In this companion volume to Pirate Queen, Ronald’s 2007 study of the life and times of England’s Elizabeth I , the author sets the Elizabethan age within the context of the Catholic-Protestant wars of religion that flared across Europe throughout the latter half of the 16th century. Elizabeth had witnessed the religious divisions that marked the reigns of her infamous father, Henry VIII, as well as her Protestant brother, Edward VI, and her Roman Catholic sister, Mary I (“Bloody Mary”), so upon her ascension to the throne in 1558 she was eager to grant a measure of religious tolerance to her subjects. As she and her advisers hammered out the terms of what became known as the Elizabethan religious settlement, they had to contend with political distractions from beyond England’s borders, such as Elizabeth’s beautiful, charismatic, and Roman Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, who, with the backing of first France, and then Spain, claimed the throne of England as her birthright. Ronald deftly pulls together a vast amount of historical research into a compelling narrative that’s essential reading for anyone interested in the strife-torn world in which this most fascinating queen used both wits and diplomacy to safeguard her kingdom, despite almost insurmountable odds. 16 pages of b&w photos. Agents: Peter Robinson and Michael Carlisle, Inkwell Management. (Aug.)
Heretic Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion
Narrated by Wanda McCaddon
Susan RonaldUnabridged — 11 hours, 34 minutes
Heretic Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion
Narrated by Wanda McCaddon
Susan RonaldUnabridged — 11 hours, 34 minutes
Overview
Acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald delivers a stunning account of Elizabeth I that focuses on her role in the Wars of Religion-the battle between Protestantism and Catholicism that tore Europe apart in the sixteenth century.
Elizabeth's 1558 coronation procession was met with an extravagant outpouring of love. Only twenty-five years old, the young queen saw herself as the nation's Protestant savior, aiming to provide new hope, prosperity, and independence from the foreign influence that had plagued her sister Mary's reign. Given the scars of the Reformation, Elizabeth would need all of the powers of diplomacy and tact she could summon.
Extravagant, witty, and hot tempered, Elizabeth was the ultimate tyrant. Yet at the outset, in religious matters, she was unfathomably tolerant for her day. “There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith,” Elizabeth once proclaimed. “All else is a dispute over trifles.” Heretic Queen is the highly personal, untold story of how Queen Elizabeth I secured the future of England as a world power. Susan Ronald paints the queen as a complex character whose apparent indecision was really a political tool that she wielded with great aplomb.
Editorial Reviews
An illuminating portrait of the 25-year-old woman who led England through religious and political crises with diplomacy, vision and pure force of will.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A searing account of the dark underside of the Elizabethan golden age. Susan Ronald has written a devastating and important reminder of the long, hard road from religious strife to accommodation.” —Amanda Foreman, New York Times bestselling author of The World on Fire and The Duchess
“A triumph in an age when religion continues to be a matter of conflict” —Antonia Fraser, international bestselling author of Marie Antoinette: The Journey
“This is compulsive, engaging and vivid history, and a long-overdue study of the religious settlement of Elizabeth I's reign, packed with eyewitness detail. Susan Ronald has the gift of making us feel we are there, caught up in the crises of faith that affected Elizabeth's subjects. In her capable hands, the drama of the English Reformation comes alive.” —Alison Weir, bestselling author of Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley and Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings
A triumph in an age when religion continues to be a matter of conflict
A searing account of the dark underside of the Elizabethan golden age. Susan Ronald has written a devastating and important reminder of the long, hard road from religious strife to accommodation.
Elizabeth I's life and reign have been the subject of many biographies over the years. Ronald (The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventures, and the Dawn of Empire) chooses to focus on Elizabeth's religious policies and their effects on both England and the religious conflicts in continental Europe. Ronald deftly maneuvers among the religious war in the Netherlands, the ambitions of Philip II of Spain, and the failed aspirations of Mary, Queen of Scots, all of which affected Elizabeth's foreign policy. She also explores England's internal religious tension and its effect on Elizabeth's domestic policy. Owing to the large amount of material covered, much of the information is presented in a summary format, albeit highly readable. Ronald relies heavily on secondary sources and loses the opportunity for in-depth analysis. However, Heretic Queen is well written, engaging and briskly paced. VERDICT Recommended for readers with a strong interest in the life of Elizabeth I, the Reformation, and the Counter-Reformation.—Rebekah Kati, Walden Univ. Lib., Minneapolis
The reigns of Henry VIII of England and his progeny are perhaps most notable for their repeated upheaval of the religious structure of the country and its inhabitants. By the time Elizabeth I reached the throne, England had broken with the Pope and been subjected to both radical Protestantism and Catholicism that included the Inquisition and its associated burnings. Ronald’s HERETIC QUEEN, narrated by Wanda McCaddon, describes Elizabeth’s often tumultuous rule in a nation divided and in a Europe frequently at war over religion. Although Elizabeth’s story is an intense one, Ronald and McCaddon are not consistent in keeping the innate drama of HERETIC QUEEN at the forefront, occasionally losing the listener in some of the minutia of the history. J.L.K. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
Ronald (The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire, 2007, etc.) imparts her vast understanding of the queen who tried to establish religious tolerance in her kingdom. The 1558 Acts of Supremacy and Settlement established Elizabeth as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and revived the statutes that allowed both Protestant and Catholic communion. Ronald's premise that Elizabeth never intended to marry illustrates how well the queen mastered political gaming; she ingeniously used her marriage card to play the European leaders against each other. Those countries also struggled with religious conflict. Catholic France's attempts to deal with the Huguenots failed miserably, and Rome supported the Irish as they attempted to expel the English. The Spanish King Philip II suffered religious civil wars in the Netherlands, which not only ruined Spain's commerce, but also forced them into bankruptcy multiple times. The Low Countries readily accepted the Catholic scholars who deserted Oxford for the safety of their Universities of Louvain and Douai. Elizabeth, never one to miss an opportunity, insisted on the expulsion of those scholars before trade could be resumed after their civil wars. While Elizabeth may have agreed to expel the Dutch rebels in England in return, when the time came, she conveniently forgot. The author calls Elizabeth a heretic due to Pope Pius V's excommunication in 1570. However, since the members of the Church of England did not support the pope, neither she nor her supporters ever recognized the act. An illuminating portrait of the 25-year-old woman who led England through religious and political crises with diplomacy, vision and pure force of will.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169776706 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 08/16/2012 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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