Major Tudor Authors - A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook
The Tudor era (1485-1603) was one of the most culturally significant periods in history. Under three generations of Tudor rulers, the era witnessed the advent of humanism, the birth of the Reformation, and the rise of the British Empire. The literature of the period is marked by complexity of thought and form and reflects the political, religious, and cultural changes of the era.
Humphrey Newton (1466-1536) - An Early Tudor Gentleman
The public and political lives of the fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century gentry have been extensively studied, but comparatively little is known of their private lives and beliefs. Humphrey Newton of Pownall, Cheshire, offers a rare and fascinating opportunity to redress the balance, thanks to the fortunate survival of a commonplace book he compiled c.1498-1524. Drawing upon this unique manuscript, this interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional study of Newton explores his family life, landed estate, legal work, piety, and his literary skills (he composed nearly twenty courtly love lyrics).
The Tudor knight was the first line of defence employed by monarchs from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, the last of a long tradition of knighthood dating back to the 11th century. Knighthood during the Tudor era saw reforms in recruitment, appearance, and most radically in training and equipment. This book details those changes, profiling the knight's appearance and dress, life on campaign, and experience of battle in France, Scotland and Ireland. It also explores the concept of chivalry, as sensationally enacted by Henry VIII and Francis I of France at the celebrated Field of Cloth of Gold near Calais, in 1520.
Eamon Duffy has restored the late medieval period as a subject of serious research through his revolutionary book The Stripping of the Altars (Yale University Press). In recent years, he has turned his attention to the reign of Mary Tudor and in his recent Birkbeck Lectures (University of Cambridge), he has fought back against the false interpretations of historians like David Starkey. J.A. Froude was one of the finest English literary stylists of the Victorian age. But he was highly critical of Mary Tudor, whose reign he viewed as something of a disaster.
An intimate and revealing look at the daily lives and responsibilities of the Tudor Queens of England From Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, to Elizabeth I, her grand-daughter and the last, The Tudor Queens of England delves into the secret lives of some of the most colorful and dramatic women in British history. The majority of the fourteen queens considered here, from Catherine de Valois and Elizabeth Woodville to Elizabeth of York, Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr, were consorts, the wives of kings.
