Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Review: Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World

Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At some point, I'll do a better job of reading history in order, instead of jumping around in time.

Non-fiction about the Elizabeth of York: daughter of Edward IV, sister of Edward V, wife of Henry VII, mother of Henry VIII. Who, by all rights, should have been Queen in her own right after the deaths of her brothers, but was instead the wife of the victor, Henry VII. And, as Weir explains, Henry VII took great pains to make it clear that he was ruler as himself.

It appears that Elizabeth was content with her role as a queen defined by being wife-of-king. Had that not been the case, the queens Elizabeth would have been II and III, because she would have been viewed as Elizabeth I. (That is me, not something Weir talks about it.) It's interesting how generations change things, even in the past, because Elizabeth was the grandmother and great grandmother of Queens in their own name: Mary I, Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of Scots. (And of course Lady Jane Grey.)

This is an interesting look at the fullness of Elizabeth's life, which is usually not really given much thought because, well, she was an 'of' instead -- daughter of, sister of, wife of, mother of. This gives her back some of her own uniqueness, her own self.















View all my reviews

No comments: