Posted by Steven on 28/5/2012, 9:19:56, in reply to "Re: preparatory reading for Wolf Hall"
76.186.47.15
I'm about a fourth of the way through Wolf Hall and really enjoying it.
Another good resource for background information is a free online lecture course from Yale titled "Early Modern England: Politics, Religion and Society under the Tudors and Stewarts." http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-251 There are lectures on such topics as family life, social classes, and religion as well as on historical events and personalities.
--Previous Message--
: The politics of the 16th Century were
: marvelously complex and the personalities just as
: interesting.
:
: Yes, amazing, and quite addictive. I couldn't do
: anything else until I read about the last minor
: character of the times. My husband kept saying
: "are you still reading that, aren't you finished
: already."
:
: In Turkish we have a saying: "you mus never say
: that you had a good life until you see your last
: day." This is more true for the people in power
: of the16th century England than for anyone else. One
: day they are on top of the world, making decisions
: that affect the whole of Europe, and the next day,
: hop, off with their heads.
:
: It is not unlike the intrigue in the Ottoman palaces.
: The women in the harem fought a lot to be the
: favourite of the sultan and to have their sons become
: the next sultan. The favourite wife had a lot of
: influence. Sultans and sultans' sons were committing
: infanticide, patricide all the time. Noone was safe.
: They could never eat or drink comfortably. It was
: tough to be born into the palace.
:
: Lale
:
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