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Tudor Series
Uneasy lies the Head
Uneasy Lies the Head Vol. 1
January 1982 Robert Hale
Henry Tudor had triumphed at Bosworth and the crown was his but no sooner had he ascended the throne than he was plagued by the impostors, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck.  He knew their claims were spurious, but there were two shadowy figures from the past who disturbed his days and gave him sleepless nights.  They were the two Princes who had disappeared mysteriously in the Tower.  He knew that they could never come to claim the throne; he had good reason to know that they had been murdered and that their bodies lay buried in the Tower.  But he could not disclose the reason for his certainty and the ghosts of the little Princes were to haunt him until he found a means of banishing those grisly specters.
When tragedy struck at Ludlow, Henry was plunged into mourning, but there was one who suffered more and this was Katharine, the Spanish Princess, the virgin-widow for whom, after the death of her husband, there was no place at Court.  Katharine emerges as a pathetic figure in her threadbare gowns and her impoverished household, desolate and suffering deeply from the callous indifference of the King.  Her hope lay in Henry, the new Prince of Wales who, in spite of his youth, was becoming the most dazzling personality of the Court.  Handsome, full of vitality, completely self-centered, sentimental, chivalrous - when being so did not interfere with his desires - beginning to feel the tug of conscience, already casting yearning eyes towards the crown - this was Prince Henry who was to become King Henry VIII.
Henry VII was fortunate in his marriage to the gentle, docile Elizabeth of York through whom he was able to unite the rival Houses of York and Lancaster; his able statesmen, Empson and Dudley, shared  his views for the need of a strong treasury; he was firmly supported and adored by his strong-minded mother, the Countess of Richmond; and he had handsome children who were useful to his ambitious plans.
This King ruled wisely, bringing prosperity to the country; he cherished the crown he had won on Bosworth Field; but from the moment he seized it he learned the bitter lesson that "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown".


Katharine the Virgin Widow Vol. 2
1961 Robert Hale
Was the marriage consummated?
The infanta Katharine, youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, who had left Spain for England in order to become the bride of Arthur, Prince of Wales, had soon become a widow, and this was the question that was being asked, which was to overshadow her life.
Only half her dowry had been paid, and her position was dubious; the years of humiliation had begun.  Living in poverty at Durham House, Katharine discovered that she was duenna, Dona Elvira, that her father's ambassadors worked against each other, and that her maids of honor longed to return to Spain.
Bravely Katharine accepted her own fate, always conscious of the prince whose importance had grown since the death of Arthur -- the young Henry.  In those days before he became Henry VIII, he was egotistical yet sentimental; willful and arrogant, yet robust and handsome.
This account of the events which led to the most significant of royal marriages is set against a background of English and Spanish intrigue.  It is the story of a young girl, a widow, yet a virgin, who was at the mercy of two powerful, callous monarchs, and of the handsome, wayward Prince who alone had the power to rescue her by setting a crown upon her head.

Shadow of the Pomegranate Vol. 3
1962 Robert Hale
The marriage of Katharine of Aragon and Henry VIII is seemingly ideal.  Katharine, although five years Henry's senior, is attractive and eager to please.  Her insignia is the pomegranate, the Arabic sign of fertility; she will give the King what he desires most: An heir to the throne.  
But tragedy strikes when their infant son dies, just fifty-two days old.  Katharine suffers a devastating series of miscarriages, each of which only encourages the King's wandering eye.  To make matters worse, Katharine, an unwitting emissary for her manipulative and greedy father, King Ferdinand, finds herself caught up in the dangerous web of political intrigue.
Dominating the scene is the inordinately vain and egotistical young King Henry.  His eye for women and his lust for power will only make Katharine more vulnerable to betrayal during the years of living in the ironic shadow of the Pomegranate.

King's Secret Matter Vol. 4
1962 Robert Hale
The twelve year marriage of Henry and Katharine has declined from an idyllic union into an uneasy stalemate.  The King's love for his aging Queen has grown cold, and he is angry with her failure to give him the heir to the throne he desperately wants.  When the seductive Anne Boleyn arrives at court, the King is captivated by her dark beauty and bold spirit, and becomes obsessed with his desire to possess her.
With his chief advisor, Cardinal Wolsey, the King devises a secret plot to declare the marriage with Katharine null and void.  But Katharine refuses to surrender to his wishes and fights desperately to retain her title and safeguard her daughter, Mary.
The ensuing power struggle is one of the turning points in English history.

Murder Most Royal
Murder Most Royal Vol. 5
1972 Robert Hale
The theme of this long and powerful novel is murder - and not only the murder of one of the most fascinating personalities in English history, Anne Boleyn, but of many more of the vital and famous people who lived in the dangerous days when a carelessly spoken word, or his nearness to the throne, was sufficient to send a man to the block.
Against a violent background, the story of ill-fated Anne Boleyn is told with remarkable insight and is interwoven with that of the other murdered Queen, Catherine Howard. Anne is seen as the humble daughter of a ruthless father, cheated of her lover, so that out of her proud nature grows that ambition which destroyed her, leading her to exchange the powerful role of King's mistress for the dangerous one of King's wife. While she moves forward to tragedy, the little Catherine Howard is seen growing up, amid circumstances which may shock and horrify but which cannot fail to arouse deep interest and pity.
And through the book strides the magnificent, dominating figure of Henry VIII - sanctimonious, hypocritical, shrewd, cunning and ruthless, sometimes sentimental but always amorous.The theme of this long and powerful novel is murder - and not only the murder of one of the most fascinating personalities in English history, Anne Boleyn, but of many more of the vital and famous people who lived in the dangerous days when a carelessly spoken word, or his nearness to the throne, was sufficient to send a man to the block.
Against a violent background, the story of ill-fated Anne Boleyn is told with remarkable insight and is interwoven with that of the other murdered Queen, Catherine Howard. Anne is seen as the humble daughter of a ruthless father, cheated of her lover, so that out of her proud nature grows that ambition which destroyed her, leading her to exchange the powerful role of King's mistress for the dangerous one of King's wife. While she moves forward to tragedy, the little Catherine Howard is seen growing up, amid circumstances which may shock and horrify but which cannot fail to arouse deep interest and pity.
And through the book strides the magnificent, dominating figure of Henry VIII - sanctimonious, hypocritical, shrewd, cunning and ruthless, sometimes sentimental but always amorous.

St Thomas's Eve
St. Thomas's Eve Vol. 6
1954 Robert Hale
This is the beautifully conceived story of Sir Thomas More -- scholar, chancellor of England, man of integrity -- who was snatched from the peaceful life of his family home in Chelsea, to die on the scaffold as the price of his opposition to the wild desires of King Henry VIII.
It is also the story of a delectable family caught up in the intrigues of a lustful king.
Thomas More did not seek fame.  His merry household, sanctuary of Holbein and Erasmus, was in startling contrast with the licentious Tudor court.  But when fame was thrust upon More, he began the perilous journey which ended on St. Thomas's Eve.

Sixth Wife
Sixth Wife Vol. 7
June 1965 Robert Hale
Katherine Parr survived her royal husband.
Haunted by memories of her tragic predecessors in the tyrant's bed, dangerously in love with another man, her story unfolds upon a stage crowded with a rich array of characters high and low.

Thistle and the Rose Vol. 8
1963 Robert hale
Princess Margaret Tudor is the greatest prize when her father, King Henry VII, negotiates the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with neighboring Scotland.  The betrothal is meant to end decades of bloody border wars, but it becomes a love match: To Margaret's surprise, she finds joy in the marriage to the dashing James IV of Scotland, a man sixteen years her senior.  But the marriage, and the peace it brings to both nations, does not last.  When King James is struck down by the armies of King Henry VIII, Margaret -- Princess of England, but Queen of Scotland -- finds herself torn between loyalty to the land and family of her birth and to that of her baby son, now King of the Scots.  She decides to remain in Scotland and carve out her own destiny, surviving a scandalous second marriage and battling with both her son and her brother to the very end.  Like all the Tudors, Margaret's life would be one of turmoil and controversy, but through her descendants, England and Scotland would unite as one nation, under one rule, and find peace.


Mary, Queen of France Vol. 9
December 1964 Robert Hale
Princess Mary Rose is the youngest sister of Henry VIII, and one of the few people whom he adores unconditionally.  Known throughout Europe for her charm and good looks, Mary is the golden child of the Tudor family and is granted her every wish.
Except when it come to marriage.  Henry VIII, locked in a political showdown with France, decides to offer up his pampered baby sister to secure peace between the two mighty kingdoms.  Innocent, teenage Mary must become the wife of the elderly King Louis, a toothless, ailing man in his sixties.  Horrified and furious, Mary has no choice but to sail to France.  There she hones her political skills, bides her time, and remains secretly in love with Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk.  When King Louis dies, after only two years of marriage, Mary is determined not to be sold into another unhappy union.  She must act quickly; if she wants to be with the man she truly loves, she must defy the laws of church and state by marrying without her brother's permission.  Together, Mary and Charles devise a scheme to outwit the most ruthless King in Europe and gain their hearts' desire, not knowing if it will lead to marital bliss or certain death.

Spanish Bridegroom Vol. 10
December 1954 Robert Hale
Set against the glittering courts of sixteenth-century Europe, the Spain of the dreaded Inquisition, and the tortured England of Bloody Mary, this powerful novel traces the story of Philip II -- and of the women who came to know this man whom history lists as a cold-blooded monster only as a devoted father and sensual lover.  Philip has remained a mysterious character through the centuries.  Some see him as a tyrant, a murderer, a fanatic who reveled in the sufferings he witnessed at the autos-da-fé which took place in his native country and which enjoyed his wholehearted support.  To others he is the devout Catholic, the founder of that monastic palace the escorial, and a man whose harsh deeds were all committed in the cause of duty and self-sacrifice.

Gay Lord Robert Vol. 11
1955 Robert Hale
Robert Dudley was determined not to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both of whom had died on the scaffold.  But already at 20 Robert was a prisoner in the grim Tower of London, his life hanging by a tenuous thread.
The young Lord's chief weapon was exciting masculinity which had already won him the love of a fellow prisoner - the young Princess Elizabeth, soon to be Queen.  The love between Robert and Elizabeth was passionate and enduring, and might have culminated in marriage had not Robert's tragic wife stood between them.
In this moving novel of historical romance, Elizabeth lives as the Princess whose life is in continual jeopardy, and as the all-powerful Queen - courageous and coquettish, indiscreet in love, cautious in politics.  The vainest, yet shrewdest woman in the world, she was forced to weigh her love of power against her love for the man she could not have.

Katharine of Aragon Vol. 2,3,4
November 1968 Robert Hale
This is the three books about Katharine of Aragon compiled into one volume - Katharine the Virgin Widow, Shadow of the Pomegranate, and The King's Secret Matter.  This book has recently been reissued by Three Rivers Press.




Henry VII    Henry VIII    Edward VI    Jane Grey    Mary I	    Elizabeth I
Henry VII        Henry VIII        Edward VI        Jane Grey        Mary I            Elizabeth I

Elizabeth of York    Katharine of Aragon    Anne Boleyn    Catherine Howard    Thomas More    Katharine Parr
Elizabeth of York    Katharine of Aragon        Anne Boleyn        Catherine Howard        Thomas More        Katharine Parr

Margaret Tudor	    James IV    Mary Rose Tudor    Charles Brandon    Philip II    Robert Dudley
Margaret Tudor        James IV        Mary Rose Tudor    Charles Brandon        Philip II        Robert Dudley

Jane Seymour	    Anne of Cleves	    Lettice Knollys
Jane Seymour        Anne of Cleves        Lettice Knollys    



John (of Gaunt), son of Edward II and Isabel of France married Catherine Swynford (his third wife)
They had three sons; John Beaufort, Henry and Thomas, and one daughter; Joan

John Beaufort married Margaret Beauchamp
They had Margaret Beaufort

Margaret Beaufort married Edmund Tudor (Son of Owen Tudor and Catherine (Widow of Henry V)
They had Henry VII

Henry VII (1457-1509)married Elizabeth of York (Daughter of Edward IV)
They had four sons; Arthur, Henry VIII, Edmund and Edward, and four daughters; Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary and Katherine

Henry VIII married 1)Katharine of Aragon
They had one daughter; Mary

Henry VIII married 2) Anne Boleyn
They had one daughter; Elizabeth

Henry VIII married 3) Jane Seymour
They had one son; Edward VI

Henry VIII married 4) Anne of Cleves
no children

Henry VIII married 5) Catherine Howard
no children

Henry VIII married 6) Katharine Parr
no children