#alison plowden

[catalinadearagonsblog]

" In 1527 Catherine was in her forty-second year. As a girl she had been pretty, small and well made, with a clear pink and white skin and quantities of russet coloured hair, which the chronicler Edward Hall had specially noticed as being "of a very great length, beautiful and goodly to behold". Now her once slender figure was thickened with repeated child-bearing, and her lovely hair had darkened to a muddy brown, but visiting ambassadors still remarked on the excellence of her complexion. A dumpy little woman with a soft, sweet voice which had never lost its trace of foreign accent, and the imperturbable dignity which comes from generations of pride of caste, she faced the enemy armoured by an utter inward conviction of right and truth, and her own unbreakable will.

Henry's partisans have accused his first wife of spiritual arrogance, of bigotry and bloody-mindedness, and undoubtedly she was one of those uncomfortable people who would literally rather die than compromise over a moral issue. There's also no doubt that she was an uncommonly proud and stubborn woman. But to have yielded would have meant admitting to the world that she had lived all her married life in incestuous adultery, that she had been no more than 'the King's harlot', the Princess her daughter worth no more than any man's casually begotten bastard; and it would have meant seeing another woman occupying her place. The meekest of wives might well have jibbed at such self-sacrifice; for one of Catherine's background and temperament it was unthinkable."

Alison Plowden, Tudor Women: Queens and Commoners

#catherine of aragon #katherine of aragon #catalina de aragon

[thetudorslovers]

After her return to Hatfield, Elizabeth maintained a dutiful correspondence with her brother. Edward asked to have a portrait of her, and complying with this request she wrote somewhat sententiously: "For the face, I grant, I might well blush to offer; but the mind I shall never be ashamed to present. For though from the grace of the picture the colours may fade by time, may give by weather, may be spotted by chance; yet the other nor time with her swift wings shall overtake, nor the misty clouds with their lowerings may darken, nor chance with her slippery foot may overthrow. Of this, although yet the proof could not be great, because the occasions hath been but small; notwithstanding, as a dog hath a day, so may I perchance have a time to declare it in deeds, where now I do write them but in words. And further I shall most humbly beseech your Majesty, that when you shall look on my picture you will witsafe to think, that as you have but the outward show of the body afore you, so my inward mind wisheth, that the body itself were oftener in your presence."

In spite of her bodily absence, Elizabeth kept a close watch on her interests. During the first half of 1550, possibly as a result of her Christmas visit, her financial position was put on a firmer footing when the King, in fulfilment of Henry VIII’s Will, formally granted his sister lands to the value of £3000 a year. But when Elizabeth discovered that Hatfield was to be given to the Earl of Warwick she protested vigorously. The old palace, once the property of the Bishops of Ely, pleasantly situated on a wooded hill with the River Lea winding through its grounds, is traditionally associated with Elizabeth’s girlhood, and, although until now she does not appear to have spent more time there than at the other royal manors in the Home Counties, she seems to have had a special affection for it. At any rate, she was not prepared to give it up without a struggle. On 22 June it was recorded in the minutes of the Privy Council that: ‘Where the Lady Elizabeth’s Grace desired to have the house, parks and lands of Hatfield of the Earl of Warwick she to have the same in exchange for as much lands of hers in value again to the said Earl.’ The princess relinquished a manor in Lincolnshire and everyone, presumably, was satisfied.

Source: 'The Young Elizabeth', Alison Plowden, History Press, 2011.

#perioddramaedit #the tudors #history #edit #history edit #becomingelizabethedit #becoming elizabeth 2022 #becoming elizabeth #beedit #alicia von rittberg #queen elizabeth i #elizabeth tudor #elizabeth i #historyedit #16th century #tudor dynasty #perioddramacentral #period drama #perioddramasource #tudorerasource #tudor era #young elizabeth #gloriana #anne boleyn #henry viii #historical women #historical figures #english history #women in history #women of history

[fideidefenswhore]

[tudorblogger]

Monthly Reading Summary - August 2021

Monthly Reading Summary – August 2021

A very slow reading month for me, the slowest I think I’ve had in years actually. But I did get quite a lot of writing and research done so that probably explains it. I also took a trip to Barter Books which meant I bought quite a lot of books this month. Our book club book for this month was ‘My Dark Vanessa’ by Kate Elizabeth Russell which I found quite disturbing. Books Read This…

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#Alison Plowden #anne somerset #Carola Dunn #Charlaine Harris #Conor Bowman #Edward Marston #elizabeth norton #Helen Cox #kate elizabeth russell #Kitt Hartley #lex croucher #Monthly Reading Summary #Monthly Summary #my dark vanessa #Reading Summary #reputation #Ruth Hogan #sookie stackhouse #true blood

[blankasolun]

The Whole World Mourns Charlotte Leopold was never the same again. Almost fifty years later he told his niece Queen Victoria that he had 'never recovered the feeling of happiness' that 'blessed' his short life with Charlotte.

#alison plowden #amelia of the united kingdom #carlton house #caroline of brunswick queen of the united kingdom (princess of wales) #caroline&charlotte #charlotte of mecklenburg-strelitz (queen of the united kingdom) #charlotte&leopold #christian friedrich baron stockmar #claremont #coburg #elizabeth of the united kingdom(landgravine of hesse-homburg) #frederica charlotte of prussia duchess of york and albany #frederick duke of york #george IV (prince of wales and prince regent) #grand duchess anna pavlovna queen of the netherlands #james chambers #lady charlotte bury #lord george byron #maria countess of ilchester #mary duchess of gloucester and edinburgh #mrs alicia campbell #oatlands #prince leopold of saxe-coburg-gotha (later king of the belgians) #princess charlotte of wales #sir everard home #the rev.dr william short #victoria queen of the united kingdom #william II of the netherlands (hereditary prince of orange)

[glorianas]

Her [Margaret's] death coming in the midst of a hectic round of post-coronation festivities, attracted, comparatively little attention, although she was of coursed buried with all proper respect alongside her son and daughter in law in Henry VII's chapel in the Abbey, the new queen, Catherine of Aragon, seeing to most of the arrangements and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, preaching the funeral sermon at a solemn requiem mass. Fisher did full justice to his old friend's memory. 'She had in a manner all that is praiseable in a woman, either in soul or in body' he declared 'she was of singular wisdom and a holding memory, a ready wit she had to conceive in all things, albeit they were right dark. In favour in words, in gesture, in every demeanor of herself, so great nobleness did appear that whatever she spoke or did, it marvelously became her'. Fisher went on to speak of her generosity, her kindliness, and her unfailing good manners. 'Of marvelous gentleness she was unto all folk, but specially unto her own, whom she loved and trusted right tenderly...Merciful also and piteous she was unto such as were grieved or wrongfully troubled, and to them that were in poverty or any other misery.' The Bishop felt that the whole country had reason to mourn her passing. Fisher, of course, was prejudiced, but even so there is no doubt my lady the King's mother was a great lady in the best sense; deeply conscious of the duties and responsibilities attached to wealth and high position, and tirelessly conscientious in discharging them. Dignified, gracious and good, there is no doubt that by her life and work she did much to establish popular respect and esteem for the royal house she had founded.

Alison Plowden, Tudor Women: Queens and Commoners

#tudor tag #margaret beaufort #alison plowden

[lochiels]

25 November 1609 ✧ Henrietta Maria of France is born at Palais du Louvre.

“Henrietta Maria was passionate in her loves and hates, in spite of her many all-too-obvious faults, there can be no denying the courage and steadfastness of this ardent, warm-hearted, and fiercely protective woman, who, once had told her husband, ‘there is nothing in the world, no trouble, which shall hinder me from serving you and loving you above everything in the world’. Her life at the Caroline Court, then said to be the ‘most sumptuous and happy in the world’, saw her generous patronage of the many, among whom were Inigo Jones, Ben Jonson, and Anthony van Dyck.” - Alison Plowden 

#historyedit #henrietta maria of france #henrietta maria #british history #on this day in history #house of stuart #house of bourbon #history #17th century #early modern history #queens #our gifs #our creations #french history

[nellygwyn]

BOOK RECS

Okay, so lots of people wanted this and so, I am compiling a list of my favourite books (both fiction and non-fiction), books that I recommend you read as soon as humanly possible. In the meantime, I’ll be pinning this post to the top of my blog (once I work out how to do that lmao) so it will be accessible for old and new followers. I’m going to order this list thematically, I think, just to keep everything tidy and orderly. Of course, a lot of this list will consist of historical fiction and historical non-fiction because that’s what I read primarily and thus, that’s where my bias is, but I promise to try and spice it up just a little bit. 

Favourite fiction books of all time:

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock // Imogen Hermes Gowar

Sense and Sensibility // Jane Austen

Slammerkin // Emma Donoghue 

Remarkable Creatures // Tracy Chevalier

Life Mask // Emma Donoghue

His Dark Materials // Philip Pullman (this includes the follow-up series The Book of Dust)

Emma // Jane Austen

The Miniaturist // Jessie Burton

Girl, Woman, Other // Bernadine Evaristo 

Jane Eyre // Charlotte Brontë

Persuasion // Jane Austen

Girl with a Pearl Earring // Tracy Chevalier

The Silent Companions // Laura Purcell

Tess of the d’Urbervilles // Thomas Hardy

Northanger Abbey // Jane Austen

The Chronicles of Narnia // C.S. Lewis

Pride and Prejudice // Jane Austen

Goodnight, Mr Tom // Michelle Magorian

The French Lieutenant’s Woman // John Fowles 

The Butcher’s Hook // Janet Ellis 

Mansfield Park // Jane Austen

The All Souls Trilogy // Deborah Harkness

The Railway Children // Edith Nesbit

Favourite non-fiction books of all time

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman // Robert Massie

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King // Antonia Fraser

Madame de Pompadour // Nancy Mitford

The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach // Matthew Dennison 

Black and British: A Forgotten History // David Olusoga

Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court // Lucy Worsley 

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Katherine Howard, the Fifth Wife of Henry VIII // Gareth Russell

King Charles II // Antonia Fraser

Casanova’s Women // Judith Summers

Marie Antoinette: The Journey // Antonia Fraser

Mrs. Jordan’s Profession: The Story of a Great Actress and a Future King // Claire Tomalin

Jane Austen at Home // Lucy Worsley

Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames // Lara Maiklem

The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth // Anna Keay

The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill // Christopher Hibbert

Nell Gwynn: A Biography // Charles Beauclerk

Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters // Patricia Pierce

Georgian London: Into the Streets // Lucy Inglis

The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart // Sarah Fraser

Wedlock: How Georgian Britain’s Worst Husband Met His Match // Wendy Moore

Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from the Stone Age to the Silver Screen // Greg Jenner

Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum // Kathryn Hughes

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey // Nicola Tallis

Favourite books about the history of sex and/or sex work

The Origins of Sex: A History of First Sexual Revolution // Faramerz Dabhoiwala 

Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris // Nina Kushner

Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of a Whore // Julie Peakman

Courtesans // Katie Hickman

The Other Victorians: A Study of Sexuality and Pornography in mid-Nineteenth Century England

Madams, Bawds, and Brothel Keepers // Fergus Linnane

The Secret History of Georgian London: How the Wages of Sin Shaped the Capital // Dan Cruickshank 

A Curious History of Sex // Kate Lister

Sex and Punishment: 4000 Years of Judging Desire // Eric Berkowitz

Queen of the Courtesans: Fanny Murray // Barbara White

Rent Boys: A History from Ancient Times to Present // Michael Hone

Celeste // Roland Perry

Sex and the Gender Revolution // Randolph Trumbach

The Pleasure’s All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex // Julie Peakman

LGBT+ fiction I love*

The Confessions of the Fox // Jordy Rosenberg 

As Meat Loves Salt // Maria Mccann

Bone China // Laura Purcell

Brideshead Revisited // Evelyn Waugh

The Confessions of Frannie Langton // Sara Collins

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle // Neil Blackmore

Orlando // Virginia Woolf

Tipping the Velvet // Sarah Waters

She Rises // Kate Worsley

The Mercies // Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit // Jeanette Winterson

Maurice // E.M Forster

Frankisstein: A Love Story // Jeanette Winterson

If I Was Your Girl // Meredith Russo 

The Well of Loneliness // Radclyffe Hall 

* fyi, Life Mask and Girl, Woman, Other are also LGBT+ fiction

Classics I haven’t already mentioned (including children’s classics)

Far From the Madding Crowd // Thomas Hardy 

I Capture the Castle // Dodie Smith 

Vanity Fair // William Makepeace Thackeray 

Wuthering Heights // Emily Brontë

The Blazing World // Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle

Murder on the Orient Express // Agatha Christie 

Great Expectations // Charles Dickens

North and South // Elizabeth Gaskell

Evelina // Frances Burney

Death on the Nile // Agatha Christie

The Monk // Matthew Lewis

Frankenstein // Mary Shelley

Vilette // Charlotte Brontë

The Mayor of Casterbridge // Thomas Hardy

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall // Anne Brontë

Vile Bodies // Evelyn Waugh

Beloved // Toni Morrison 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd // Agatha Christie

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling // Henry Fielding

A Room With a View // E.M. Forster

Silas Marner // George Eliot 

Jude the Obscure // Thomas Hardy

My Man Jeeves // P.G. Wodehouse

Lady Audley’s Secret // Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Middlemarch // George Eliot

Little Women // Louisa May Alcott

Children of the New Forest // Frederick Marryat

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings // Maya Angelou 

Rebecca // Daphne du Maurier

Alice in Wonderland // Lewis Carroll

The Wind in the Willows // Kenneth Grahame

Anna Karenina // Leo Tolstoy

Howard’s End // E.M. Forster

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 // Sue Townsend

Even more fiction recommendations

The Darling Strumpet // Gillian Bagwell

The Wolf Hall trilogy // Hilary Mantel

The Illumination of Ursula Flight // Anne-Marie Crowhurst

Queenie // Candace Carty-Williams

Forever Amber // Kathleen Winsor

The Corset // Laura Purcell

Love in Colour // Bolu Babalola

Artemisia // Alexandra Lapierre

Blackberry and Wild Rose // Sonia Velton

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories // Angela Carter

The Languedoc trilogy // Kate Mosse

Longbourn // Jo Baker

A Skinful of Shadows // Frances Hardinge

The Black Moth // Georgette Heyer

The Far Pavilions // M.M Kaye

The Essex Serpent // Sarah Perry

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo // Taylor Jenkins Reid

Cavalier Queen // Fiona Mountain 

The Winter Palace // Eva Stachniak

Friday’s Child // Georgette Heyer

Falling Angels // Tracy Chevalier

Little // Edward Carey

Chocolat // Joanne Harris 

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street // Natasha Pulley 

My Sister, the Serial Killer // Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Convenient Marriage // Georgette Heyer

Katie Mulholland // Catherine Cookson

Restoration // Rose Tremain

Meat Market // Juno Dawson

Lady on the Coin // Margaret Campbell Bowes

In the Company of the Courtesan // Sarah Dunant

The Crimson Petal and the White // Michel Faber

A Place of Greater Safety // Hilary Mantel 

The Little Shop of Found Things // Paula Brackston

The Improbability of Love // Hannah Rothschild

The Murder Most Unladylike series // Robin Stevens

Dark Angels // Karleen Koen

The Words in My Hand // Guinevere Glasfurd

Time’s Convert // Deborah Harkness

The Collector // John Fowles

Vivaldi’s Virgins // Barbara Quick

The Foundling // Stacey Halls

The Phantom Tree // Nicola Cornick

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle // Stuart Turton

Golden Hill // Francis Spufford

Assorted non-fiction not yet mentioned

The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World // Deborah Cadbury

The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History to the Italian Renaissance // Catherine Fletcher

All the King's Women: Love, Sex, and Politics in the life of Charles II // Derek Jackson

Mozart’s Women // Jane Glover

Scandalous Liaisons: Charles II and His Court // R.E. Pritchard

Matilda: Queen, Empress, Warrior // Catherine Hanley 

Black Tudors // Miranda Kaufman 

To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape // Charles Spencer

1666: Plague, War and Hellfire // Rebecca Rideal

Henrietta Maria: Charles I's Indomitable Queen // Alison Plowden

Catherine of Braganza: Charles II's Restoration Queen // Sarah-Beth Watkins

Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses // Helen Rappaport

Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832 // Stella Tillyard 

The Fortunes of Francis Barber: The True Story of the Jamaican Slave who Became Samuel Johnson’s Heir // Michael Bundock

Black London: Life Before Emancipation // Gretchen Gerzina

In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars, 1793-1815

The King’s Mistress: Scandal, Intrigue and the True Story of the Woman who Stole the Heart of George I // Claudia Gold

Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson // Paula Byrne

The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England // Amanda Vickery

Terms and Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding School, 1939-1979 // Ysenda Maxtone Graham 

Fanny Burney: A Biography // Claire Harman

Aphra Behn: A Secret Life // Janet Todd

The Imperial Harem: Women and the Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire // Leslie Peirce

The Fall of the House of Byron // Emily Brand

The Favourite: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough // Ophelia Field

Night-Walking: A Nocturnal History of London // Matthew Beaumont, Will Self

Jane Austen: A Life // Claire Tomalin

Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton // Flora Fraser

Sentimental Murder: Love and Madness in the 18th Century // John Brewer

Henrietta Howard: King’s Mistress, Queen’s Servant // Tracy Borman

City of Beasts: How Animals Shaped Georgian London // Tom Almeroth-Williams

Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion // Anne Somerset 

Charlotte Brontë: A Life // Claire Harman 

Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe // Anthony Summers

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day // Peter Ackroyd 

Elizabeth I and Her Circle // Susan Doran

African Europeans: An Untold History // Olivette Otele 

Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron, and Other Tangled Lives // Daisy Hay

How to Create the Perfect Wife // Wendy Moore

The Sphinx: The Life of Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough // Hugo Vickers

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn // Eric Ives

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy // Barbara Ehrenreich

A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie // Kathryn Harkup 

Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II // Linda Porter

Female Husbands: A Trans History // Jen Manion

Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day // Anne Somerset

Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country // Edward Parnell 

A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles // Ned Palmer

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine // Lindsey Fitzharris

Medieval Woman: Village Life in the Middle Ages // Ann Baer

The Husband Hunters: Social Climbing in London and New York // Anne de Courcy

The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex, and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc // Suzannah Lipscomb

The Daughters of the Winter Queen // Nancy Goldstone

Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency // Bea Koch

Bess of Hardwick // Mary S. Lovell

The Royal Art of Poison // Eleanor Herman 

The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte, and the Hanoverians // Janice Hadlow

Palaces of Pleasure: From Music Halls to the Seaside to Football; How the Victorians Invented Mass Entertainment // Lee Jackson

Favourite books about current social/political issues (?? for lack of a better term)

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power // Lola Olufemi

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Worker Rights // Molly Smith, Juno Mac

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race // Reni Eddo-Lodge

Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows // Christine Burns

Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism // Alison Phipps

Trans Like Me: A Journey For All Of Us // C.N Lester

Brit(Ish): On Race, Identity, and Belonging // Afua Hirsch 

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence, and Cultural Restitution // Dan Hicks

Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living // Jes M. Baker

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot // Mikki Kendall

Denial: Holocaust History on Trial // Deborah Lipstadt

Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape // Jessica Valenti, Jaclyn Friedman

Don’t Touch My Hair // Emma Dabiri

Sister Outsider // Audre Lorde 

Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen // Amrou Al-Kadhi

Trans Power // Juno Roche

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons // Imani Perry

The Windrush Betrayal: Exposing the Hostile Environment // Amelia Gentleman

Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You // Sofie Hagen

Diaries, memoirs & letters

The Diary of a Young Girl // Anne Frank

Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust // Renia Spiegel 

Writing Home // Alan Bennett

The Diary of Samuel Pepys // Samuel Pepys

Histoire de Ma Vie // Giacomo Casanova

Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger // Nigel Slater

London Journal, 1762-1763 // James Boswell

The Diary of a Bookseller // Shaun Blythell 

Jane Austen’s Letters // edited by Deidre la Faye

H is for Hawk // Helen Mcdonald 

The Salt Path // Raynor Winn

The Glitter and the Gold // Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough

Journals and Letters // Fanny Burney

Educated // Tara Westover

Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading // Lucy Mangan

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? // Jeanette Winterson

A Dutiful Boy // Mohsin Zaidi

Secrets and Lies: The Trials of Christine Keeler // Christine Keeler

800 Years of Women’s Letters // edited by Olga Kenyon

Istanbul // Orhan Pamuk

Henry and June // Anaïs Nin

Historical romance (this is a short list because I’m still fairly new to this genre)

The Bridgerton series // Julia Quinn

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover // Sarah Mclean

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake // Sarah Mclean

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics // Olivia Waite

That Could Be Enough // Alyssa Cole

Unveiled // Courtney Milan

The Craft of Love // EE Ottoman

The Maiden Lane series // Elizabeth Hoyt

An Extraordinary Union // Alyssa Cole

Slightly Dangerous // Mary Balogh

Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance // Jennieke Cohen

A Fashionable Indulgence // KJ Charles

#the only categories not on here are plays and poetry #just bc this post would be even longer! #you can ask me for my favourite playwrights/poets separately tho

[historicwomendaily]

Recs for Biographies On Historical Women

Women who Spied for Britain Walker Robyn and the War's Unwomanly Face by Svetlana Alexievich

A Woman In Berlin by Anonymous

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust by Edith Hahn Beer.

Grace of Monaco by Jeffrey Robinson

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives

The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach by Matthew Dennison

Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King by Antonia Fraser

Wedlock: How Georgian Britain's Worst Husband Met His Match by Wendy Moore

Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters by Patricia Pierce

Nell Gwynn by Charles Beauclerk

Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical and Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson by Paula Byrne

Peg Plunkett: The Memoirs of a Whore by Julie Peakman

Casanova's Women: The Great Seducer and the Women He Loved by Judith Summers

Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie

Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion by Anne Somerset

Madame du Barry: The Wages of Beauty by Joan Haslip

King's Mistress: The True and Scandalous Story of the Woman who Stole the Heart of George I by Claudia Gold

Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton by Flora Fraser

Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon 

Doomed Queens by Kris Waldherr

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

The Boleyn Women by Elizabeth Norton

Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen by Giles Tremlett

Mary Tudor: The First Queen by Linda Porter

Mary Tudor: The Spanish Tudor by HFM Prescott

Sister Queens: The Noble Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox

Queenship in Medieval Europe by Theresa Earenfight

Isabel the Queen: Life and Times by Peggy K. Liss

Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey

Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey

Margaret Tudor: The Life of Henry VIII’s Sister by Melanie Clegg 

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII by Gareth Russell

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey by Leanda de Lisle

Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire  by Leslie Peirce

Daughters of the Winter Queen: Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots by Nancy Goldstone

Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser

Victoria’s Daughters by Jerrold M. Packard

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang

Comfort Woman: Slave of Destiny by Maria Rosa Henson

Cleopatra’s Daughter: And Other Royal Women of the Augustan Era by Duane W. Roller

Cleopatra: A Biography by Michael Grant

Cleopatra: A Biography by Duane W. Roller

Cleopatra: A Sourcebook by Prudence Jones

Cleopatra and Rome by Diana E.E. Kleiner

Antony and Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy

Victoria: An Intimate Biography by Stanley Weintraub

The Young Victoria by Alison Plowden

Victoria and Albert by Richard Hough

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie

#history #Mary Wollstonecraft #mary shelley #madame du berry #Madame de Pompadour #queen anne #peg plunkett #mary robinson #nell gwynn #caroline of ansbach #mary i #mary tudor #katherine of aragon #anne boleyn #joanna of castile #empress dowager cixi #margaret tudor #elizabeth i #isabella of castile #hurrem sultan #kathryn howard #jane grey #mary grey #katherine grey #Mary Queen Of Scots #marie antoinette #mary anning #alexandra feodorovna #queen victoria #cleopatra

[queenmarytudor]

I remember you were asking about Elizabeth wearing white — not totally what you meant I think but I did come across this :

“Elizabeth at this time affected a severely plain style of dress, setting the fashion for other high-born protestant maidens.”

By Alison Plowden. Implies she dressed in black and white and other severe or simple colors .

Thank you! :)

[catalinadearagonsblog]

The most controversial love triangle

Katherine of Aragon & Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn

Perhaps no other episode in our history raises so many and such farreaching 'ifs' as does the Divorce. It was an age when the domestic accidents of a handful of families could and did affect the fate of nations, and if any one of Catherine's boy babies had lived, it seems pretty safe to say that the world would never have heard of Anne Boleyn. If Catherine had been a different type of woman, content to take the easy way out, then it is equally safe to say that there would have been no breach with Rome in the early 1530s. To say that if Henry had not become infatuated with Anne, in her own way just as strong-willed and courageous a woman as her rival, there would have been no Reformation in England, is to over-simplify the issue and ignore many other contributing factors. But if she had not acted as catalyst, the Reformation would not have come as it did - a revolution imposed from above for personal as well as political reasons; or when it did - before the radical popular movement had gathered either the vigour or the organization greatly to affect the course of events. In a country with a strong monarchical tradition, it is at least possible that under a forceful and devout king (and as long as Henry himself lived, his Church retained most of the essentials of Catholic practice) the faith would have survived long enough to draw new strength from the revivifying forces of the CounterReformation, and that England might to this day be a predominantly Catholic country with a very different history behind it. For better or for worse, the driving ambition of one woman and the determination of another to defend what she believed to be right played a vital part in shaping events which affected the lives of every English man, woman and child and still affect them today.

Alison Plowden, Tudor Women Queens & Commoners

#Catherine of Aragon #Katherine of Aragon #Henry VIII #Anne Boleyn #Catalina de Aragon #English history #British history

[early20thcenturynerd]

My Book Collection

Books about historical royals I have either read or are currently reading. [All links, excepting Private Diary of Mathilde Kschessinska, will take you to Amazon UK where you can look at the books description and buy it yourself]. I have probably forgotten to add a few books

Diaries & Letters

‘Journal of a Russian Grand Duchess: Complete Annotated 1913 Diary of Olga Romanov, Eldest Daughter of the Last Tsar: Volume 3 (Last Russian Imperial Family In Their Own Words)’ by Helen Azar

‘1913 Diary of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna: Complete Tercentennial Journal of the Third Daughter of the Last Tsar: Volume 6 (The Romanovs in Their Own Words)’ by Helen Azar with Amanda Madru

‘MARIA and ANASTASIA: The Youngest Romanov Grand Duchesses In Their Own Words: Letters, Diaries, Postcards: Volume 2 (The Russian Imperial Family: In Their Own Words)’ by Helen Azar

‘The Diary of Olga Romanov: Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution’ by Helen Azar

‘Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913 - 1918’ by Helen Azar and Nicholas Nicholson

Private Diary of Mathilde Kschessinska: Romance with Future Tsar’ by Helen Azar

‘A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra - Their Own Story’ by Andrei Maylunas & Sergei Mironenko

‘Darling Loosy: Letters to Princess Louise, 1856 - 1939’ by Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford

‘Advice to a Grand-daughter: Letters from Queen Victoria to Princess Victoria of Hesse’ by Richard Hough

‘Letters of Queen Victoria: A Selection From Her Majesty's Correspondence Between the Years 1837 and 1861, Published by Authority of His Majesty the King’

Queen Victoria, her children & grandchildren biographies

‘Victoria: An Intimate Biography’ by Stanley Weintraub

‘Victoria and Albert’ by Richard Hough

‘Albert: Uncrowned King’ by Stanley Weintraub

‘Victoria’s Daughters’ by Jerrold Packard

‘An Uncommon Woman - The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm’ by Hannah Pakula

‘Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son’ by Charlotte Zeepvat

‘The Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria's Youngest Daughter’ by Matthew Dennison

‘Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria’ by Julia Gelardi

‘Ella: Princess, Saint and Martyr’ by Christopher Warwick

‘In The Eye of the Storm: George V and the Great War’ by Alexandra Churchill

Other Royals

‘The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte and the Hanoverians‘ by Janice Hadlow

‘Katia: Wife before God’ by Alexandre Tarsaidze

‘Royal Renegades: The Children of Charles I and the English Civil Wars’ by Linda Porter

‘Henrietta Maria: Charles I's Indomitable Queen’ by Alison Plowden

‘Royal Passion: The Turbulent Marriage of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France’ by Katie Whitaker

‘Bonnie Prince Charlie: Charles Edward Stuart’ by Frank Mclynn

‘Queens of Georgian Britain’ by Catherine Curzon

Fiction

‘The Lost Crown’ by Sarah Miller

‘Most Beautiful Princess: A Novel Based on the Life of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Elizabeth Feodorovna’ by Christina Croft

Books That I Want To Read...

Just a few of the many books I want to read, but can’t buy them right now because I’m broke

‘The Correspondence of the Empress Alexandra of Russia with Ernst Ludwig and Eleonore, Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse. 1878 - 1916’ by Petra Kleinpenning

‘Dearest Missy’ by Diana Mandache

‘Queen Victoria’ by Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford

‘The Young Victoria’ by Alison Plowden

‘Princess Alice: Queen Victoria's Forgotten Daughter’ by Gerard Noel

‘Louis and Victoria: Family History of the Mountbattens’ by Richard Hough

‘Becoming Victoria’ by Lynne Vallone

‘My Memories of Six Reigns’ by Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein

‘Such Constant Affectionate Care: Lady Charlotte Finch, Royal Governess & the Children of George III’ by Jill Shefrin

‘Edward and Alexandra: Their Private and Public Lives’ by Richard Hough

‘Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia, Sister of Nicolas II’ by John Van der Kiste

‘Death of A Romanov Prince’ by Terry Boland with Arturo E. Beeche

‘Princess Louise: Queen Victoria's Unconventional Daughter’ by Jehanne Wake

‘From Cradle to Crown: British Nannies and Governesses at the World's Royal Courts’ by Charlotte Zeepvat

#book #books #Queen Victoria #romanov #romanovs

[tiny-librarian]

The chapel was suffocatingly hot and crowded, but the bride showed no sign of nervousness, appearing to be in the best of spirits and chattering away to the Duke of Clarence, who escorted her up the aisle. The groom, on the other hand, “looked like death” and, as Lord Malmesbury put it, “had manifestly had recourse to wine or spirits”. The Duke of Bedford saw him swallow several stiff brandies, and by the time he arrived at the altar he had reached that state sometimes described as “tired and emotional” - fuddled, weepy, and so unsteady on his legs that his two ducal groomsmen, Bedford and Roxburghe, had their work cut out to keep him upright.

Caroline and Charlotte, The Regent’s Wife and Daughter - Alison Plowden

#caroline of brunswick #george iv #regency era #house of hanover #british monarchy #alison plowden #WTG prin A+ wedding effort

[tudorblogger]

History Bookshelves

I thought I’d do a walkthrough of my history bookshelves, as pictures on my Instagram of different books that I’ve bought or been sent by publishers are always very popular. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt through the #HistoryGirls community on Instagram, it’s that historians and history lovers are always looking for new reading material!

And, no, before anyone asks, I haven’t read all of…

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#Alison Plowden #Alison Weir #Amy Licence #Anna Whitelock #Anne Boleyn #Anne of Cleves #Antonia Fraser #Boleyns #Bosworth #Catherine Howard #Catherine of Aragon #Catherine Parr #Chris Skidmore #Conor Byrne #David Loades #David Starkey #Derek Wilson #Diarmaid MacCulloch #Edward IV #Edward V #Edward VI #Elizabeth I #Elizabeth Norton #Elizabeth Woodville #Eric Ives #Framlingham #Francis Bacon #George Cavendish #Hampton Court #Henry VII

[blankasolun]

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

It is the anniversary of Princess Charlotte’s birth today! As always on this occasion let me quote the letter which the baby’s father, the Prince of Wales, sent to his mother Queen Charlotte. ‘(…) The Princess, after a terrible hard labour for above twelve hours, is this instant brought to bed of an immense girl, and I assure you notwithstanding we might have wish’d for a boy, I receive her with…

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#alison plowden #caroline of brunswick queen of the united kingdom (princess of wales) #caroline&charlotte #charlotte of mecklenburg-strelitz (queen of the united kingdom) #george IV (prince of wales and prince regent) #princess charlotte of wales

[glorianas]

Henry VII has been likened to a man who, starting from virtually nothing, built up a flourishing family business. His spirit, says Polydore Vergil, was distinguished, wise and prudent, his mind brave and resolute. John Stow thought him 'a prince of maevellous wisdom. policy, justice, temperance and gravity'. In private life he was a devoted son, an affectionate husband and conscientious father. He was fond of music, a keen sportsman and generous to those in trouble. In spite of his early disadvantages, he was a cultured man, a patron of literature and the arts with a taste and talent for royal magnificence. His public abilities as king and statesman are beyond dispute, but he remains essentially a lonely figure-cold, secret and remote. His precarious youth had taught him to trust no one completely, to keep his own counsel and, above all, the importance of holding on to what he had won. He was admired, feared and respected by his contemporaries, but not loved. The first Henry Tudor lacked the precious gift of personal magnetism possessed in such abundance by his granddaughter Elizabeth, who in many ways so closely resembled him, but he laid the foundation without which her achievement would have been impossible. When he died the country was at peace, the crown was solvent. Despite some determined challenges, his dynasty was established and accepted. Reputable foreign monarchs were prepared to marry their children into it. There was a healthy male heir full of age ready to take over. Few men could have done more.

Alison Plowden, The Young Elizabeth

#tudor tag #elizabeth I #henry vii #alison plowden #alison has a few hiccups in this so far but i'm forgiving her since this book was published in 1971