Sarah Tytler’s Tudor Queens and Princesses offers an examination of the precarious balance of power and peril faced by royal Tudor women. Their lives were shaped by the expectations of dynastic politics, religious upheaval, and their ability—or inability—to navigate a male-dominated society. These women (the better known wives of Henry VIII and the lesser known Tudor women his sisters and grandmothers) as power players, political pawns, cultural figures, and, often, tragic symbols of their time.

A reviewer must understand the text was written originally published in 1896 and thus, there is no escaping the Victorian perspectives (rather romanticizing the Tudor era and leaning toward biased/moralized reporting) nor any chance of encountering rigorous source analysis that we would expect in a more contemporary work.  Tytler’s style is mostly narrative focusing on storytelling—not very scholarly but enjoyable to read.  One can grasp Tytler’s themes of power, sacrifice and the nature of female authority in a patriarchal society.

Four Tudor Roses Out of Five