Mary Tudor: A Life

by David Loades

Overview

Few English monarchs have a worse reputation than Mary Tudor. She has been seen both as a religious fanatic who tried against the will of her people to reverse the course of the Reformation and as the pawn of her husband, Philip II of Spain - her infatuation with whom led her to betray England's vital interests.

How this pious, and by contemporary accounts, gentle woman aroused an antipathy that survives until the present is a central question in David Loades's sensitive biography, now in paperback. Based on research into the documents of the time (many newly uncovered) the compelling story of Mary's life is revealed here in unprecedented detail and depth, packed with incident and intrigue, and enmeshed in the politics of secular and religious struggle in England and Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780631184492
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	07/27/1992
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	460
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.11(h) x 1.28(d)

About the Author

David Loades taught at the University of Durham before being appointed the Professor of History at the University College of North Wales, Bangor in 1980. He has MA and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge (where he received the Prince Consort Prize and Seeley Medal in 1961). He was awarded an honorary D Litt in 1981 and was a visiting fellow at All Souls College in 1988-9.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Abbreviations.

Glossary.

Map of Estates granted to Mary in 1547.

Acknowledgements. 

Introduction.

1. The Token of Hope (1516-1525).

2. The 'Princess of Wales' (1525-1533).

3. Disgrace and Rehabilitation (1533-1547).

4. The Conservative Magnate (1547-1553).

5. 'Annus Mirabilis' (1553-1554).

6. Philip and Mary (1554-1557).

7. Mary and Elizabeth (1557-1558).

8. The Historical Mary.

Appendix 1: The Development of Mary's Household (1516-1558).

Appendix 2: The New Year Gift List of 1557.

Appendix 3: Mary's Will.

Bibliographical Abbreviations.

References and Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Loades manages the difficult feat of being both a sensitive portrait of a woman treated abominably by her father, and a cool estimation of the religious persecutions she initiated as a result. A sad but not unsympathetic book." (The Week, January 2009)

"An excellent and sensitive biography." (Observer)

"A weighty achievement." (Times Educational Supplement)

"A stimulating and scholarly reappraisal of Mary's career ... Without resurrecting the black legend, he illuminates the shortcomings of an historical figure who was 'a good woman, but an ill Queen'." (Spectator)

"Loades has written by far the best biography of the queen to date. He has created a deeply moving and penetrating human story in which the lesser characters retain their verity and are gracefully integrated into a drama that is, as the author says, 'pure tragedy'." (American Historical Review)

"David Loades's brisk and unsentimental account is therefore welcome." (The English Historical Review)

From the Publisher

Mary Tudor has been variously depicted by historians and biographers, but the prevailing tendency has been to see her as a narrowly pious incompetent, richly deserving of the sobriquet ``Bloody Mary.'' As this fine life shows, the real Mary was a much more complex personality and has deserved a better fate at the hands of posterity. This full, well-rounded biography provides the best treatment of Mary yet. She emerges as a credible figure who deserves, to an appreciable degree, respect. This book replaces earlier works and becomes the standard. Carefully researched and written in an engaging fashion, it belongs in both public and academic libraries. Highly recommended.-- James A. Casada, Winthrop Coll., Rock Hill, S.C.

Library Journal

Loades (history, Univ. College of North Wales) examines in detail how a gentle and pious woman came to be so despised that later ages named a really wretched drink after her. Based on contemporary sources, many recently discovered. Acidic paper. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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