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The Fighting Tudors
This fascinating portrait of an often isolated dynasty and their struggles for survival in a dangerous and volatile age vividly brings to life the people behind the battles - monarchs, statesmen, courtiers, seadogs - and the ships, weapons and tactics that determined whether they lived or died. It also explores the beginnings of ‘spin’ in an age that became famous for its royal propaganda, from portraits and proclamations to magnificent ships and diplomatic displays
When Henry VII seized the throne after the battle of Bosworth, his crown was far from secure. Yet for more than a hundred years his descendents ruled in England, surviving religious turmoil, rebellion, foreign armadas, diplomatic crises and losses overseas. Some of them went reluctantly to war whilst others embraced its potential, yet all relied upon military success for their own reflected power and prestige.
The Fighting Tudors explores this extraordinary dynasty’s strategies for survival, and shows how military action to defend the throne became a sophisticated propaganda tool, It traces the great battles of Tudor reigns, from campaigns in France and Scotland to the crises of the Armada, and reveals their public and private impact upon individual monarchs - Henry VII, the ‘sea king’ who pledged to bring peace to his ravaged country; Henry VIII, who loved traditional jousting yet commissioned cutting-edge ships for his standing navy; Mary, whose loss of Calais compounded the disappointments of her reign; and Elizabeth, whose dramatic speech at Tilbury became a defining moment of her reign. Ambitious courtiers and military commanders mingle with volatile monarchs and the great seafarers - Drake, Hawkins, Raleigh and Frobisher - who through exploration, plunder and courageous defence finally brought England dominance on the seas.
When Henry VII seized the throne after the battle of Bosworth, his crown was far from secure. Yet for more than a hundred years his descendents ruled in England, surviving religious turmoil, rebellion, foreign armadas, diplomatic crises and losses overseas. Some of them went reluctantly to war whilst others embraced its potential, yet all relied upon military success for their own reflected power and prestige.
The Fighting Tudors explores this extraordinary dynasty’s strategies for survival, and shows how military action to defend the throne became a sophisticated propaganda tool, It traces the great battles of Tudor reigns, from campaigns in France and Scotland to the crises of the Armada, and reveals their public and private impact upon individual monarchs - Henry VII, the ‘sea king’ who pledged to bring peace to his ravaged country; Henry VIII, who loved traditional jousting yet commissioned cutting-edge ships for his standing navy; Mary, whose loss of Calais compounded the disappointments of her reign; and Elizabeth, whose dramatic speech at Tilbury became a defining moment of her reign. Ambitious courtiers and military commanders mingle with volatile monarchs and the great seafarers - Drake, Hawkins, Raleigh and Frobisher - who through exploration, plunder and courageous defence finally brought England dominance on the seas.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2009
About the author
David Loades
109 books42 followersDavid Michael Loades was a British historian who specialised in the Tudor era. After military service in the Royal Air Force from 1953 until 1955, Loades studied at the University of Cambridge. In the 1960s and 1970s he taught at the universities of St. Andrews and Durham. From 1980 until 1996 Loades was Professor of History at the University of Wales; after taking emeritus status, Loades served as Honorary Research Professor at the University of Sheffield from 1996 until 2008.
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