In Bed with the Tudors

In Bed with the Tudors by Amy Licence  

Paperback: 256 pages

• Publisher: Amberley; Reprint edition (March 19, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1445614758
• ISBN-13: 978-1445614755

Illegitimate children, adulterous queens, impotent kings, and a whole dynasty resting on their shoulders. Sex and childbirth were quite literally a matter of life or death for the Tudors – Elizabeth of York died in childbirth, two of Henry VIII’s queens were beheaded for infidelity and Elizabeth I’s elective virginity signaled the demise of a dynasty.

Amy Licence guides the reader through the births of Elizabeth of York’s two sons, Arthur and Henry, Catherine of Aragon’s subsequent marriages to both of these men, Henry VIII’s other five wives and his mistresses, and the sex lives of his daughters. 

This book details the experiences of all these women, from fertility, conception and pregnancy through to the delivery chamber, on to maternal and infant mortality. Each woman’s story is a blend of specific personal circumstances, set against their historical moment: for some the joys were brief; for others it was a question that ultimately determined their fates.

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Let me start by saying that this author is by far one of my favorite authors of non-fiction. She is truly gifted and paints a vivid picture of the time period that she is writing about.  

Every chapter is filled with bite size morsels of any detail that one would think of in terms of what goes on in the medieval bedroom. I have been reading about Tudor history for a few years now, and was surprised to find out new facts that I didn't know. It is in chronological order, from Henry VII on down the Tudor line, so it is easy to find what you are looking for if you want to skim through it. I thought at first I might do that, but once I started reading, I couldn't stop. 

I especially liked that Amy tells about Henry VIII's other sexual encounters outside of his marriages, and how they were viewed during his time. It told what was appropriate, and what was not. Of course there was always a double standard, but interesting nonetheless. Some of the names of illegitimate children that Henry was said to have fathered were also mentioned, as well as known mistresses. This is especially interesting to me because I had a distant cousin (Anne Bassett) who was said to be one of them.

This book goes into great depths, and is very well researched. The author remains unbiased, providing all angles of theories mentioned. She uses a variety of sources of the time to find silly superstitions that will make you laugh, as well as stories of other less known women of the time and their experiences, giving life to the book and filling in where there might otherwise be gaps. 

She also tells where fictional writers have taken liberties in their story-lines, and helps the reader to see what can be, and can't be proved, so that they won't be without knowledge of the truth. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Tudors. It's an exceptional read.

This book was given as a copy to review by Amberley Publishing, my review is written with honesty and without any ties to the author. I did not receive any monetary gain from doing so.