Book Review: "The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England"
Joanne Paul's new book on the powerful Dudley family reveals the perils and rewards of serving at the Tudor court.
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It’s probably no secret to readers of this newsletter that I am a passionate devotee of Tudor history. If there’s a book or a film or a TV show about this most glamorous and deadly of English dynasties, chances are that I’m going to be interested in reading it. I was thus very excited to see that there was a new trade history book out about the Tudor era, focusing on the Dudleys, one of the most influential–and tragic–families to have emerged during this turbulent period of history. Joanne Paul’s The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England, is a remarkably erudite and readable piece of popular history that doesn’t sacrifice rigor in favor of accessibility.
As Paul eloquently reminds us, the Dudleys were some of the most important supporters of the Tudor dynasty, beginning with Edmund and ending with Robert, Queen Elizabeth I’s most beloved and enduring courtier. However, they were repeatedly at the mercy of fortune’s wheel, for no sooner did they manage to rise to the pinnacle of power than they were cast down into abjection again and again and again.
Paul’s story begins with Edmund Dudley, who rose from rather humble origins to become one of the most influential men at Henry VII’s court. The first of the Tudors was a man well-known (and more than a little infamous) for his avarice and desire for more funds, and Edmund proved particularly adept at squeezing money out of everyone. However, closeness to the Tudor monarchs carried with it a number of dangers, as members of the Dudley family found to their cost. After serving Henry VII faithfully, he was quickly thrown to the wolves once the elder Henry was dead and his son succeeded him. The Tudors, unfortunately for those who served in their court, were not particularly known for their loyalty.
Through sheer tenacity and guile, Edmund’s son John managed to claw his way back into power and influence. Not only did he become a member of Henry VIII’s inner circle, he also managed to secure himself a position of significant power and influence over the king’s successor, the young Edward VI. Here, too, however, ambition proved to be a double-edged sword, particularly when Dudley conspired with the ailing Edward to cut his sisters out of the line of succession in favor of his staunchly Protestant cousin, Jane Grey who was, of course, married to John’s son. Unfortunately for all of them, things quickly fell apart when Princess Mary triumphed, ultimately sending John and son Guildford to the block.
It was John’s son Robert, however, who would come closest to seeing the family’s ambitions brought to fruition. He was canny enough to become a courtier–and rumored lover–to Queen Elizabeth I, who showered him with honors and affections. She even went so far as to ennoble him, creating him Earl of Leicester. Yet even Robert found that the curse of the Dudleys was never far away, and there were always limits to Elizabeth’s forbearance (particularly after he was foolish enough to marry her beautiful cousin Lettice Knollys). Despite all of his accomplishments, he was never able to produce a legitimate male heir; his son with Lettice died at a tragically young age. Robert’s fate was, in its own way, just as tragic as that of his father and his grandfather, for while his power stemmed directly from the Queen herself, she was also the one most determined to keep him under control.
Though these three men occupy much of Paul’s story, she also gives due attention to some of the other more tangential members of the family, including Mary Dudley, John’s sister, who was the mother of Sir Philip Sidney, the noted poet (who died tragically young fighting in the Netherlands). This allows her to give a very thorough investigation of the impact of the Tudors and their rule on one of the family’s who were closest to them and who thoroughly tied their interests to those in power. Mary, like her brothers and her father, suffered greatly in royal service; after nursing Queen Elizabeth through her vicious smallpox attack, she developed the disease. Even this, however, wasn’t enough to earn her much in the Virgin Queen’s service, who seemed quite willing and inclined to exploit her and her husband.
Paul has a keen eye for material detail, and she gives us an intimate view of what daily life was like for those of the Dudley’s class. The book is replete with descriptions of the various Dudley homes and the great palaces inhabited by the Tudors. Just as importantly, she also includes copious quotes from those of the period, both the Dudleys themselves and those who knew them, worked with them in the halls of power, and of course turned against them. This gives the reader a keen sense of the period and its most prominent voices.
I’ve always found the Dudleys to be some of the most fascinating figures of the Tudor period. They might not originally have been members of the nobility, but they proved remarkably adept at climbing the ladder of power, managing to accrue quite a few titles in the process. In binding themselves so tightly to the various Tudor monarchs–particularly Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth–they inadvertently sowed the seeds of their own demise. By the time that Elizabeth died in 1603, many of the Dudleys were already dead, having worn themselves out in service of the monarchy.
Overall, I found myself quite swept along by The House of Dudley. Joanne Paul has certainly joined some of the other great popular historians working today, and this book will certainly appeal to those who are fans of Dan Jones and Alison Weir. Even though it might sometimes seem as if there couldn’t possibly be anything new to say about the Tudors, Paul demonstrates that this rich period of English history still has much to reveal, particularly when it comes to those who were closest the Tudors and did so much to contribute to their power.