Edward Vi - Couverture souple

Skidmore, Chris

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0312538936 ISBN 13 : 9780312538934

Editeur : St. Martin's Griffin, 2009

Synopsis

Edward VI In his desperate quest for an heir, King Henry VIII divorced one wife and beheaded another. The birth of Prince Edward on October 12, 1537, ended his father's twenty-seven-year wait. Nine years later, Edward was on the throne, a boy-king of a nation in religious limbo and in a court where manipulation, treachery, and plotting were rife.Chris Skidmore describes how, in the six years of Edward's rei... Full description

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

The struggle for the soul of England after the death of Henry VIII

In the death of Henry VIII, the crown passed to his nine-year-old son, Edward. However, real power went to the Protector, Edward's uncle, the Duke of Somerset. The court had been a hotbed of intrigue since the last days of Henry VIII. Without an adult monarch, the stakes were even higher. The first challenger was the duke's own brother: he seduced Henry VIII's former queen, Katherine Parr; having married her, he pursued Princess Elizabeth and later was accused of trying to kidnap the boy king at gunpoint. He was beheaded. Somerset ultimately met the same fate, after a coup d'etat organized by the Duke of Warwick. Chris Skidmore reveals how the countrywide rebellions of 1549 were orchestrated by the plotters at court and were all connected to the (literally) burning issue of religion: Henry VIII had left England in religious limbo. Court intrigue, deceit and treason very nearly plunged the country into civil war.

Edward was a precocious child, as his letters in French and Latin demonstrate. He kept a secret diary, written partly in Greek, which few of his courtiers could read. In 1551, at the age of 14, he took part in his first jousting tournament, an essential demonstration of physical prowess in a very physical age. Within a year it is his signature we find at the bottom of the Council minutes, yet in early 1553 he contracted a chest infection and later died, rumours circulating that he might have been poisoned. Mary, Edward's eldest sister, and devoted Catholic, was proclaimed Queen.

This is more than just a story of bloodthirsty power struggles, but how the Church moved so far along Protestant lines that Mary would be unable to turn the clock back. It is also the story of a boy born to absolute power, whose own writings and letters offer a compelling picture of a life full of promise, but tragically cut short.

Biographie de l'auteur :

Chris Skidmore is the author of four books on medieval and Tudor history: Richard III, Bosworth, Edward VI and Death and the Virgin. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is also the Member of Parliament for Kingswood and in July 2016 was appointed as Minister for the Constitution in the Cabinet Office.

www.chrisskidmore.co.uk
@bosworthbattle

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: St. Martin's Griffin
• Date d'édition: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0312538936
• ISBN 13: 9780312538934
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 386