The Other Tudors: Henry VIIII's Mistresses and Bastards - Philippa Jones

The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards
Philippa Jones
Published by New Holland Publishers (UK), London, 2010
ISBN 978 1 84773 778 6
327 pages, illustrated

The Other Tudors rather caught my eyes a few years back when I purchased it. Patiently sitting on my reading shelf since then along with about 100 other books I have purchased, I finally sat down and read it. My new life has me reading, exercising, watching movies and doing genealogy and at the moment in that order actually.  I haven't lost my love of genealogy; I just need to do other things and still to add in my knitting and that will likely begin one of these days as I have one item on needles and lots of wool to work with.

There are 13 chapters to this particular novel and there is a time line. This period of English History I find quite interesting as it marks a change in my Pincombe family. This family appears at North Molton having come with Lord de la Zouche in 1485. Henry VII becomes King of England following the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 which was fought in Leicestershire. Richard III, whose remains were lately exhumed, remains an enigma in British History. Did he kill his two nephews in the Tower? Now it also appears that there may be a break in the yDNA line for the Lancastrian line and does it also affect the Tudor line. Does it really matter who is the King/Queen of England in terms of dynasty? I do not think so actually. The present Queen is duly head of state - is an annointed Monarch coming down through the Royal Line of Scotland. An ideal state really bringing together the largest Island in the British Isles through such a common blood line.

The book itself in its thirteen chapters talks about the many wives and mistresses of Henry VIII and puts forward a reason for Henry VIII's attitude towards women. His own mother was, and history defends this idea, a perfect wife and mother and the thought is perpetuated throughout the book that Henry was seeking this same kind of woman for his wife. Had Catherine of Aragon produced a son/sons then Henry would have remained faithful his entire life to Catherine and there wouldn't have been a separation from the Roman Church. Would the history of England be that different in such a case? I suspect not really remembering my English grandparents and their attitudes.

I will not review the book chapter by chapter because it does not add to my knowledge of the general population in England in this time period. Most of my reading aims to learn more about different time periods in England so that I can appreciate the lives of my ancestors.

In all Henry is listed as having three legitimate children - Mary I, Edward VI and Elizabeth I and five known illegitimate children - Henry Fitzroy Duke of Richmond, Sir Henry Carey, Thomas Stukeley, John Perrot, and Etheldreda Malte. Several other possible children were mentioned.

A few of the things that I really liked about the book were the family trees that led each chapter. I want to get back to working on family trees for the Blake Cornwall family and I liked the layout of these trees and will micmic them somewhat with the work that I have done thus far on the Cornwall Blake family.

I recommend the book for anyone interested in this time period. The research that has gone into the book is extensive with lots of references to add to one's reading pleasure.