The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty

Why did Henry VIII marry six times? Why did Anne Boleyn die? Why did Elizabeth I’s courtiers hail her as a goddess?

Author Sarah Gristwood’s groundbreaking history reveals how courtly love shaped the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII’s devotion to Anne Boleyn to Elizabeth I’s poems to her suitors, the Tudors reenacted medieval romances’ roles of devoted lovers and capricious mistresses. This book dissects love, desire, and power codes, revealing romantic obsessions that shaped history.