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The Tudors in Love
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The Tudors in Love examines how the medieval language of courtly love continued to govern behaviour at the Tudor court. Sarah Gristwood begins with Arthurian and chivalric romance, then shows how its roles of devoted knight, distant mistress and suffering lover shaped dynastic marriage, tournament display, poetry and political persuasion from Henry VII to Elizabeth I.
The code offered rulers a flexible language for desire and service, but it could also disguise coercion and sharpen danger. Henry VIII used ritualised devotion during his pursuit of Anne Boleyn and later interpreted similar gestures as evidence against her; Elizabeth I turned the conventions of love and marriage negotiation into instruments of rule. By reading letters, poems and performances alongside political events, the book connects private emotion, literary tradition and the exercise of monarchy.
Historical periods
Historical people
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