While many English dynasties dealt with treason in their ways, the most infamous were the Tudors and how they dealt with the nobility. By the end of , there were no more dukes in England, until when George Villiers became the Duke of Buckingham. What was classified as treason during the Tudor dynasty and why did the members of the nobility have to die? Harrison begins by giving her readers a quick overview of what treason meant during the time of the Tudors through the numerous Treason Acts, the significance of the Act of Attainders and scaffold speeches.
She also explains that this book explores the lives and ultimate deaths of nine men and five women and that each chapter can be read separately as an essay. With each case, Harrison explores their origins, how they gained fame, their ultimate falls from grace, and their fate on the execution block. The main focus of each chapter is to show what each monarch considered treasonous behavior, which varied from case to case. We see charges range from treason for having royal blood to being too ambitious, adultery to down right rebellious acts.
The Tudors did not hold back when it came to noble women as two queens, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, were executed which was a first for England. I think Harrison does a decent job in sharing the stories about these nobles and their unfortunate ends. Though there were no real surprises in this book, but the way Harrison presented the information was easy to follow. She shows that the closer one is to the throne, the more likely they would fall victim to power, greed and paranoia.
The throne is left to his young son Edward VI while his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth wait in the wing. Without their powerful father to look after their well-being, his children must navigate the tumultuous Tudor court with powerful men who desire to use them as mere pawns in their game to influence how England is ruled. Throw in some romantic drama and the ever-changing religious landscape with the clash between Protestants and Catholics.
Before we begin, I want to provide a little context before I dive into this review. As many of you know, I am incredibly picky about Tudor dramas; shocker, I know. I will watch trailers for new dramas, but after Reign which, after watching the show for five minutes, I had to turn it off because of the costume design , I have been highly wary about committing to sitting down each week to watch a new show about historical figures I know pretty well. The story of Princess Elizabeth is what got me interested in studying history after reading The Royal Diaries book series, so when I heard about this series, I wanted to know more.
