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Elizabeth of York

A Tudor Queen and Her World

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Many are familiar with the story of the much-married King Henry VIII of England and the celebrated reign of his daughter, Elizabeth I. But it is often forgotten that the life of the first Tudor queen, Elizabeth of York, Henry' s mother and Elizabeth' s grandmother, spanned one of England' s most dramatic and perilous periods. Now New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir presents the first modern biography of this extraordinary woman, whose very existence united the realm and ensured the survival of the Plantagenet bloodline.

Her birth was greeted with as much pomp and ceremony as that of a male heir. The first child of King Edward IV, Elizabeth enjoyed all the glittering trappings of royalty. But after the death of her father; the disappearance and probable murder of her brothers— the Princes in the Tower; and the usurpation of the throne by her calculating uncle Richard III, Elizabeth found her world turned upside-down: She and her siblings were declared bastards.

As Richard' s wife, Anne Neville, was dying, there were murmurs that the king sought to marry his niece Elizabeth, knowing that most people believed her to be England' s rightful queen. Weir addresses Elizabeth' s possible role in this and her covert support for Henry Tudor, the exiled pretender who defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and was crowned Henry VII, first sovereign of the House of Tudor. Elizabeth' s subsequent marriage to Henry united the houses of York and Lancaster and signaled the end of the Wars of the Roses. For centuries historians have asserted that, as queen, she was kept under Henry' s firm grasp, but Weir shows that Elizabeth proved to be a model consort— pious and generous— who enjoyed the confidence of her husband, exerted a tangible and beneficial influence, and was revered by her son, the future King Henry VIII.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      The use of quotations and other scholarly references in nonfiction can be a challenge for both narrator and listener. With Maggie Mash narrating, though, this potential problem is no problem at all. Mash uses accents, changes in tone, and brief pauses to make the nuances of Alison Weir's text abundantly clear in this biography of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Plantagenet king Edward IV and wife of Tudor king Henry VII. As a link between the two royal houses, Elizabeth is a hugely interesting but often under-researched British queen. Weir's research is top-notch, and her insights very smart. Her work is not only supported but also enhanced by Mash's impeccable narration. J.L.K. (c) AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2014

      Though Elizabeth is known for her important royal connections--daughter of Edward IV, niece of Richard III, sister of Edward V, wife of Henry VII, mother of Henry VIII, and grandmother of Elizabeth I--there is not a large amount of documentation about her own life (1466-1503). Weir supplements what is known with descriptions of the clothes, feasts, housing, accounts, and every work of art depicting Elizabeth. This book includes beginning- and end-of-CD announcements that make it easy for readers to keep the CDs in order. Narrator Maggie Mash, tends to dramatize quoted material by giving it the accent of the contributor, e.g., a quote from the French ambassador would be given in her version of a French accent, which can be disconcerting. Resources at the end of the print book were not recorded. VERDICT Recommended for Weir fans and Tudor history buffs.--David Faucheux, Lafayette, LA

      Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 21, 2013
      Best known as the mother of Henry VIII, Elizabeth of York (1466–1503) is also the ancestor of the English, Scots, and British monarchies that commenced in 1509, 1513, and 1603, respectively. Weir (Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings) conveys how, as a royal princess, Elizabeth was a pawn in the dynastic ambitions of England’s rulers: her father, Edward IV; her uncle, Richard III; her mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort; and her husband, Henry VII, whose claim to the English throne was inferior to her own. Betrothed to the Dauphin of France at age 11, Elizabeth was—after the death of her father in 1483—even rumored to be a possible match for Richard III, usurper of Edward V’s throne and responsible for the murder of Elizabeth’s two younger brothers. Weir, an authority on 15th- and 16th-century English history, revises some of her previous thinking regarding the fate of the princes in the Tower of London, but the major focus is Elizabeth’s life, portrayed in great detail, from marriage ceremonies and royal itineraries to the food, books, gifts, and clothing of her day. Weir argues her positions clearly and, in balancing the scholarly with emphases on Elizabeth’s emotional and psychological life, she should reach a wider audience than traditional histories. Illus. Agent: Julian Alexander, Lucas Alexander Whitley (U.K.).

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  • English

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