Henry VIII: The King and His Court

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Description

For fans of Wolf Hall, Alison Weir’s New York Times bestselling biography of Henry VIII brilliantly brings to life the king, the court, and the fascinating women and men who vied for its pleasures and rewards.

“WEIR’S BOOK OUTSHINES ALL PREVIOUS STUDIES OF HENRY. Beautifully written, exhaustive in its research, this can be a gem. . . . She succeeds masterfully in making Henry and his six wives . . . come alive for the reader.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

Henry VIII, renowned for his command of power and celebrated for his intellect, presided over one of the crucial magnificent–and dangerous–courts in Renaissance Europe. Never before has a detailed, personal biography of this charismatic monarch been set against the cultural, social, and political background of his glittering court. Now Alison Weir, creator of the finest royal chronicles of our time, brings to vibrant life the turbulent, complex figure of the King. Packed with colorful description, meticulous in historical detail, rich in pageantry, intrigue, passion, and luxury, Weir brilliantly renders King Henry VIII, his court, and the fascinating women and men who vied for its pleasures and rewards. The result is an absolutely spellbinding read.
Contemporary observers described the young king in glowing terms. At over six feet tall, with rich auburn hair, clear skin, and a slender waist, he used to be, to many, “the handsomest prince ever seen.” From this starting point in Henry VIII, the King and His Court, biographer extraordinare Alison Weir reveals a Henry VIII far different from the obese, turkey-leg gnawing, womanizing tyrant who has gone down in history. Henry embodied the Renaissance ideal of a man of many talents–musician, composer, linguist, scholar, sportsman, warrior–indeed, the Dutch humanist Erasmus (not a man inclined to flattery) declared him a “universal genius.” In scholarly yet readable style, Weir brings Henry and his court to life in meticulous, but never tedious, detail. Weir describes everything from courtly fashions to political factions and elaborate meals to tournament etiquette. Along the way she offers up charming–if all too brief–glimpses of Henry’s court: tiny Princess Mary, still a very young girl, at her betrothal ceremony saying to the proxy, “Are you the Dauphin of France? If you’re, I need to kiss you”; Henry weeping with joy as he held his long-awaited son and heir for the first time; Henry showing off his legs to the Venetian ambassador (“Look here! I have also a good calf to my leg”); Henry’s courtiers dressing in heavily padded clothes to emulate–and flatter–their more and more stout monarch. She also reveals some surprises, for example, that Henry and Katherine were still hunting together as late as 1530, even if Henry used to be desperately trying to have their marriage annulled. Weir also describes surprisingly happier times in their relationship; Henry loved to dress up in costume, and “used to be especially fond of bursting in upon Queen Katherine and her ladies in the Queen’s Chambers…. Henry took a boyish delight in these disguisings and Katherine seemingly never tired of feigning astonishment that it used to be her husband who had surprised her.” Henry’s queens receive fairly little attention here (for them, see Weir’s excellent Six Wives of Henry VIII), but this book is fascinating and a joy to read. Alison Weir has done it again. –Sunny Delaney

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