Williamsburg Regional Library

In the lion's court, power, ambition, and sudden death in the reign of Henry VIII, Derek Wilson

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 539-551) and index

collective biography

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index present

non fiction

In the lion's court

bibliography

49407494

Derek Wilson

power, ambition, and sudden death in the reign of Henry VIII

The story of Henry VIII and his six wives is a well-known example of the caprice and violence that dominated that King's reign. Now renowned historian Derek Wilson examines a set of relationships that more vividly illustrate just how dangerous life was in the court of the Tudor lion. He tells the interlocking stories of six men--all curiously enough named Thomas--whose ambitions and principles brought them face to face with violent death, as recorded in a simple mnemonic: "Died, beheaded, beheaded, Self-slaughtered, burned, survived."

pt. 1. 1499 : A question of identity -- Walking the tightrope -- The life of the university and the university of life -- pt. 2. 1509 : A lawyer's life -- A fair beginning -- Council and councillor -- Obscure origins -- pt. 3. 1519 : Warrior king -- Friends, lovers and creatures -- Eminence -- Wisdom and folly -- Prince, priests and philosophers -- In the thickets of obscurity -- pt. 4. 1529 : Wolsey: the peacock years -- Out in the cold -- A man of property -- Storms and storm damage -- The fatal failure -- Hopes and fears -- The rise of the new men -- pt. 5. 1539 : New brooms -- Out of control -- End of an era -- Under new management -- The end of the affair -- The unholy maid -- Morus contra mundum -- Annus horribilis -- New men, new ideas, old anxieties -- pt. 6. 1549 : The scaffold at the centre of the labyrinth -- Faith and faction -- A lion in the Daniels' den -- Long live the king -- Epilogue: 1559 -- Requiescant

adult