The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty

The bestselling historian finds a new way to look at the most famous English royal dynasty

A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year

‘One of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation.’ Tracy Borman

In this groundbreaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the ‘loyal and most assured servant’ of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature, but now with life-and-death consequences for the protagonists. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling obsessions that have shaped the history of this nation.

‘A riveting, pacy page-turner… the Tudors as you’ve never seen them before.’ Alison Weir