The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor: Elizabeth I, Thomas Seymour, and the Making of a Virgin Queen

by Elizabeth Norton

Overview

England, late 1547. King Henry VIII Is dead. His fourteen-year-old daughter Elizabeth is living with the king’s widow, Catherine Parr, and her new husband, Thomas Seymour. Seymour is the brother of Henry VIII’s third wife, the late Jane Seymour, who was the mother to the now-ailing boy King.Ambitious and dangerous, Seymour begins and overt flirtation with Elizabeth that ends with Catherine sending her away. When Catherine dies a year later and Seymour is arrested for treason soon after, a scandal explodes. Alone and in dreadful danger, Elizabeth is threatened by supporters of her half-sister, Mary, who wishes to see England return to Catholicism. She is also closely questioned by the king’s regency council due to her place in the line of succession. Was she still a virgin? Was there a child? Had she promised to marry Seymour?Under pressure, Elizabeth shows the shrewdness and spirit she would later be famous for. She survives the scandal, but Thomas Seymour is not so lucky. The “Seymour Scandal” led Elizabeth and her advisers to create of the persona of the Virgin Queen.On hearing of Seymour’s beheading, Elizabeth observed, “This day died a man of much wit, and very little judgment.” His fate remained with her. She would never allow her heart to rule her head again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681770987
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	01/15/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	796,589
File size:	630 KB

About the Author

Elizabeth Norton is a historian specializing in the queens of England and the Tudor period. She is the author of several biographies on Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Parr. She lives in England.

Table of Contents

Prologue 6 February 1559 ix

Part 1 The Seeds of Scandal 1

1 Affection Shall Lead Me to Court … 3

2 … Interest Keeps Me There 16

3 Adoration Until Death 29

4 What We Cannot Remedy 42

Part 2 The Scandal Deepens 59

5 The Young Damsels 61

6 Go Away, For Shame 76

7 A Dress So Trimmed 90

8 In a Maiden's Chamber 105

9 The Queen's Displeasure 118

10 A Child Born and Miserably Destroyed 133

11 The Little Knave 146

12 Let Me Be No More 159

Part 3 The Scandal Unveiled 175

13 He That Hath Friends 177

14 Beware Whom You Trust 190

15 London News 202

16 Laboring for the Tower 216

17 Vanity of Vanities 233

18 A Man of Much Wit 251

Epilogue The Virgin Queen? 269

Notes on the Text 281

Bibliography 309

Index 317

Acknowledgments 323

About the Author 324

Editorial Reviews

12/07/2015
The rumors about a romance between the young Elizabeth Tudor and her guardian, Thomas Seymour, have been the basis for novels, films, and speculation. Tudor historian Norton (The Illustrated Six Wives of Henry VIII) recounts the tale without adding anything substantial to it, consulting a plethora of primary sources but employing no scholarly discretion in using them. She treats hearsay as having the same authority as state documents. An entire chapter is spent repeating a folktale that was old when Elizabeth was born, that of a midwife called at midnight to deliver a baby for a masked noblewoman, hinting that the mysterious child was that of Elizabeth and Seymour. Many private conversations are quoted with no citations given at all, leaving one to assume that they are made up. Similarly, Norton states the feelings and motivations of her subjects, without supporting evidence. When the book isn’t trying to be titillating, it becomes tedious, chronicling every bickering exchange between Seymour and his older brother, the guardian of Edward VI. The events leading up to Seymour’s execution are jumbled and confusing. Norton might have been more successful at crafting a well-researched historical novel than she was with this botched attempt at history. Agent: Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie Literary Agency. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A stunning achievement. I was spellbound by this beautifully produced book. This is how historical writing should be: well-paced, engaging, packed with fascinating detail and soundly researched. Elizabeth Norton writes a captivating narrative, drawing the reader into the world of the Tudors, evoking it so compellingly, and arguing her conclusions convincingly. I can't praise it highly enough. It's stunning







— the best history book I've read in a long time.

Alison Weir

Cuts an admirably clear path through tangled Tudor intrigues.

Jenny Uglow

Norton explains these machinations with as much knowledge and nuance as any historian has done since A. F. Pollard. Her book is indeed dramatic and shrewd in its analysis of the marriage-politics swirling around the court. Norton's book could scarcely be bettered.

The Christian Science Monitor

A very detailed investigation of the young Elizabeth and her infatuation with Thomas Seymour. A fascinating book. Norton has a fluid, delightful style. A strong history and well-told story.

Bookgasm

A scheming fortune hunter, Seymour's judgment was anything but sound. Great material.

The New York Times Book Review

11/01/2015
In another of her well-researched and intriguing Tudor period titles, with this volume, historian Norton (England's Queens; The Anne Boleyn Papers) thoroughly conveys the environment that bred Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, and brought her to the attention of the ambitious (and married) Thomas Seymour. Beginning with Elizabeth's tumultuous childhood as the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Norton guides readers through the ups and downs of the queen and Seymour's improper relationship and details those involved in both pushing them together and pulling them apart. The author's use of quotes from 16th- century England may trip up some readers, but her narrative style helps the story flow smoothly. While books such as Alison Plowden's The Young Elizabeth chart the monarch's early years, Norton's work supplies unprecedented breadth on this topic. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers interested in British history and the Tudor dynasty. Fans of historical fiction such as Philippa Gregory's "Tudor Court" series will also find themselves invested in the real-life scandal that befell one of England's most famous queens.—Katie McGaha, Cty. of Los Angeles P.L.

Library Journal

2015-10-06
Tudor historian Norton (The Tudor Miscellany, 2014, etc.) looks at Henry VIII's daughter and widow, but the real story here is Thomas Seymour. Thomas was the brother of Henry's third wife, Jane. As uncle to the king, he felt he should have a much more important place, both in the Parliament and in the young king's care. Machinations were the key to just about everything during the reign of the Tudors; spying, plotting, and backstabbing were the norm. Thomas, who had wooed Catherine Parr before she married Henry, quickly picked up their romance when she was widowed; in fact, they were married just over a month after the king's death. Thomas hoped his marriage might give him more authority as he sought the governance of the young king, his wife's stepson. His brother Edward gained increasing amounts of power and made him Lord High Admiral as a concession. Before Parr, he had sued for the hands of both Elizabeth and Mary Tudor, both in the line of succession. Elizabeth's closest attendant, Katherine Ashley, inexplicably decided that the teenager no longer needed a protective woman sleeping near her bed. That left Elizabeth exposed to Thomas' morning ritual of entering half-dressed and playing a little "slap and tickle" with the future queen. Whether Elizabeth enjoyed it or whether Catherine might even have cooperated in the game are left to the imagination. "When she was a teenager," writes the author, "there was one man who had caught her fancy enough to tempt her to abandon herself to him. The Virgin Queen was born out of the ashes of his fall." Regardless, Catherine, six months pregnant, caught the couple in an embrace and sent Elizabeth packing. The author tells of rumors of Elizabeth's "illness" that summer, hinting at pregnancy. Juicy royal history that may or may not be true. Either way, the story of Thomas' comeuppance and Elizabeth's reaction makes for a quick, enjoyable read.

Kirkus Reviews