The Seymours of Wolf Hall: A Tudor Family Story Paperback – 15 Feb. 2017

It was a book for reading.

Great to read after the Hilary Mantel books.

Great book

Interesting but there are many other books that have done it better

An excellent read. Would have had 5 stars, but as always, such histories focus on the more famous off spring. Why not more about Elizabeth and the other siblings?

Everything went well

David Loades has already wtten several books about the Tudors including an excellent book about Jane Seymour, Henry V111's third queen. In this book he concentrates on her brothers, Thomas and Edward. Both became highly influential at court. Edward became Earl of Hertford in 1537 and leader of the court party that advocated Church reform, taking over this role from Thomas Cromwell when he fell from power in 1540. Thomas received a knighthood and several monastic lands. After Henry's death in 1547 Edward became Lord Protector ( head of state) and Duke of Somerset, and Thomas became Lord High Admiral and Lord Seymour of Sudeley.Bothe brothers were uncles to Edward V1. Thomas married Catherine Parr when Henry died. He became jealous of Edward , and in addition he tried to tempt the future Elzabeth 1 into marriage. For this he was eventually charged with treason and executed in 1549. The author explains how the Seymour family traced their roots from the 7th century and having accompanied William the Conqueror to England they became servants of the Crown in an administrative and military capacity for several years. The first of the Tudor Seymours , Sir John, lived at Wolf Hall near Marlborough.Their time at Court and at the centre of politics was brief but nevertheless the Seymours used that time to wield great influence. After Thomas' execution the Seymour influence began to decline. Their descendants never again enjoyed the influence that the family wielded between 1537-1549.Wolf Hall was abandoned in 1571 when the family moved to Tottenham House. It was demolshed in 1723. Loades spends very little time telling us anything of interest about it.This is an interesting and entertaining book. However, anyone seeking details of the power politics that pervaded the sixteenth century should look elsewhere. This account is very clearly focused on a remarkable family's brief spell at the heart of government.

Jane and her brothers are often seen as just the stepping stone to move on to Mary’s reign, but they are fascinating people in their own right. This isn’t a gothic romance but a well written history of an unrenowned family that burst onto the scene and made the most that they could. Knowing the eventual fate of the most famous trio makes the read a bit bittersweet.