The Sisters of Henry VIII: The Tumultuous Lives of Margaret of Scotland and Mary of France Book

Henry VIII's sisters, neglected by generations of historians, impacted the lives and perceptions of their contemporaries much more forcefully than did any of their brother's famous six wives. In The Sisters of Henry VIII, Maria Perry examines the lives of these extraordinary women and analyzes their influence on European history in the Tudor Age.

Both sisters, Margaret and Mary, initially accepted their status as pawns in the dynastic power struggles that raged across sixteenth-century Europe. Margaret became queen of Scotland at age thirteen; family members arranged beautiful Mary's betrothal to the aging King of France when she was twelve. But both women chose their second husbands for love. Margaret bucked convention by marrying and divorcing twice after Henry's advancing armies slaughtered her first husband and kidnapped her children. Mary risked execution by proposing to the handsome Duke of Suffolk. By illuminating the characters of these two historical figures, Perry casts light on other aspects of Tudor England, offering a fresh interpretation of Henry VIII's upbringing and of his relationship with immediate family members.

In this eye-opening expose of the intrigue and scandal that simmered just beneath the Tudors' regal image, Perry reveals striking new information about a family that--more than any other--shaped the development of both Reformation England and the modern world. She delivers a new and entirely viable theory about what transpired on the wedding night of Henry's doomed elder brother, Arthur, England's heir apparent, and she presents her own spectacular findings on Henry's illegitimate son, his "worldly jewel," the shadowy Duke of Richmond.

Groundbreaking in both depth and scope, The Sisters of Henry VIII rescues two remarkable princesses from the shadows of history and radically challenges popular views of both the king and his era.