Love and diplomacy in Tudor England. Five Tudor monarchs ruled England from 1485 until 1603. Like most rulers of the era, they chose consorts as a matter of international diplomacy and national stability--i.e., to produce an heir. Genuine love rarely played a role, but this hasn't prevented a steady stream of authors from writing books about Tudor spouses or about Elizabeth's stubborn refusal to choose one. British journalist and historian Gristwood, author of Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe and other books, has produced another, but with a significant variation. Without ignoring the lives of these consorts and candidates and Renaissance European politics, the author emphasizes that, among the upper classes, courtship aimed to follow the medieval code of courtly love. Arthurian legends of knightly chivalry and passionate, more or less chaste, romance experienced a revival in the 15th century. Bloody tournaments flourished throughout Europe, and royal courtships featured prolix exchanges of picturesque rhetoric. Gristwood begins with a literary history of the Camelot legend. This traditionally dates from Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century narrative of Arthur's life but includes generous contributions from Dante, Chaucer, Malory, and Tennyson. This book includes more literary scholarship than the average history buff expects, and most readers will be relieved when, around Page 80, Gristwood reaches the late 15th century and begins an appealing account of the Tudor years. The author covers politics, war, and religion but also emphasizes royal matrimony as well as the obligatory mistresses and purported affairs. Except perhaps in the case of Anne Boleyn, passion was absent in the often interminable negotiations for a royal consort, but there was no shortage of oratory, correspondence, and poetry extolling the glories and painful sacrifices of courtly love. Inevitably, most involve Henry VIII's dogged search for a wife to produce a male heir, but readers may wince at the flowery exchanges between royal suitors and the increasingly elderly and unavailable Elizabeth. A solid, uniquely focused study of the irresistible Tudors. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

This is a fascinating examination of the Tudor dynasty as seen through the prism of courtly love. Gristwood (Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe) shows how historical and literary figures, such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Geoffrey Chaucer, promoted the theme of courtly love through their patronage and writing. The book also indicates how the literature of chivalry and courtly love's popularity among the highly cultured and well-read Tudors influenced the course of their romantic relationships, arranged marriages, and the way they ruled their kingdom. The book builds the case from the origins of the concept of courtly love in the legends of King Arthur, and literature, such as the Roman de la Rose and Troilus and Criseyde. After a slow beginning, the book picks up when it gets to the more familiar territory of Henry VIII's and Elizabeth I's reigns. Gristwood insightfully explores the conflicts between the romantic views of courtly love, the experiences of 16th-century English monarchs, and warring Catholic and Protestant factions. VERDICT This is a deeply researched work that covers well-known history from a unique angle.--Rebecca Mugridge

Historian Gristwood (The Queen's Mary) offers an engrossing look at how the Tudor dynasty employed the "stylish and stylised game" of courtly love. Popularized by medieval Arthurian legends depicting star-crossed lovers Guinevere and Lancelot, expressions of courtly love in 15th- and 16th-century England included romantic language professing devotion and such symbolic acts as a jouster wearing a woman's emblem. In mesmerizing detail, Gristwood shows how the Tudors used these methods to their advantage. For example, Henry VIII wielded protestations of courtly love to establish his persona as a young romantic figure at the mercy of the current object of his affection but viewed similarly ritualistic displays--including Anne Boleyn's tossing of her handkerchief to a jouster--as evidence of infidelity. Expertly deciphering the era's flowery language, Gristwood shows that women's oft-ignored denials gave them the illusion of control in a ruse-filled system designed to favor men. One of the rare women to hold real power in the complicated dance of courtly love, Elizabeth I employed it shrewdly to dangle potential marriage contracts with foreign princes and English nobles. Throughout, fascinating incidental details add insight and reveal personal connections between historical figures. The result is a fresh and tantalizing look at a much-scrutinized dynasty. (Dec.)