Margaret Tudor, the elder sister of the more famous Henry VIII, is the single most important Tudor figure of this era that historians have consistently overlooked. Married at 13 to the charismatic James IV of Scotland, a man more than twice her age, she would learn the skills of statecraft that would enable her to […]
A Divine Fury by DV Bishop
Florence. Autumn, 1539. Where Cesare Aldo was once an officer for the city’s most feared criminal court. Following a period of exile, he is back – but demoted to night patrol, when only the drunk and the dangerous roam the streets. Chasing a suspect in the rain, Aldo discovers a horrifying scene beneath Michelangelo’s statue […]
Firebrand by Elizabeth Fremantle
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded… will she survive? My name is Katherine Parr. I’m 31 years old – already twice widowed. I love a man I can’t have. I’m to wed a man no one would want. He has cast aside two wives and watched another die in childbirth. Two more have had their heads […]
Heroines of the Tudor World by Sharon Bennett Connolly
These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. These are the women who made a difference, who influenced countries, kings and the Reformation. Heroines of the Tudor World focuses on the women who lived through the Renaissance and Reformation, examining the […]
The many marriages of Bess of Hardwick
The Countess of Shrewsbury — or Bess of Hardwick, as she’s more widely known — was one of the richest people in England by her death in 1610. Yet she hadn’t even got a dowry when her father died. How did she do it? Through many fortunate marriages (and a canny mind), Sharon Bennett Connolly, […]
Mary, Queen of Scots: royalty and reputation
The reputation of Mary, Queen of Scots, has swung wildly over the centuries, from adulteress and murderer to romantic tragic royalty, from manipulator to puppet. Little survives in the historical record of what she had to say for herself. Anna Legat, author of The Queen’s Avenger, argues that she was a ‘smart’ politician, diplomat and […]
The Burnings by Naomi Kelsey
1589. Scottish housemaid Geillis and Danish courtier Margareta lead opposite lives, but they both know one thing: when a man cries “witch”, no woman is safe. Yet when the marriage of King James VI and Princess Anna of Denmark brings Geillis and Margareta together, everything they supposed about good, evil, men, and women, is cast […]
The Nightingale’s Castle by Sonia Velton
In 1573, Countess Erzsébet Báthory gave birth to an illegitimate child. The infant, a girl, was swiftly bundled up and handed to a local peasant family to be brought up in one of the hamlets surrounding the Castle. Many years later, 15-year-old Boróka reluctantly leaves the safety of the only home she has ever known […]