I've been obsessed with Elizabeth I and her family since the seventh grade when I was browsing in my school library and came upon this book, Behind the Mask. I loved the idea of a powerful woman ruler, especially in a time and place when women were much more systemically oppressed. I also loved the idea that there was more to Elizabeth I than met the eye. She had to hide behind the mask she created for herself (actually many masks), the Virgin Queen, Astraea, Gloriana, the female prince with the heart and stomach of a king. I identified with the idea of creating and assuming identities and personas to protect yourself, being seen a certain way to outsiders, keeping everyone else on edge in order to survive. She was my entree into this world, and then I fell in love with the story of her mother, Anne Boleyn, also a clever and powerful woman, and all the many wives, daughters, and female relations of the notorious Henry VIII. In honor of Anne Boleyn, who was executed on this day, May 19, in 1536, here are ten reasons I love the Tudors.
1. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
2. Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I by Jane Thomas
I've already written above about how this book turned me on to the story of Elizabeth I and her family. Also, the cover of the book is the Rainbow Portrait, see below.
3. The Rainbow Portrait
The Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I is my favorite of the many glorious portraits of her. This one specifically depicts her as Gloriana. Also, you can see on the sleeve of her orange mantle, there are embroidered eyes and ears, implying that she sees and hears all.
4. Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I, Red Rose of the House of Tudor
Another Elizabeth I book I read as a kid and loved. Such a well imagined tale of Elizabeth's childhood and historically accurate in many respects, it only contributed to my interest.
5. Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott
A nineteenth century masterpiece set in the Elizabeth era, around an Elizabethan mystery
6. The Maryland Renaissance Fair
Such a great event every year, and much of it centers on the Tudors, with actors playing Henry VIII and his wives and portraying scenes from the court throughout the Faire.
7. Elizabeth I's poem "On Monsieur's Departure"
"Since from myself another self I turned"--what a great line!
8. 'Freedom of Religion'
It didn't mean then what it means (or should mean) today, but Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and Elizabeth I's refusal to open windows in men's souls marked the very beginnings of (still quite intolerant) religious tolerance in Christian Europe.
9. The Heart and Stomach of a King
I mean, have you read this brilliant piece of rhetoric?
10. Strong Female Rulers Defying Stereotypes and Illustrating the Benefits of Being Single and/or Childless
This is what Elizabeth meant to me immediately, and though she's come to mean more, it was so empowering and incredible as a child to see an example of a powerful woman who was powerful in and of herself, even BECAUSE she was single and childless. It was such a helpful counter-narrative to a lot of what I saw around me.
2. Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I by Jane Thomas
I've already written above about how this book turned me on to the story of Elizabeth I and her family. Also, the cover of the book is the Rainbow Portrait, see below.
3. The Rainbow Portrait
The Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I is my favorite of the many glorious portraits of her. This one specifically depicts her as Gloriana. Also, you can see on the sleeve of her orange mantle, there are embroidered eyes and ears, implying that she sees and hears all.
4. Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I, Red Rose of the House of Tudor
Another Elizabeth I book I read as a kid and loved. Such a well imagined tale of Elizabeth's childhood and historically accurate in many respects, it only contributed to my interest.
5. Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott
A nineteenth century masterpiece set in the Elizabeth era, around an Elizabethan mystery
6. The Maryland Renaissance Fair
Such a great event every year, and much of it centers on the Tudors, with actors playing Henry VIII and his wives and portraying scenes from the court throughout the Faire.
7. Elizabeth I's poem "On Monsieur's Departure"
"Since from myself another self I turned"--what a great line!
8. 'Freedom of Religion'
It didn't mean then what it means (or should mean) today, but Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and Elizabeth I's refusal to open windows in men's souls marked the very beginnings of (still quite intolerant) religious tolerance in Christian Europe.
9. The Heart and Stomach of a King
I mean, have you read this brilliant piece of rhetoric?
10. Strong Female Rulers Defying Stereotypes and Illustrating the Benefits of Being Single and/or Childless
This is what Elizabeth meant to me immediately, and though she's come to mean more, it was so empowering and incredible as a child to see an example of a powerful woman who was powerful in and of herself, even BECAUSE she was single and childless. It was such a helpful counter-narrative to a lot of what I saw around me.
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