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kleonard's review
5.0
Uncrowned Queen is an excellent biography of Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII and a savvy political figure active in the Wars of the Roses. Thoroughly researched, the book is an entertaining and detailed read, and Tallis does a great job of making all of the often complicated bloodlines and inheritances clear and relevant. Readers interested in the Tudors and their history will enjoy this account of Margaret's careful planning and plots to install her son on the throne, as well as the detail Tallis provides on Margaret's estates, clothes, and jewelry, all managed and and used for specific purposes to secure her life, that of her her heir, and her freedom and positions over the course of her life.
hmalagisi's review against another edition
5.0
The stories of the women of the Wars of the Roses have become very popular in recent years. Tales of Jacquetta Woodville, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret of Anjou, and Elizabeth of York tend to be favorites of those who read historical fiction. However, there was one woman whose life story is so much better than fiction. She was married 3 or 4 times (depending on if you count her first marriage), had only one beloved son who she helped rise to become King of England, and was considered one of the most powerful women of her time. In the modern era of historical dramas, Margaret Beaufort has been portrayed as malicious and cunning, someone who plotted against the Yorkist cause. With all of these conflicting reports about this one woman, can we ever find out the truth about her life? What kind of person was Margaret Beaufort? Nicola Tallis has taken up the challenge to answer these questions to find the truth about this remarkable woman in her latest biography, “Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort Tudor Matriarch”.
Personally, I have been a huge fan of Margaret Beaufort, ever since I first heard about her rather extraordinary life. When I heard that Nicola Tallis was writing a new biography about her, I knew for a fact that I wanted to read it. Like Tallis’ previous biography that I read, this was an absolute joy to read.
From the moment she was born, Margaret was a useful pawn for the marriage market. Her father, John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was the grandson of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford and was an extremely powerful man. When he died, perhaps by suicide after a failed military campaign, Margaret was his only heiress. She was put on the marriage market at a young age and was perhaps married when she was quite young, but the first marriage she ever acknowledged was to Edmund Tudor, the father of Henry Tudor when she was 12; she would give birth to Henry when she was only 13 and never had any more children due to the trauma that she endured at such a young age.
It was this bond between mother and son that would define Margaret’s life and her motivation to keep on going, even when her life hung in the balance. After Edmund died, she was separated from Henry for years, meaning that if she wanted to protect her son, she would have to marry men of power, like her third husband, Henry Stafford, and her fourth husband, Thomas Stanley. These men would prove to be husbands that Margaret could rely on to make sure that Henry was able to survive during the Wars of the Roses. Margaret got along relatively well with kings like Henry VI and Edward IV, but to say that her relationship with Richard III was disastrous would be an understatement. Tallis takes the time to explore this relationship and to debunk the myth that she had something to do with the Princes in the Tower and their disappearances.
When Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485, the Tudor dynasty began and Margaret took up the new role as the King’s Mother. There were still triumphs and heartaches that Margaret had to endure, but we finally were able to see her piety and her desire to help out educational institutions during this last part of her life. By diving into the records, Tallis is able to reveal the truth about Margaret Beaufort’s life and her relationships with her ever-expanding family.
Tallis makes a triumphant return with this meticulously researched biography about the remarkable Margaret Beaufort. It is engaging and truly one of the best biographies about the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. This is a must-read for anyone who is curious about the Wars of the Roses, the beginning of the Tudor dynasty, and this strong mother caught in the middle. I highly recommend “Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort Tudor Matriarch” by Nicola Tallis.
Personally, I have been a huge fan of Margaret Beaufort, ever since I first heard about her rather extraordinary life. When I heard that Nicola Tallis was writing a new biography about her, I knew for a fact that I wanted to read it. Like Tallis’ previous biography that I read, this was an absolute joy to read.
From the moment she was born, Margaret was a useful pawn for the marriage market. Her father, John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was the grandson of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford and was an extremely powerful man. When he died, perhaps by suicide after a failed military campaign, Margaret was his only heiress. She was put on the marriage market at a young age and was perhaps married when she was quite young, but the first marriage she ever acknowledged was to Edmund Tudor, the father of Henry Tudor when she was 12; she would give birth to Henry when she was only 13 and never had any more children due to the trauma that she endured at such a young age.
It was this bond between mother and son that would define Margaret’s life and her motivation to keep on going, even when her life hung in the balance. After Edmund died, she was separated from Henry for years, meaning that if she wanted to protect her son, she would have to marry men of power, like her third husband, Henry Stafford, and her fourth husband, Thomas Stanley. These men would prove to be husbands that Margaret could rely on to make sure that Henry was able to survive during the Wars of the Roses. Margaret got along relatively well with kings like Henry VI and Edward IV, but to say that her relationship with Richard III was disastrous would be an understatement. Tallis takes the time to explore this relationship and to debunk the myth that she had something to do with the Princes in the Tower and their disappearances.
When Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485, the Tudor dynasty began and Margaret took up the new role as the King’s Mother. There were still triumphs and heartaches that Margaret had to endure, but we finally were able to see her piety and her desire to help out educational institutions during this last part of her life. By diving into the records, Tallis is able to reveal the truth about Margaret Beaufort’s life and her relationships with her ever-expanding family.
Tallis makes a triumphant return with this meticulously researched biography about the remarkable Margaret Beaufort. It is engaging and truly one of the best biographies about the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. This is a must-read for anyone who is curious about the Wars of the Roses, the beginning of the Tudor dynasty, and this strong mother caught in the middle. I highly recommend “Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort Tudor Matriarch” by Nicola Tallis.
libraryofdreaming's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book but I wish the author had interrogated her sources a bit more. Still, it's a great intro to Margaret and I'm glad she's getting more scholarly attention.