Charleston County Public Library

The hidden lives of Tudor women, a social history, Elizabeth Norton

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 376-393) and index

collective biography

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

The hidden lives of Tudor women

bibliography

990777150

Elizabeth Norton

a social history

"The Tudor period conjures up images of queens and noblewomen in elaborate court dress; of palace intrigue and dramatic politics. But if you were a woman, it was also a time when death during childbirth was rife; when marriage was usually a legal contract, not a matter for love, and the education you could hope to receive was minimal at best. Yet the Tudor century was also dominated by powerful and dynamic women in a way that no era had been before. Historian Elizabeth Norton explores the life cycle of the Tudor woman, from childhood to old age, through the diverging examples of women such as Elizabeth Tudor, Henry VIII's sister; Cecily Burbage, Elizabeth's wet nurse; Mary Howard, widowed but influential at court; Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of a controversial queen; and Elizabeth Barton, a peasant girl who would be lauded as a prophetess. Their stories are interwoven with studies of topics ranging from Tudor toys to contraception to witchcraft, painting a portrait of the lives of queens and serving maids, nuns and harlots, widows and chaperones. Norton brings this vibrant period to colorful life in an evocative and insightful social history."--Jacket flap

First age. Of babies and bellies: Elizabeth of York & the first Elizabeth Tudor -- Of nurses and nurseries: Cecily Burbage, Elizabeth of York & the infant Elizabeth Tudor -- Of toys and terminations: Elizabeth Tudor's brief life -- Second age. Of young ladies and learning: the Countess of Surrey's girls, Jane Dormer, Lady Bryan & Margaret Beaufort -- Of servants and masters: Elizabeth Barton, maidservant -- Third age. Of love and marriage: Cecily Burbage & Elizabeth Boleyn -- Of apprentices and aspirations: Katherine Fenkyll, wife and business partner -- Fourth age. Of city trade and London life: Katherine Fenkyll, independent businesswoman -- Of visions and revelations: Elizabeth Barton, the Holy Maid of Kent -- Of mistresses and mystics: Catherine of Aragon, the Boleyns & Elizabeth Barton -- Of politics and prophecies: Elizabeth Barton & Anne Boleyn -- Of inquisitions and treasons: Elizabeth Barton & Anne Boleyn -- Fifth age. Of pilgrimages and punishments : Margaret Cheyne, Lady Bulmer -- Of bibles and burnings: Joan Bocher, Princess Mary and Jane Grey -- Of Protestants and pyres: Margaret Clitherow and the new Queen Elizabeth -- The sixth age -- Of settlements and proposals: Queen Elizabeth and Rose Hickman -- The seventh age -- Of wigs and witchcraft: Queen Elizabeth in her sixties, and the witches of England -- Of frailties and finalities: Jane Dormer, "Gloriana" and the poor women of England -- Epilogue: Stuart women