Book 27: Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir

This is the book I put on pause to read Book 26. Over the years, I've read several books on the Tudors; this is the first I've read focusing on Elizabeth of York. I did watch The White Princess miniseries based on Philippa Gregory's book of the same name. I don't trust Gregory as a historian. In the miniseries Elizabeth believed that the Pretender Perkin Warbeck really was her brother Richard, the Duke of York. It made for good TV--watching Elizabeth try to save her brother's life while worrying about what it would mean for her husband and children--but that theory has been disproven. 

 

Here, Weir is writing as a historian, and not as a author of historical fiction. Frankly, the book gets boring in parts--listing family members Elizabeth aided financially, alms given to individuals and institutions, fabrics she bought, etc. I skimmed through some of these details as well as some poems. There's a fair amount of speculation about important events in Elizabeth's life: when she learned about them and what she thought about them. Weir spends some time defending Henry VII from charges of stinginess.

Elizabeth's bloodline as daughter of King Edward IV gave her a stronger claim to the throne than her husband, yet her right to succeed was ignored. A generation later, both of her granddaughters Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled in their own right. 

How times change.