Elizabeth of York and Her Six Daughters-in-Law

This study of early modern queenship compares the reign of Henry VII’s queen, Elizabeth of York, and those of her daughters-in-law, the six queens of Henry VIII. It defines the traditional expectations for effective Tudor queens—particularly the queen’s critical function of producing an heir—and evaluates them within that framework, before moving to consider their other contributions to the well-being of the court. This fresh comparative approach emphasizes spheres of influence rather than chronology, finding surprising juxtapositions between the various queens’ experiences as mothers, diplomats, participants in secular and religious rituals, domestic managers, and more. More than a series of biographies of individual queens, Elizabeth of York and Her Six Daughters-in-Law is a careful, illuminating examination of the nature of Tudor queenship. 

• Elizabeth of York
• Tudor England
• Tudor women
• Tudor period
• Tudor history
• Henry VII
• Henry VIII
• Katherine of Aragon
• Anne Boleyn
• Tudor queens
• Jane Seymour
• Anne of Cleves
• Katherine Howard
• Katherine Parr

“This novel study of Tudor queenship combines the author’s widely known meticulous research with an innovative comparative approach. Rather than a typical chronological narrative, Warnicke positions various Tudor queens with and against each other as their unique experiences warrant, and these juxtapositions yield one rich reading after another.” (Jo Carney, Professor of English, The College of New Jersey, USA)

“This important study, the first to analyze all seven Tudor queen consorts, examines their private and public lives while assessing their duties, power, and influence. Warnicke not only illuminates the role of the queen consort through time and across reigns but underscores the consort’s importance and centrality to court and country in Tudor England. This is an invaluable resource for any student or scholar of queenship and Tudor history.” (Sarah Duncan, Associate Professor of History, Spring Hill College, USA)

• SHPRS, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

  Retha M. Warnicke

Retha M. Warnicke is Professor of History at Arizona State University, USA. She is the author of several books on women:  Women of the English Renaissance and Reformation (1983); The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII (1989); The Marrying of Anne of Cleves: Royal Protocol in Tudor England (2000); and Wicked Women of Tudor England: Queens, Aristocrats, and Commoners (Palgrave, 2012).