by G. J. Meyer
It was not to be opened by “prentices …”: Guy, Tudor England, p. 194.
Almost simultaneously with the Act …: Scarisbrick, Henry VIII, pp. 399 and 407.
Angrily, even tearfully, he complained Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 433, and Lingard, History of England, p. 5:202.
Still later it was reported Bernard, King’s Reformation, pp. 157 and 489.
In the same year that Forest perished …: Erickson, Great Harry, p. 294.
“Answer neither out of St. Augustine …”: Smith, Mask of Power, p. 154.
On December 6 Montague and Exeter Erickson, Great Harry, p. 288.
Contrary to what has often been asserted …: Bernard, King’s Reformation, p. 574; Guy, Tudor England, pp. 178 and 186; and Scarisbrick, Henry VIII, p. 376.
The endlessly useful Richard Rich Neville Williams, Henry VIII, p.195. 308 “No,” she said, “my head never …”: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:126. 308 The executioner had to chase her …: Fraser, Wives, p. 342. 308 Every place of habitation was to be destroyed …: Erickson, Great Harry, p. 334.
This time he demolished …: Data about the destruction in Scotland and the quote about Henry’s “not misliking” the plan to assassinate Beaton are in Lingard, History of England, p. 5:184.
PART THREE
A King Too Soon and a Queen Too Late
The author is grateful to have been able to make use of:
Erickson, Carrolly. Bloody Mary: The Life of Mary Tudor. Robson, 1995.
Loades, D. M. Mary Tudor. National Archives, 2006.
______. Two Tudor Conspiracies. Cambridge, 1965.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Tudor Church Militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation. Penguin, 1999.
Skidmore, Chris. Edward VI: The Lost King of England. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007.
Wilson, Derek. The Uncrowned Kings of England: The Black Legend of the Dudleys. Constable, no date given.
Notes
The main points of dispute were familiar…: Religious divisions as of the start of Edward’s reign are examined in MacCulloch, Church Militant, pp. 2 and 63; Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 7; and Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 426.
This had become more true than ever The difficulties faced by the more ambitious reformers late in Henry’s reign are addressed in Smith, Mask of Power, pp. 147 and 159, and Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 429.
Even if they had been left free to express…: MacCulloch, Church Militant, p. 59.
Surrey, whose hopes for a military career Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 420.
They ensnared Gardiner in a clumsy Scarisbrick, Henry VIII, p. 490.
It was by no means clear that the jury Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 422.
Thereafter Norfolk, in an effort… : DNB entry on Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk.
So was anyone too closely Henry’s rejection and distrust of Gardiner is in Erickson, Great Harry, p. 371.
It is not certain that this was a usurpation Lingard, History of England, p. 5:235.
He was given four manors …: DNB entry for Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.
Overall this splendid payday Guy, Tudor England, p. 199.
He also empowered himself to assemble Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 66.
Edward was a lad of above-average intelligence Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 62, and Lingard, History of England, p. 5:237.
“Peace and concord” were promised Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 61.
It was, “as God’s viceregent and Christ’s vicar…”: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:238.
It is more pathetic than impressive …: Skidmore, …: Edward VI, p. 149.
The coronation of the new king…: MacCulloch, Church Militant, p. 126, and Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 69.
Even more provocatively, the visitors …: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:251; MacCulloch, Church Militant, p. 70; and Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 89.
In the six years following Henry VIII’s death …: The numbers in this paragraph are from Guy, Tudor England, p. 203.
Statistical precision is impossible …: Ibid., p. 204.
According to various reports he set his sights…: Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 71.
At Seymour’s direction, Edward wrote a letter…: DNB entry for Thomas Seymour.
Gardiner, accused of disobeying his instructions…: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:264.
The number of bishops who followed …: Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 518.
It would also explain his fumbling Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 113, and Roger Turvey and Nigel Heard, Edward VI and Mary (Hodder Murray, 2006), p. 48.
Though they accomplished little or nothing Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 91.
None of which might have mattered …: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:285.
In Devon in the far west …: MacCulloch, Church Militant, pp. 43 and 119, and Guy, Tudor England, p. 208.
As many as four thousand men were dead …: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:289.
An extraordinary figure named Robert Kett …: The demands are in Turvey and Heard, Edward and Mary, p. 135; Kett’s words are in Lingard, History of England, p. 5:290.
With one proclamation he condemned destruction …: Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 113.
When Somerset cried out …: The duke’s concessions to the rebels are in ibid., p. 45.
And so Dudley advanced on Norwich …: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:290.
After first and briefly allying himself…: MacCulloch, Church Militant, p. 95
The conservatives were required to absorb Lingard, History of England, p. 5:342.
Francis van der Delft, the Catholic Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 162.
The narrowness of its base is suggested …: MacCulloch, Church Militant, p. 163.
He achieved perhaps the greatest triumph… : Elton, Tudor Constitution, p. 396.
Harsh penalties were imposed…: MacCulloch, Church Militant, p. 141, and Lingard, History of England, p. 5:342.
Once again it was made treason to deny …: Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 82.
Henceforth the death penalty could be imposed…: Ibid.
Seven of Henry’s bishops were replaced MacCulloch, Church Militant, pp. 96 and 154.
He had never been an impressive physical specimen …: Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 240.
In the first, a draft in Edward’s own hand …: Ibid., p. 247, and Lingard, History of England, p. 5:357.
Two days later, in reporting to the Privy Council …: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:358.
“He has not the strength to stir…”: Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 255.
He died in the arms of a Dudley son-in-law Wilson, Uncrowned Kings, p. 226.
The crown, Jane declared DNB entry for Jane Grey.
When Mary sent a messenger to the council…: Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 527.
Quite the contrary: the French ambassador Loades, Mary Tudor, p. 26.
She said disingenuously…: Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 28.
One of the most poignant scenes…: Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 118.
When Parliament’s passage Loades, Mary Tudor, p. 41.
Nothing came of this …: This and “grief and despair” are in the DNB entry for Mary I.
She wrote directly to the king …: Loades, Mary Tudor, p. 47.
Therefore, though he removed members of the Privy CouncilIbid., p. 48.
Ordered to provide the names…: Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 242, and Lingard, History of England, p. 5:80.
(In fact Henry, in futile pursuit …: Loades, Mary Tudor, p. 52. 386 Under the terms of her father’s will… : Ibid., p. 66.
By 1549, when the new reign’s first Act of Uniformity Ibid., p. 75.
Mary declared that she “wished to constrain …”: Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 309.
When that old champion of reform Lingard, History of England, p. 5:390.
By 1553 he had had ready for Parliament’s attention Skidmore, Edward VI, p. 232.
Anyone accused of such offenses…: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:462.
Cranmer
exploded in rage when informed …: This and the following statement about Cranmer “spreading abroad seditious bills” are in Lingard, History of England, p. 5:401.
Pole was so well respected …: Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 389. 397 Two days before, in an even more forceful …: Ibid., p. 320.
By repealing Henry VIII’s Succession Act…: Guy, Tudor England, p. 233.
If Mary and Philip had a son…: Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 537.
Philip himself, when he learned Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 348, and DNB notes for entry on Philip II.
“As for this marriage,” she said Lingard, History of England, p. 5:425.
In all some 480 men were convicted Loades, Two Tudor Conspiracies, p. 127.
Not only when put on trial but before Ibid., p. 16.
London, where there had been only three Penry Williams, Life, p. 129.
“His way with the lords is so …”: Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 380.
“If the English find out how hard up…”: Ibid., p. 382. 416 Mary even allowed herself…: Loades, Mary Tudor, p. 168.
Protestant preachers who had not fled Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 397.
What is clear is that it was controversial… : Lingard, History of England, p. 5:469.
It was long and widely believed Ibid., p. 5:464.
Something on the order of three hundred individuals…: Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 553.
She had more success in restoring Lingard, History of England, p. 5:494.
Mary and Gardiner wanted to introduce Loades, Tudor Conspiracies, p. 260.
But Pole’s position was still … : DNB entry for Reginald Pole.
This gathering, by the time of its adjournment…: Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 555.
Philip, inevitably but unfairly …: Loades, Mary Tudor, p. 175; Guy, Tudor England, p. 248; Lingard, History of England, p. 5:521; Loades, Mary Tudor, p. 175, and Guy, Tudor England, p. 248.
Elizabeth had only recently repeated her assurances…: Lingard, History of England, p. 5:525, and Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 480.
PART FOUR
Survivor
Though the enormous number of biographies of Elizabeth I continues to grow decade by decade, no single work is recognized as definitive. Three generations have brought a movement from J. E. Neale’s Queen Elizabeth I (Jonathan Cape, 1934), regarded originally as authoritative but now as hagiographic, to gradually less worshipful and finally rigorously critical works. Biographies of value include:
Haigh, Christopher. Elizabeth I, 2nd ed. Longman, 1998.
Hibbert, Christopher. The Virgin Queen. Viking, 1990.
Loades, David. Elizabeth I. Hambledon & London, 2003.
Neale, J. E. Queen Elizabeth I. Pelican, 1960.
Smith, Lacey Baldwin. Elizabeth Tudor. Little, Brown, 1975.
Williams, Neville. Elizabeth I. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1972.
Notes
Her decline began with a refusal…: An exceptionally detailed and vivid account of Elizabeth’s last days appears in the opening pages of Evelyn Waugh’s Edmund Campion (Little, Brown, 1946).
When begged to get some sleep …: Lingard, History of England, p. 6:647.
At a time when the Crown’s ordinary revenues …: Elton, England Under, p. 362.
Even the most glorious event of the reign The cost figure is in Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 138.
Ferocious inflation has combined with falling wages…: Data on living standards and death sentences are ibid., p. 166.
Though of course we have no data …: As noted above, Duffy’s Stripping of Altars is an exhaustive demonstration of the lingering popularity of the old religion.
Queen Mary herself suspected Erickson, Bloody Mary, p. 346.
The coronation took place on January 15…: The cost figure is in the DNB entry for Elizabeth I.
The Privy Council opened the legislative …: Elton, England Under, p. 271.
When Parliament reconvened on April 3…: The change to supreme “governor” is in Hibbert, Virgin Queen, p. 92.
A uniformity bill outlawing the mass…: Elton, Tudor Constitution, presents the words of the bill on p. 401 and a brief discussion of it on p. 388.
Thanks to the breakdown in relations …: Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 134.
She found, however, that almost to a man Lingard, History of England, pp. 6:9 and 14.
The point of conflict …: Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 47.
She allowed the Diocese of Ely to remain without a bishop Ibid., p. 49.
Out of the eight thousand priests in England Elton, England Under, p. 276.
The persecution was relaxed as soon as …: Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 42.
Elizabeth herself, though she never forgave Hibbert, Virgin Queen, p. 67.
Even people close to the queen Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 16.
Henry Sidney, Dudley’s brother-in-law Milton Waldman, Elizabeth and Leicester (Collins, 1946), p. 103.
What appears to have happened …: Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 16. 481 It was perhaps in response …: Elton, England Under, p. 298.
It was a monumental blunder nevertheless…: Ibid., p. 303; Lingard, History of England, p. 6:225; and Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 169.
They were exasperated, therefore, when Elizabeth Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 38. 491 The worst of their mistakes was to overreact…: Elton, England Under, p. 279.
The Privy Council then fell into an angry dispute …: Wilson, Uncrowned Kings, p. 303.
Anjou definitely had no interest…: Hibbert, Virgin Queen, p. 181, and Lingard, History of England, p. 6:241, note 1.
In that same year the increasingly discontented …: Elton, England Under, p. 300.
In actuality it was all talk Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 176, and Smith, Elizabeth Tudor, p. 143.
Somewhat oddly for a Protestant …: Guy, Tudor England, p. 262.
It was her good fortune to have two …: Lingard, History of England, p. 6:328.
Much of the trouble grew out of the determination Smith, Elizabeth Tudor, p. 172; Haigh, Elizabeth I, pp. 122 and 149; and DNB entries on Francis Walsingham and Mary, Queen of Scots.
As early as 1581 Walsingham was asking…: Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 76.
An innovation called “compounding” …: Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 234.
Her navy had barely broken off its pursuit…: Smith, Elizabeth Tudor, pp. 66 and 72.
Her admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham …: Howard’s words are in Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 252.
Here she supposedly delivered …: Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 252, observes that the queen “is alleged to have made” the Tilbury speech.
During the period when invasion seemed imminent…: Hibbert, Virgin Queen, p. 220, and Lingard, History of England, p. 6:505.
Between July and November twenty-one imprisoned priests…: Lingard, History of England, p. 6:520.
Though theologically Whitgift was …: Elton, England Under, p. 428.
When the fleet finally set out again …: Drake’s instructions, and the number of lives lost on the expedition, are in Guy, Tudor England, p. 349.
Getting the queen’s approval was difficult …: Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 265, and Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 142.
The Dutch rebels, he observed sourly …: The words in quotes are in the DNB entry for Robert Cecil.
He stormed out proclaiming …: The words in quotes are in the DNB entry for Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex.
Five Parliaments had had to be called …: Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 292; Elton, England Under, pp. 362 and 461; and Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 166.
Prices of necessities soared …: Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 166.
In 1534, at the dawn of the English Reformation …: The numbers in this paragraph are from ibid.
(At thirty, upon being told Smith, Elizabeth Tudor, p. 73.
The show went on—her wardrobe Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 90. Lingard, History of England, p. 6:657, says the number of the queen’s gowns was in the thousands.
She was allowing her world …: The number of Privy Council members
is in Haigh, Elizabeth I, p. 107.
It was long customary to interpret…: Loades, Elizabeth I, p. 274.
He had already been talking recklessly …: Lingard, History of England, pp. 6:597 and 600, and DNB entry on Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex.
Elizabeth showed a marked aversion …: DNB entry for Robert Devereux.
This has often been represented Lingard, History of England, p. 6:629, suggests that the queen’s “victory” lay in the fact that the royal prerogative on monopolies had not been positively surrendered.
Revenues from the land sales totaled …: Smith, Elizabeth Tudor, p. 203.
In 1601 and 1602 he became the leading…: Hibbert, Virgin Queen, p. 244; Elton, England Under, p. 411; and Guy, Tudor England, p. 396.
About the Author
G. J. MEYER is a professional writer whose bylines have appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Harper’s, and many other newspapers and magazines. While working for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship by Harvard University. He is the author of A World Undone, as well as The Memphis Murders (recipient of an Edgar Award for nonfiction) and Executive Blues. Meyer lives in England.
Copyright © 2010 by G. J. Meyer
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
DELACORTE PRESS is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Map and family tree copyright © 2010 by Daniel R. Lynch
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meyer, G. J.
The Tudors : the complete story of England’s most notorious dynasty / G. J. Meyer.—1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-440-33914-4
1. Tudor, House of. 2. Great Britain—History—Tudors, 1485–1603. 3. Great Britain—Politics and government—1485–1603. 4. Monarchy—Great Britain—History—16th century.
