THE TUDORS IN LOVE

Delve into the drama of Tudor-era courtship with this new book from former Telegraph journalist Sarah Gristwood. Author of several books on 15th- and 16th-century history, Gristwood is something of an expert on this period. Allow yourself to be transported to a time when infatuation and flamboyant rituals were the order of the day.

By exploring the romances of the Tudors, Gristwood fills in a gap in history often dismissed as trivial, which in fact both made and marred the Tudor Dynasty. The Tudors in Love provides a unique lens on this period and shows how courtships shaped everything, down to power and politics.

In engaging style, Gristwood sets the scene with an outline of the roots of courtly love and its preoccupation with chivalry. Starting out simply as a fantasy confined to literature and art, courtly love was born out of a desire for real romantic relationships – a revolutionary concept in a time dominated by political marriages. In Tudor courtship, men lived to serve their lovers, often women married to men of a higher rank.

Despite its romance, however, courtly love “is also one of obsession, extreme violence and emotional cruelty”, as Gristwood explains in thrilling detail. This was a turbulent time in history, with complex affairs at the root of the drama we often associate with this period.

A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year for 2021, this fascinating read presents Tudor history as you’ve never seen it before, and provides a compelling insight into the evolution of the social codes of romance.

One World Publications, £20; ISBN: 978-1-78607-894-0