I am mindful of spoilers but Katherine’s story has been told many times and I’m not sure it is possible to learn much that is new. However, I had never previously heard of a plan to secure the succession through a marriage which would have further cemented the relationship between the Houses of Tudor and Plantagenet. Anne Basset served four of Henry VIII’s queens, yet the King himself once pledged to serve her. Had fate not decreed otherwise, she might have been his wife – and Queen of England. He is just fifteen!’ Catalina retorted. ‘He is nearly a year younger than I am. I think he has been told what to write, just as I was. And’ – she bit her lip – ‘I fear he is young for his years. Remember how my coming was postponed for a year until he was ready to be married, and then it was postponed again?’ Katherine’s moments of joy and sorrow are captured with nuanced writing. Weir finds a harmonious balance between providing an abundance of historical details and conveying Katherine’s emotional evolution. Though the story is delivered in a third-person narrative, Katherine’s feelings are so resonant that it often seems like a first-person delivery. Six Tudor Queens: Writing a New Story is an introduction to the Six Tudor Queens series by eminent historian Alison Weir. The lives of Henry VIII’s queens make for dramatic stories that will offer insights into the real lives of the six wives based on extensive research and new theories that will captivate fans of Philippa Gregory and readers who lost their hearts (but not their heads) to the majestic world of Wolf Hall.

Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife: Six Tudor

They encourage light behavior,” Vives explained, “but the Princess will benefit from reading moral tales such as ‘Patient Griselda.’” Katherine had read the story in Boccaccio’s Decameron , and thought that this morality tale of a woman who endured much sorrow and humiliation at the hands of her husband, yet loved him in spite of it, would offer a good example to [the Princess].” The book is divided in chapters labeled with the years. The narrative moves from scene to scene, generally brief, with any amount of time passing in between. Sometimes this style is annoying, but it was totally appropriate for this story. I ended up Googling a lot of historical figures and events relating to the book and learned a lot that way, thanks to the book. A lot of research went into this to make it as accurate as possible. It was expected that she and the other young ladies in attendance on their Infanta would be found well-born husbands in England. But where Katherine was facing the future with a certain trepidation, Maria could barely contain her excitement. Before long, Susanna is returning to England with the Princess Anna, assuring the King she is a suitable match. But the King is disappointed – Anna is not as beautiful as her portrait. We will see her little more than a little girl, arriving from Alcalá de Henares because she was engaged to Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII of England...Der Schreibstil Alison Weirs ist angenehm zu lesen und ich war schnell in der Geschichte drin. Ich habe diesen Roman im englischen Original gelesen. Den verwendeten Wortschatz empfand ich als gut verständlich, wenn auch schwieriger als bei Ken Follett. Es wurden hier mehr altmodische Begriffe verwendet und ich konnte mit Hilfe der Wörterbuchfunktion meinen Wortschatz erweitern. Henry VIII’s third queen is dead, leaving the King’s only son without a mother and the country without a queen. And as preparations are being made for Queen Jane’s funeral, her stepdaughter, the Lady Mary, laments the country’s loss. First betrothed at the age of three to Arthur, Prince of Wales, the young princess of Spain, Catalina, sails to England at sixteen years of age to marry. Because she is the daughter of the esteemed monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Catalina’s marriage to Arthur is designed to ensure an Anglo-Spanish alliance against France. In an unforeseen twist of fate, Catalina – anglicized to Princess Katherine – is betrothed to Henry VIII, heir to the English throne. Though her marriage is at first loving, outside forces soon cause a rift between Katherine and Henry VIII - one that threatens their relationship, Katherine’s status as Queen, and the future of the nation.

Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: Six Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: Six

The Princess of Scotland is an e-short and companion piece to Katheryn Howard: The Tainted Queen, the compelling fifth novel in the Six Tudor Queens series by bestselling author and historian Alison Weir. If you are familiar with Katherine’s life, there is little point in rehashing it here. If you know little about her, then you will find this an engrossing portrait of a women who believed completely in doing her duty. She would never have questioned her parent’s, or later, her husband’s, wishes. She was sent to England to be Queen and she had every intention of carrying out this role to the best of her ability and creating an alliance between England and Spain. So, it makes it even more moving that when Henry decides he wants a divorce that, for once, she digs in her heels and refuses to move over gracefully. The sad ending of this marriage never actually lived or consummated, because of the disease and rapid death of the Prince. Six Tudor queens. Six novels. Six years. Delve into Alison Weir’s spellbinding six novel series about Henry VIII's wives in this 1-6 Book Bundle.Mi stupisce tantissimo come sia perfettamente in linea con i veri fatti storici, chiariamo non solo l'ascesa di Enrico VIII, la vita di corte, e tutti i duchi e conti che girano intorno alla figura del Re., ma assolutamente vere sono tutti i riferimenti epistolari che troviamo qui riportati, ovviamente lasciando spazio a tutta quella componente romanzata che tiene in piedi qui la storia di Caterina.

Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife by Alison Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife by Alison

I can never forget my homeland,’ Catalina declared, tears welling as visions of the land of her birth came to mind, ‘but I am determined to be a good Englishwoman.’ She blinked the tears away. This story saddened me deeply with the unjust way in which Katherine was treated. Women were very much at the mercy of the men-folk, and were considered chattels with little or no say in how they led their lives, or what opinions they had. In fact, anyone who had an opinion which did not mirror the King’s met untimely and cruel deaths. Those who remained loyal to Katherine were many, and suffered cruelly for it. What made it even more poignant for me, is that she continue to love Henry until she drew her last breath. Alison Weir managed to describe the inner world, the emotions and the long-suffering fate of Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of the King Henry the eighth. Through her writing and her deep knowledge of history she brings into live the political principles, the values and the games during the Tudor’s domination in England. I love British history and I love seeing different interpretations. Whether it be a speculative piece of fiction based on a place name, a tale inspired by vicious court rumour, or a story founded on fact, I love it all.La vita a corte viene descritta molto bene, ma non saranno mai gli intrighi messi come fulcro di questo libro, .. ma il dolore straziante di questi due sposi, che pur amandosi tantissimo, si proprio così..... Enrico amava alla follia Caterina, non riuscirono mai piu a ritrovarsi a causa di questi impedimenti, l'assenza di un erede maschio al trono e il terrore di aver disobbedito a Dio avendo sposato la moglie di suo fratello. With the entrance of Anne Boleyn, everything becomes heartbreaking.... with Catherine who will always refuse to divorce and renounce the validity of their marriage, recognizing the dispensation received at the time by Julius II as valid. Catherine remained always firm in her faith, without giving up a step in considering herself the true Queen of England, she would never renounce it, she would renounce the good and the love she always had towards her husband, now married to the Boleyn. She managed to live the last years, now exiled from the court and forced to live in unhealthy and damp castles, with the friendship and fidelity of his ambassador Eustace Chapuys, Cardinal Fischer and shortly before the friendship and fidelity of Thomas More. Throughout the book, Weir drops people into the story whom we know will feature in the future. She tells us that Thomas Boleyn was a favourite and we discover that Henry had a relationship with his daughter, Mary. We then find that Mary has a younger sister, Anne who ultimately becomes Katherine’s nemesis. Jane Seymour, a gentle lady-in-waiting, has arrived at court and Maud Parr, mother of Kate, plays a pivotal role in Katherine’s household.

Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen - Six Tudor Queens Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen - Six Tudor Queens

Als Zusatzmaterial gibt es einen Stammbaum, eine Zeittafel, ein Personenverzeichnis, ein kurzes Nachwort, das Fiktion von Wahrheit trennt und Reading Group Questions. Letzteres habe ich bisher, glaube ich, nur in englischen Büchern gesehen und ich muss sagen, dass mir das sehr gut gefällt. Man kann das Buch nochmal Revue passieren lassen und reflektieren und ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass es in einem Lesezirkel für lebhafte Diskussionen sorgt. Sowas würde ich mir tatsächlich auch in deutschen Ausgaben wünschen. Katherine is the educated, devout and dutiful daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, joint rulers of Spain. She comes to England under the terms of the contract arranged by their respective parents to marry the Prince of Wales. After Arthur’s untimely death, she becomes betrothed to his younger brother, Henry. What I enjoyed is that Alison Weir wrote this from Katherine’s perspective. We get an eagle eye view of events unfolding in “real time”. From being deeply and happily in love with King Henry, to the betrayal that later followed, you can feel every wave of happiness and each stab of hurt and regret. When Katheryn Howard, a young cousin of the Boleyns, becomes the King’s fifth bride, Jane’s past allegiance to the crown secures her senior rank in the new queen’s household. La vedremo poco piu' di una bambina, arrivare da Alcalá de Henares perchè promessa in sposa ad Arturo principe di Galles, figlio maggiore di Enrico VII d' Inghilterra ;il triste epilogo di questo matrimonio mai effettivamente vissuto ne consumato, a causa della malattia e rapida morte del Principe.Alison Weir is the top-selling female historian (and the fifth best-selling historian overall) in the United Kingdom, and has sold over 2.7 million books worldwide. She has published seventeen history books, including The Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Princes in the Tower, Elizabeth the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry VIII: King and Court, Katherine Swynford, The Lady in the Tower and Elizabeth of York. Alison has also published five historical novels, including Innocent Traitor and The Lady Elizabeth. Her latest biography is The Lost Tudor Princess, about Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox. She is soon to publish Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, the first in a series of novels about the wives of Henry VIII. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Life Patron of Historic Royal Palaces, and is married with two adult children. Katherine of Aragon is the paragon of virtue betrothed to Arthur, the Prince of Wales. With his death proceeds the ramifications of the Reformation and the rise and fall of one of the most notorious women in England's history. If this review bothers you personally or you think is unfair to the author or Katherine. That's great! If we are friends let's engage, otherwise, your opinions belong in your review. The King’s Painter by bestselling historian Alison Weir is an e-short and companion piece to the captivating fourth novel in the Six Tudor Queens series, Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets.