The Tudors: Love and Power. How Love Created and Led to the Decline of the Most Famous Dynasty of the Middle Ages

The history of the Tudors is the story of power and love. The founder of the dynasty, King Henry VII, used legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table to justify his claims to the crown. Henry VIII considered courtly love a justification for his stormy marital life. When his daughter Elizabeth ascends the throne, courtly love will play a special role in her female monarchy. Researcher Sarah Gristwood tells the story of how the Tudors loved—the most famous dynasty of the Middle Ages. The siege of the Castle of Love and chivalric tournaments, the code of courtly love and the romantic tradition of Guinevere—all of this formed the basis of Tudor power and permeated the era in which they lived. It was an era defined by the passionate hearts of princes and poets, maids of honor, and queens.