roses to show how both Lancaster and York played the courtly game of love. The ways that the sides played the game were different with the various couples involved, but the ideas culminated with the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The imagery of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were passed down to their sons, Prince Arthur and King Henry VIII. Henry VIII would play the game of courtly love with each of his six wives, with varying degrees of success. He would find out that courtly love and politics would be a complex combination to maintain, and this lesson would pass onto his children as they tried to play the game.

Edward VI and Mary I tried to play the game, but they soon realized they were destined to be more involved with politics than love. It was their half-sister Elizabeth who brought back courtly love to its former glory with her numerous favorites. Although the actions of the Tudors can tell us a lot about their intentions, their letters and poetry gave a better understanding of how this courtly love game was played.

I found the new information that Gristwood provided in this book was fascinating. It gave a new dimension to the Tudor dynasty and the relationships between the monarchy and their courtiers or mistresses. An innovative nonfiction book about love, chivalric stories, and the desire for power that any Tudor fan will adore. If you love books by Sarah Gristwood and learning new aspects about Tudor court life, you must have “The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty” in your collection.

Book Review: “Game of Queens: The Women who made Sixteenth-Century Europe” by Sarah Gristwood

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When one thinks about strong women in the sixteenth century, many turn their 51mfzqo6PTL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_attention towards women like Elizabeth I, Isabella of Castile, Katherine of Aragon, Mary I and Catherine de Medici. These seemed like extraordinary examples of power that stretched the boundaries on what was right and acceptable for women of the time. That, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the sixteenth century in Europe was filled with powerful women who do not get the attention that they deserve. In Sarah Gristwood’s book “Game of Queens: The Women who made Sixteenth- Century Europe”, we are shown that it really wasn’t the men who had control, but their wives and daughters.

 

Diplomacy is often described as a chess game and in the case of the sixteenth century, that could not be more accurate. This was the century of political games, the importance of marriages, wars galore and religious reforms. It all started off with women like Isabella of Castile of Spain and Anne de Beaujeu of France; powerful women who would not only influence their own children but girls who would come into their homes to learn how to be strong royal wives. Anne of Beaujeu wrote a manual for noblewomen, including this piece of advice:

“And nothing is firm or lasting in the gifts of Fortune; today you see those raised high by Fortune who, two days later, are brought down hard.”

 

This would come to describe the lives of the women who would follow throughout the rest of the sixteenth century. Most of them had to act as regents for their sons or male relations. Others were wives of kings who tried to change their countries for the better and either succeeded or failed miserably. It was the women in the beginning and the middle of the century that would pave the way for the more infamous queens like Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth Tudor, and Mary Queen of Scots.

 

Sarah Gristwood was able to combine this complex game of women political chess with sixteen protagonists into a masterful biography to give a better understanding of how sixteenth century Europe worked. This was a sisterhood of queens with mothers teaching daughters on how to survive in the courts. These women were connected by blood and by marriage, however it was how they used the lessons of those who came before them which would define them.

 

Sarah Gristwood could have made sixteen separate biographies, but by combining all of these stories into one book, it shows how each country and each ruler truly depended on one another. In a world where male heirs were few or died young, it was the women who had to step in and make Europe ready for the future. The sixteenth century was the changing point for European history and it was the women who had to navigate the complex field to keep Europe from completely falling apart. This book is the story of powerful women who helped make Europe the powerhouse it would become in the sixteenth century and how they did it.