Henry VIII: A European court in England - Hardcover

Published to accompany a major historial exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's birth, this book offers a reconstruction of Henry's Palace at Greenwich and of the splendour and richness of incident of his reign. It was at Greenwich that Henry was born in 1491, spent two-thirds of his life and married the first of his six wives, Catherine of Aragon. Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry and his tragic second wife, Anne Boleyn, was born and christened there, his marriage with Anne of Cleves failed there and he visited the Royal Palace just three weeks before his death at Whitehall in 1547. The book provides a reassessment of Henry as a true prince of the Renaissance, presiding over a court which made London a major European cultural centre. The text is interwoven with specialist essays on such topics as armour, medals and the education of Anne Boleyn. The author's previous books include "The Struggle for Power: The Lives and Letters of the Great Tudor Dynasties".