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Book Cover for: Preparing Tudor Kings and Princes to Rule: The Men and Women Who Trained the Royals, Julia A. Hickey

Preparing Tudor Kings and Princes to Rule: The Men and Women Who Trained the Royals

Julia A. Hickey

The men and women who found themselves responsible for Tudor princes and princesses were chosen for a variety of reasons and came from different backgrounds. The outcome of their labour was almost as varied. These are the stories of the men and women who moulded the Tudors and what happened to them in the throne's shadow. Amongst their number were gentlewomen, veterans of the Wars of the Roses, a Plantagenet princess, Welsh speakers, royal uncles and the children of convicted traitors. For some, there were rewards, pensions and preferment. For others, there was only disaster. For those who sought power themselves, including Edward VI's guardians Edward Seymour and John Dudley, the executioner's axe awaited.

Jasper Tudor protected his nephew Henry Tudor during thirteen difficult years in exile, fulfilling the role of bodyguard, secret agent and adviser. Lady Margaret Beaufort advised on the birth, education and marriages of her grandchildren. Princes and princesses were reared from infancy by women whom the ruling monarch could trust. Mother Jak and Sybil Penn became surrogate mothers. Governesses, including Margaret Countess of Salisbury and Lady Margaret Bryan, were loyal, kind and protective. Others, like Anne Shelton, were appointed to make the lives of their royal charge a misery. It was left to Katherine Parr, a strongminded intelligent woman, to exercise her right as Henry VIII's queen to take a close personal interest in the education of her step-children.

Faced with dysfunctional families and turbulent times, governors and governesses faced imprisonment, execution or ruin on behalf of their royal charges. But the rewards were worth the risk.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Pen and Sword History
  • Publish Date: Apr 28th, 2025
  • Pages: 224
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00lb
  • EAN: 9781399052559
  • Categories: RoyaltyHistoricalEurope - Great Britain - Tudor & Elizabethan Era (1485-1603)

About the Author

Hickey, Julia A.: - Julia has been passionate about history since she visited Buckland Abbey as a child more than forty years ago. She has an MA as well as a BA in History and English Literature. She has taught in a range of educational settings but is currently an independent lecturer and speaker based in the Midlands and Yorkshire. In addition to a text for Literacy Specialists she has written about border reivers, the grisly tale of Carlisle's gallows and is the author of many short stories set in the past. She writes a regular blog at thehistoryjar.com about all things historical and can often be found exploring castles and stately stacks.