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Tudor Saga #10
For a Queen's Love: The Stories of the Royal Wives of Philip II
Power-hungry monarch, cold-blooded murderer, obsessive monster - who could love such a man?
Set against the glittering courts of sixteenth-century Europe, the Spain of the dreaded Inquisition, and the tortured England of Bloody Mary, For a Queen’s Love is the story of Philip II of Spain - and of the women who loved him as a husband and father.
Philip was a dark and troubled man, who, like many royals, had been robbed of his childhood. His first marriage, a romantic union with childlike Maria Manoela, brought him tragedy and a troublesome son, Don Carlos. Then followed marriage with the jealously possessive Mary Tudor, a political union that ultimately failed to bring Philip an heir that would solidify the unified power he so deeply desired. And finally, marriage again to a young bride Philip stole from his unbalanced son, sowing the seeds of brutal murder. But history is seldom what it seems, and in the hands of beloved author Jean Plaidy, we hear another side to the story of Philip II - the most powerful of kings who was at once fanatic, murderer, husband, father, and lover.
Set against the glittering courts of sixteenth-century Europe, the Spain of the dreaded Inquisition, and the tortured England of Bloody Mary, For a Queen’s Love is the story of Philip II of Spain - and of the women who loved him as a husband and father.
Philip was a dark and troubled man, who, like many royals, had been robbed of his childhood. His first marriage, a romantic union with childlike Maria Manoela, brought him tragedy and a troublesome son, Don Carlos. Then followed marriage with the jealously possessive Mary Tudor, a political union that ultimately failed to bring Philip an heir that would solidify the unified power he so deeply desired. And finally, marriage again to a young bride Philip stole from his unbalanced son, sowing the seeds of brutal murder. But history is seldom what it seems, and in the hands of beloved author Jean Plaidy, we hear another side to the story of Philip II - the most powerful of kings who was at once fanatic, murderer, husband, father, and lover.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
145 people are currently reading
1441 people want to read
About the author
Jean Plaidy
187 books1,591 followersEleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
June 5, 2014
King Phillip II of Spain is one of the more fascinating characters in history. In this novel, Jean Plaidy, a popular writer of historical fiction in Britain in the 1950s and 60s, takes on Phillip's life in one of the most disappointing attempts at historical fiction that I have ever read. The book reads like a bad and humorless romance novel set in a prior era, only the history in "The Spanish Bridegroom" is almost as bad as the plot and characters in the book.
The Spain of Phillip II was a vibrant and exciting place. Phillip's reign formed the start of what historians have called the "Siglo de Oro", or the Golden Century of Spanish culture. It was a century of the flowering of art, literature and music within Spain. Phillip presided over the pinnacle of Spanish power, with Spanish colonies expanding on every known continent at the time, so much so that the phrase, "the sun does not set on it" was originally coined to refer to Phillip's empire, rather than the British empire. Even with regard to the Church, Phillip's reign saw a flowering of Catholic spirituality, with Carmelites in Spain like St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross reforming Catholic devotion, the newly founded Jesuit order experiencing explosive growth and bringing the Gospel to every continent, and the Council of Trent halting the advance of the Protestant Reformation and even turning some Protestant areas back to the Catholic faith.
You will find none of this in "The Spanish Bridegroom." Jean Plaidy shares in the unfortunate tendency of English authors to stereotype the Spain of the "Siglo de Oro" into a haven for ignorance and religious fanaticism. But Plaidy goes beyond the stereotyping to embrace a complete revulsion for the Spanish people and the Catholic faith. It's always an ugly thing to witness an author who has nothing but comtempt for the subjects of her novels. For me, reading "The Spanish Bridegroom" was sort of like reading a novel about Benjamin Disreali that was written by a Nazi, or reading a novel about Barack Obama that was written by the Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan. For Plaidy, there was only one overriding reality in Spanish society during Phillip's reign, and that is the Inquisition. Plaidy is infatuated with the Inquisition, bringing it up in almost every paragraph of the book. Ironically, the Spanish Inquisition reached its pinnacle several decades before Phillip took the throne. The main victims of the Inquisition, Catholic converts of Jewish and Muslim descent, are not mentioned at all in Plaidy's voluminous comments about the Inquisition. Instead, Plaidy characterizes the Inquisition as a sort of secret police, which stole random people from their homes in the middle of the night, tortured them until they confessed to some type of heresy, and then burned them at the stake in a great public spectacle. While the Spanish Inquisition was an unfortunate reality in the time of Phillip, by this time it was more of an occasional sideshow, with very few executions and lots of people doing public penances or being burned at the stake in effigy. But for Plaidy, the Inquisition is the defining characteristic of Spanish society, with nothing else to really speak of.
Plaidy's storyline really centers around Phillip's three marriages; the first to the princess of Portugal, the second was Mary Tudor, or "Bloody Mary", Queen of England, and the third was to Elizabeth, princess of France. For Plaidy, there are really only two kinds of characters - the insane and the pathetic. Plaidy's insane characters are all members of the Spanish royal family. In discussing the insanity of Spain's royals, Plaidy indulges page after page in their fantasies about torturing animals, burning their family members in bed and engaging in other acts of cruelty and torture. Plaidy is not shy about attributing these characteristics to the Catholic faith of the insane individual. The pathetic characters are Phillip's wives, who are invariably incapable of thinking, with low self-esteem and a blind acceptance of the horrible reality that Plaidy describes as their milieu. Phillip himself is the most confusing character of all. At one time he is a passionate romantic, while at other times he is a hopeless philanderer. Here he is a religious fanatic who cares about nothing except supporting the Inquisition, while there he is plotting military misadventures against other Catholic monarchs. One never really gets to know Plaidy's Phillip except through the contradictory characterizations that he creates for him at various points in the story. In the end there really is no point at all to this story except for Plaidy's overall thesis, that Catholic Spain was a horrible cancer on the face of Europe that thankfully was not allow to grow.
The interesting part of all this is that there was plenty of great material in the life of Phillip II that could have made a compelling novel. Phillip's hopeless wars against the French and his attempt to restore Catholicism to England are only slightly touched upon by Plaidy. The Dutch revolt against Phillip and the enormous military misadventure of the Spanish Armada are hardly even mentioned. That's too bad because these events were some of the most compelling aspects of European history in the late 16th Century. Again, with Plaidy's obsession with the Inquisition, she obviously has no idea that these events are important or compelling.
If you have an interest in Habsburg Europe or the Spanish Empire in the Golden Age, I would really recommend that you look elsewhere for a good novel about them. This one is a real loser.
The Spain of Phillip II was a vibrant and exciting place. Phillip's reign formed the start of what historians have called the "Siglo de Oro", or the Golden Century of Spanish culture. It was a century of the flowering of art, literature and music within Spain. Phillip presided over the pinnacle of Spanish power, with Spanish colonies expanding on every known continent at the time, so much so that the phrase, "the sun does not set on it" was originally coined to refer to Phillip's empire, rather than the British empire. Even with regard to the Church, Phillip's reign saw a flowering of Catholic spirituality, with Carmelites in Spain like St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross reforming Catholic devotion, the newly founded Jesuit order experiencing explosive growth and bringing the Gospel to every continent, and the Council of Trent halting the advance of the Protestant Reformation and even turning some Protestant areas back to the Catholic faith.
You will find none of this in "The Spanish Bridegroom." Jean Plaidy shares in the unfortunate tendency of English authors to stereotype the Spain of the "Siglo de Oro" into a haven for ignorance and religious fanaticism. But Plaidy goes beyond the stereotyping to embrace a complete revulsion for the Spanish people and the Catholic faith. It's always an ugly thing to witness an author who has nothing but comtempt for the subjects of her novels. For me, reading "The Spanish Bridegroom" was sort of like reading a novel about Benjamin Disreali that was written by a Nazi, or reading a novel about Barack Obama that was written by the Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan. For Plaidy, there was only one overriding reality in Spanish society during Phillip's reign, and that is the Inquisition. Plaidy is infatuated with the Inquisition, bringing it up in almost every paragraph of the book. Ironically, the Spanish Inquisition reached its pinnacle several decades before Phillip took the throne. The main victims of the Inquisition, Catholic converts of Jewish and Muslim descent, are not mentioned at all in Plaidy's voluminous comments about the Inquisition. Instead, Plaidy characterizes the Inquisition as a sort of secret police, which stole random people from their homes in the middle of the night, tortured them until they confessed to some type of heresy, and then burned them at the stake in a great public spectacle. While the Spanish Inquisition was an unfortunate reality in the time of Phillip, by this time it was more of an occasional sideshow, with very few executions and lots of people doing public penances or being burned at the stake in effigy. But for Plaidy, the Inquisition is the defining characteristic of Spanish society, with nothing else to really speak of.
Plaidy's storyline really centers around Phillip's three marriages; the first to the princess of Portugal, the second was Mary Tudor, or "Bloody Mary", Queen of England, and the third was to Elizabeth, princess of France. For Plaidy, there are really only two kinds of characters - the insane and the pathetic. Plaidy's insane characters are all members of the Spanish royal family. In discussing the insanity of Spain's royals, Plaidy indulges page after page in their fantasies about torturing animals, burning their family members in bed and engaging in other acts of cruelty and torture. Plaidy is not shy about attributing these characteristics to the Catholic faith of the insane individual. The pathetic characters are Phillip's wives, who are invariably incapable of thinking, with low self-esteem and a blind acceptance of the horrible reality that Plaidy describes as their milieu. Phillip himself is the most confusing character of all. At one time he is a passionate romantic, while at other times he is a hopeless philanderer. Here he is a religious fanatic who cares about nothing except supporting the Inquisition, while there he is plotting military misadventures against other Catholic monarchs. One never really gets to know Plaidy's Phillip except through the contradictory characterizations that he creates for him at various points in the story. In the end there really is no point at all to this story except for Plaidy's overall thesis, that Catholic Spain was a horrible cancer on the face of Europe that thankfully was not allow to grow.
The interesting part of all this is that there was plenty of great material in the life of Phillip II that could have made a compelling novel. Phillip's hopeless wars against the French and his attempt to restore Catholicism to England are only slightly touched upon by Plaidy. The Dutch revolt against Phillip and the enormous military misadventure of the Spanish Armada are hardly even mentioned. That's too bad because these events were some of the most compelling aspects of European history in the late 16th Century. Again, with Plaidy's obsession with the Inquisition, she obviously has no idea that these events are important or compelling.
If you have an interest in Habsburg Europe or the Spanish Empire in the Golden Age, I would really recommend that you look elsewhere for a good novel about them. This one is a real loser.
October 10, 2020
I am a huge fan of Victoria Holt/Jean Plaidy/Phillipa Carr. This novel was not one of my favorites. I enjoyed the view point of Philip II. Having read many books about the Tudors it was interesting to get this viewpoint of Mary's husband. Overall not a bad read but I would have loved a little more closure at the end.
March 23, 2020
A patchy novel, this, and at times too bland. Too much “telling” instead of “showing” is the biggest problem.
The consistent use of the passive voice slows the narrative down. For example, we get "The Emperor stood at a window of the palace" instead of the active "The Emperor stood at a palace window".
Wasted words also slow the narrative pace: "It was the month of November" instead of "It was November."
As for the story itself, it reads like an episodic novel because of the three different wives. The material in first and third wives' respective sections were a lot better than the middle part on Mary Tudor, which I found boring much of the time.
The most engaging scenes feature crazy Carlos. Because he does wild and unexpected things, like making a shoemaker eat leather, you can't help but become involved in the story. Carlos isn't a likable character, but he's the most memorable one in this book.
The consistent use of the passive voice slows the narrative down. For example, we get "The Emperor stood at a window of the palace" instead of the active "The Emperor stood at a palace window".
Wasted words also slow the narrative pace: "It was the month of November" instead of "It was November."
As for the story itself, it reads like an episodic novel because of the three different wives. The material in first and third wives' respective sections were a lot better than the middle part on Mary Tudor, which I found boring much of the time.
The most engaging scenes feature crazy Carlos. Because he does wild and unexpected things, like making a shoemaker eat leather, you can't help but become involved in the story. Carlos isn't a likable character, but he's the most memorable one in this book.
October 14, 2010
Another masterpiece by Jean Plaidy! Plaidy describes the three wives, Maria Manoela, "Bloody" Mary Stuart, and Elisabeth of France, of King Philip II of Spain. A great depiction of not the religious fanatic we typically view Philip as, but instead as a lover, a husband, and a disappointed father.
November 21, 2020
This is a fascinating portrayal of Philip of Spain, the husband and lover of many queens. The loss of his youthful marriage forever scarred him. A man bound by duty, he was never to speak his true feelings or fulfill his own desires.
January 25, 2022
Some minor editing was done - mostly to typos - I need to start making drafts!
I admit i finished this one a while back and i've struggled with what to say/write about it...here goes nothing!
Jean Plaidy also known as, among others, Victoria Holt, was a familiar name to me since I occasionally enjoy a read with a touch of Gothic, and I have over the years read a few of her books.
Now, if Holt only wrote Gothic romances, Jean Plaidy is know for her historical novels - a genre I very rarely enjoy, since the personality transplants for the sake of sales are a little too extreme sometimes.
This book was literally dropped in my lap by a friend who gushed and gushed so much that I decided to give it a try....the things I do for my friends sometimes.
Is it worth reading? yes, but only because the author is very good at setting the mood and transporting you to Philip's time, the background setting is appealing and that is pretty much the only reason why it gets 3 stars from me.
Philip married 4 times - Maria of Portugal, Mary Tudor, Isabelle of Valois and last wife Ana of Austria , his longest and most fruitful (I hate that word) marriage ..... and she isn't in here, why? ?
Philip was by all accounts a serious hard working man, very conscious of the big shoes he was filling and determined to do more and better than his father Charles V ever did....and yet here he is portrayed as a sad little insecure softie, trembling in sight of Queen Juana, but who nevertheless doesn't blink an eye or bat an eyelash when its time to burn a supposed heretic...confusing.
Now "Mad" Queen Juana ...she's the reason why I gave this one 4 stars, even though she's not the focus of book at all.
Her portrayal by the author is frankly fascinating and in my personal opinion very well achieved....I shall say no more.
None of these marriages were love marriages so although I understand the tittle I also find it odd, no matter how much he may or may not have ended up caring about them....did they love him? the position? did their love mean the same as love means to modern ears? .... it got me thinking.
One other word of advice, the language is dated, the pace is slow and some less patient people might get frustrated and want to jump a page or two...yeah guilty :)
If you know your facts, by all means go ahead its entertaining enough that you can read it and your perception of history won't change, like I said the settings are good and worth it.
As an introduction to the man and the period? .... I suppose its ok, as long as you keep in mind this is part of a genre called Historical FICTION.
Happy Readings!
I admit i finished this one a while back and i've struggled with what to say/write about it...here goes nothing!
Jean Plaidy also known as, among others, Victoria Holt, was a familiar name to me since I occasionally enjoy a read with a touch of Gothic, and I have over the years read a few of her books.
Now, if Holt only wrote Gothic romances, Jean Plaidy is know for her historical novels - a genre I very rarely enjoy, since the personality transplants for the sake of sales are a little too extreme sometimes.
This book was literally dropped in my lap by a friend who gushed and gushed so much that I decided to give it a try....the things I do for my friends sometimes.
Is it worth reading? yes, but only because the author is very good at setting the mood and transporting you to Philip's time, the background setting is appealing and that is pretty much the only reason why it gets 3 stars from me.
Philip married 4 times - Maria of Portugal, Mary Tudor, Isabelle of Valois and last wife Ana of Austria , his longest and most fruitful (I hate that word) marriage ..... and she isn't in here, why? ?
Philip was by all accounts a serious hard working man, very conscious of the big shoes he was filling and determined to do more and better than his father Charles V ever did....and yet here he is portrayed as a sad little insecure softie, trembling in sight of Queen Juana, but who nevertheless doesn't blink an eye or bat an eyelash when its time to burn a supposed heretic...confusing.
Now "Mad" Queen Juana ...she's the reason why I gave this one 4 stars, even though she's not the focus of book at all.
Her portrayal by the author is frankly fascinating and in my personal opinion very well achieved....I shall say no more.
None of these marriages were love marriages so although I understand the tittle I also find it odd, no matter how much he may or may not have ended up caring about them....did they love him? the position? did their love mean the same as love means to modern ears? .... it got me thinking.
One other word of advice, the language is dated, the pace is slow and some less patient people might get frustrated and want to jump a page or two...yeah guilty :)
If you know your facts, by all means go ahead its entertaining enough that you can read it and your perception of history won't change, like I said the settings are good and worth it.
As an introduction to the man and the period? .... I suppose its ok, as long as you keep in mind this is part of a genre called Historical FICTION.
Happy Readings!
October 5, 2020
I have read books by Jean Plaidy before and really enjoyed them. This was no exception! I really new nothing of Phillip II or his wives. He really was a powerful King. He also had a very strange relationship with his son, Carlos, who they kind of said King Phillip killed. He fell in love with 2 of his wives - and had a few mistresses between his marriages. An interesting character for sure!
December 1, 2018
I really enjoyed this book although I think it was more about Philip rather than his wives. One of my favorites!
July 27, 2010
From the Back Cover:
Power-hungry monarch, cold-blooded murderer, obsessive monster – who could love such a man?
Set against the glittering courts of sixteenth-century Europe, the Spain of the dreaded Inquisition, and the tortured England of Bloody Mary, For a Queen’s Love is the story of Philip II of Spain – and of the women who loved him as a husband and father.
My Review:
This was my very first Plaidy novel and I chose to start with this one because I knew very little about Philip aside from his time as Mary Tudor’s husband. I was hoping to get a feel for this prolific author’s style while learning something new in the process and I was not disappointed.
The novel begins with Philip as a child, raised as the heir to Charles I and the greatest kingdom in the world with all of the pressures and formalities that go along with such a heavy burden. He is a solemn child, anxious to perform as expected, almost obsessive in his desire to please and to be loved in return. The novel follows him as he grows and demonstrates how each of his first three wives had an effect on shaping his personality, from the awkwardness and tragedy of first love during his teenage marriage to Maria Manoela, to the smothering, unstable, loveless marriage of state to a much older Mary Tudor, and then on to a more satisfying, if not perfect marriage to the young and pretty Elisabeth Valois of France. And all the while Philip’s first son and heir, the undesireable Don Carlos, haunts his footsteps and creates a great sense of urgency and obligation to produce another male heir.
Throughout Philip’s life two frightening themes pop up over and over: the abundance of inbreeding within the royal family, which seemed to be the cause of some serious mental and physical deficiencies, and the horrors of the Inquisition. Philip is devoutly Catholic and was taught from an early age that the greatest threat to his empire was the heretic and thus as he grows older his desire to serve God by ridding the world of heretics begins to consume him. He fails to achieve the English crown, he fails to secure great military victories, but he believes that he may achieve greatness yet in his efforts to please God and feels justified in his actions during the Inquisition, actions that have led to his depiction as a “monster”:
Philip was thinking of God’s pleasure in the drama which was about to be enacted; he was thinking of the delight of God in maimed and tortured bodies, in the cries of agony.
The Inquisition in its mercy gives these people a foretaste of Hell that they may repent in time and save themselves from an eternity of suffering.
Plaidy's take on Philip appears to be historically accurate for the most part, although the fate of Philip's first son, Don Carlos, is debated. Plaidy has taken the dramatic route in this novel, but while scholars agree he was physically deformed and mentally unstable and there is evidence that he may have plotted to kill Philip, most modern historians believe Don Carlos died from complications of his own ill treatment of his body and not at the hands of his father.
I do wonder why the author chose not to go on to Philip's fourth marriage to his niece, Anna of Austria, daughter of Philip's cousin, Maximillian, and Phillip's sister, Maria, who bore him five children over ten years, including Philip III. Historians seem to agree that this was a happy marriage and that Anna had a positive effect on Philip and the Spanish court. It may very well have been that in this last marriage Philip finally received the love of a queen he had so desperately been searching for. After reading up a bit on this last marriage, I feel like no portrayal of Philip’s life could be complete without its inclusion and that’s my main reason for not rating this higher.
This novel combines vividly evocative, engrossing, informative, and eye-opening historical content with a poignant tale of a boy turned man turned king who struggled to please too many at the expense of himself. A fascinating, entertaining portrait of a man who has been often overshadowed in history by his father and his second wife. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4.25 Stars out of 5
Power-hungry monarch, cold-blooded murderer, obsessive monster – who could love such a man?
Set against the glittering courts of sixteenth-century Europe, the Spain of the dreaded Inquisition, and the tortured England of Bloody Mary, For a Queen’s Love is the story of Philip II of Spain – and of the women who loved him as a husband and father.
My Review:
This was my very first Plaidy novel and I chose to start with this one because I knew very little about Philip aside from his time as Mary Tudor’s husband. I was hoping to get a feel for this prolific author’s style while learning something new in the process and I was not disappointed.
The novel begins with Philip as a child, raised as the heir to Charles I and the greatest kingdom in the world with all of the pressures and formalities that go along with such a heavy burden. He is a solemn child, anxious to perform as expected, almost obsessive in his desire to please and to be loved in return. The novel follows him as he grows and demonstrates how each of his first three wives had an effect on shaping his personality, from the awkwardness and tragedy of first love during his teenage marriage to Maria Manoela, to the smothering, unstable, loveless marriage of state to a much older Mary Tudor, and then on to a more satisfying, if not perfect marriage to the young and pretty Elisabeth Valois of France. And all the while Philip’s first son and heir, the undesireable Don Carlos, haunts his footsteps and creates a great sense of urgency and obligation to produce another male heir.
Throughout Philip’s life two frightening themes pop up over and over: the abundance of inbreeding within the royal family, which seemed to be the cause of some serious mental and physical deficiencies, and the horrors of the Inquisition. Philip is devoutly Catholic and was taught from an early age that the greatest threat to his empire was the heretic and thus as he grows older his desire to serve God by ridding the world of heretics begins to consume him. He fails to achieve the English crown, he fails to secure great military victories, but he believes that he may achieve greatness yet in his efforts to please God and feels justified in his actions during the Inquisition, actions that have led to his depiction as a “monster”:
Philip was thinking of God’s pleasure in the drama which was about to be enacted; he was thinking of the delight of God in maimed and tortured bodies, in the cries of agony.
The Inquisition in its mercy gives these people a foretaste of Hell that they may repent in time and save themselves from an eternity of suffering.
Plaidy's take on Philip appears to be historically accurate for the most part, although the fate of Philip's first son, Don Carlos, is debated. Plaidy has taken the dramatic route in this novel, but while scholars agree he was physically deformed and mentally unstable and there is evidence that he may have plotted to kill Philip, most modern historians believe Don Carlos died from complications of his own ill treatment of his body and not at the hands of his father.
I do wonder why the author chose not to go on to Philip's fourth marriage to his niece, Anna of Austria, daughter of Philip's cousin, Maximillian, and Phillip's sister, Maria, who bore him five children over ten years, including Philip III. Historians seem to agree that this was a happy marriage and that Anna had a positive effect on Philip and the Spanish court. It may very well have been that in this last marriage Philip finally received the love of a queen he had so desperately been searching for. After reading up a bit on this last marriage, I feel like no portrayal of Philip’s life could be complete without its inclusion and that’s my main reason for not rating this higher.
This novel combines vividly evocative, engrossing, informative, and eye-opening historical content with a poignant tale of a boy turned man turned king who struggled to please too many at the expense of himself. A fascinating, entertaining portrait of a man who has been often overshadowed in history by his father and his second wife. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4.25 Stars out of 5
September 7, 2017
Romanul scriitoarei Jean Plaidy a apărut tradus în limba română la editura Litera în 2014 cu titlul '' Din dragoste pentru regină'' în colecția ''Iubiri și destine''. Traducerea a fost făcută de Ana Dragomirescu. Cartea oferă o istorie romanțată foarte bine scrisă și documentată despre regele Spaniei, Filip al II- lea, fiul împăratului Carol Quintul, pornind de la ideea existenței la acest rege extrem de controversat în privința caracterului său, a două personalități diferite: '' unul are un scrupulos simț al datoriei, fiind un soț merituos și un tată devotat; celălalt este un monstru cu sânge rece, complet lipsit de sensibilitate și de farmec, posac, singuratec și pe deasupra răspunzător pentru uciderea a mai multor oameni, printre care soția și fiul său.''( p.5, nota autoarei) Pentru a demonstra această teorie, scriitoarea Jean Plaidy îl prezintă pe Filip II din copilărie și până la finalul celei de a patra căsnicii. Prima sa soție, aleasă de tatăl său pe considerente politice, a fost prințesa Maria Manuela a Potugaliei care însă a murit destul de repede la nașterea infantelui Carlos. A doua soție impusă tot de carol Qiuntul pentru a atrage Anglia de partea Spaniei, a fost regina maria Tudor, fiica regelui Henric VIII și a reginei Ecaterina de Aragon. Este regina care se luptă să reintroducă catolicismul în Anglia și permite instalarea la Londra a Inchiziției care apucă să ardă pe rug câteva nume sonore ale opoziției anglicane. După moartea Mariei Tudor, Filip se căsătorește cu prințesa Elisabeta de Valois care are doar 14 ani, fiica regelui Franței, Henric II de Valois și a reginei Ecaterina de Medicis. La nunta extrem de fastuoasă organizată de curtea Franței, regele Henric II de Valois este grav rănit în turnir și moare. Elisabeta de Valois fusese promisă la început de soție infantelui don Carlos iar căsătoria acesteia cu tatăl său creează o prăpastie între cei doi care se va solda în cele din urmă cu moartea lui Carlos. Acesta este prezentat de scriitoare ca având grave probleme de sănătate fizică și mentală. În fond era strănepotul reginei Ioana cea nebună!
Jean Plaidy se oprește cu povestea la moartea reginei Elisabeta de Valois pe când încerca să dea naștere celui de al patrulea copil. Mă așteptam să fie redată și ultima căsătorie, cea cu prințesa Ana de Austria care îi va dărui în cele din urmă moștenitorul mult așteptat , pe viitorul Filip III.
Romanul este extrem de interesant pentru că ne redă în culori vii și cu destule amănunte atmosfera de la curțile regale din Spania, Anglia, Franța, ne precizează modul în care Carol Quintul renunță la Austria în favoarea fratelui său, Ferdinand de Habsburg și începutul luptei de eliberare a Tărilor de jos sub conducerea lui Wilhelm de Orania dar și începutul domniei reginei Elisabeta în Anglia. Cine vrea să înțeleagă ușor și plăcut toate mutările politice din Europa occidentală din a doua jumătate a secolului 16, poate citi acest excelent roman.
Jean Plaidy se oprește cu povestea la moartea reginei Elisabeta de Valois pe când încerca să dea naștere celui de al patrulea copil. Mă așteptam să fie redată și ultima căsătorie, cea cu prințesa Ana de Austria care îi va dărui în cele din urmă moștenitorul mult așteptat , pe viitorul Filip III.
Romanul este extrem de interesant pentru că ne redă în culori vii și cu destule amănunte atmosfera de la curțile regale din Spania, Anglia, Franța, ne precizează modul în care Carol Quintul renunță la Austria în favoarea fratelui său, Ferdinand de Habsburg și începutul luptei de eliberare a Tărilor de jos sub conducerea lui Wilhelm de Orania dar și începutul domniei reginei Elisabeta în Anglia. Cine vrea să înțeleagă ușor și plăcut toate mutările politice din Europa occidentală din a doua jumătate a secolului 16, poate citi acest excelent roman.
October 22, 2019
Jean Plaidy, a historical novelist of the 1940s and 50s, turned out dozens of books on kings and queens of the Middle Ages and beyond. This book features Phillip II of Spain, the unhappy husband of Mary Tudor, also known as Bloody Mary, and not very successful ruler of the Hapsburg Empire, which at the time Phillip lived, stretched from Spain to the Netherlands to Italy to a huge area of Eastern Europe.
Plaidy portrays Phillip as a man trapped by duty. From birth he was taught to be cold, undemonstrative and a fanatical supporter of the Church. As much as he wanted to express his feelings for each of his three queens he was unable to do so. He was told he had to be more like his father the Emperor Charles, easy-going, a womanizer, but an excellent leader of his empire, and a successful general in the field. Possibly because Phillip grew to adulthood in Spain, without his father's leavening influence, and possibly because of the genes inherited from his grandmother, Juana the Mad, Phillip was not like his father. He was stiff, proud, uncomfortable with strangers, and a firm supporter of the horrors of the Inquisition.
These qualities showed most clearly in his relations with women. He was affianced first to Jeanne of Navarre, who was forced to marry a French nobleman by the king of France. The second bride selected for him was Maria Manoela of Portugal, his double first cousin. Although the spectre of Juana the Mad was hanging in the background, no one, not even the Pope, thought their marriage was a bad idea.
Maria Manoela was a fun loving young woman who was afraid of her new husband because she heard he never smiled. Phillip longed to tell her how much he loved her, but he had kept his emotions in check for too long. She died in childbirth at 17, leaving Phillip grieving behind her.
In his 20s, Phillip took a mistress and enjoyed a happy home life and several children, but his father, the schemer, next decided that the new Queen of England, Mary Tudor, should be his wife, despite the fact that she was about 15 years older than he.
Phillip tried to be a loving husband to Mary, but she, in her way, was as unbalanced as Juana, her great aunt. She was intensely jealous of other women, and clung to Phillip in a way designed to drive him away from her. He was unhappy in England, as the marriage and the Spaniards he brought with him were deeply unpopular.
After Mary died, Phillip returned to Spain, finding his son, Carlos, to be everything a prince should not be. Cruel, undisciplined, with a deformity that bent his back. The last half of the book involves Carlos and his relationship with Phillip and Carlos's friends. The reader cannot take this book as the gospel truth, but Plaidy researched her topic intensively. We don't know what Phillip felt and thought, but her view is not improbable.
Plaidy portrays Phillip as a man trapped by duty. From birth he was taught to be cold, undemonstrative and a fanatical supporter of the Church. As much as he wanted to express his feelings for each of his three queens he was unable to do so. He was told he had to be more like his father the Emperor Charles, easy-going, a womanizer, but an excellent leader of his empire, and a successful general in the field. Possibly because Phillip grew to adulthood in Spain, without his father's leavening influence, and possibly because of the genes inherited from his grandmother, Juana the Mad, Phillip was not like his father. He was stiff, proud, uncomfortable with strangers, and a firm supporter of the horrors of the Inquisition.
These qualities showed most clearly in his relations with women. He was affianced first to Jeanne of Navarre, who was forced to marry a French nobleman by the king of France. The second bride selected for him was Maria Manoela of Portugal, his double first cousin. Although the spectre of Juana the Mad was hanging in the background, no one, not even the Pope, thought their marriage was a bad idea.
Maria Manoela was a fun loving young woman who was afraid of her new husband because she heard he never smiled. Phillip longed to tell her how much he loved her, but he had kept his emotions in check for too long. She died in childbirth at 17, leaving Phillip grieving behind her.
In his 20s, Phillip took a mistress and enjoyed a happy home life and several children, but his father, the schemer, next decided that the new Queen of England, Mary Tudor, should be his wife, despite the fact that she was about 15 years older than he.
Phillip tried to be a loving husband to Mary, but she, in her way, was as unbalanced as Juana, her great aunt. She was intensely jealous of other women, and clung to Phillip in a way designed to drive him away from her. He was unhappy in England, as the marriage and the Spaniards he brought with him were deeply unpopular.
After Mary died, Phillip returned to Spain, finding his son, Carlos, to be everything a prince should not be. Cruel, undisciplined, with a deformity that bent his back. The last half of the book involves Carlos and his relationship with Phillip and Carlos's friends. The reader cannot take this book as the gospel truth, but Plaidy researched her topic intensively. We don't know what Phillip felt and thought, but her view is not improbable.
October 25, 2020
This is the first historical fiction book I've read that focuses on Philip II of Spain. Before reading this, I knew pretty much nothing about the man, other than he was the husband of Mary Tudor. The further I got into the book, the more research I did on Philip, so I knew what to expect. As usual, Ms. Plaidy writes Philip's story in such an easy going manner that you breeze right along through the highs and lows of his life. We meet him on the day he was born, when Imperial Soldiers have sacked Rome. It's an evil omen to the fanatically Catholic Spaniards, and they worry that he will die as a punishment from God, but Philip comes through his birth strong and healthy.
We see him grow into an earnest, solemn little boy who strives to be the best Prince of Spain he can possibly be. He hopes to emulate the greatness that he associates with his father, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. As a teenager and young man, everything he does is in the name of Spain. He has little fun and laughs very rarely, but he's a good Prince, and the Spanish people love him.
Philip will, in his lifetime, acquire 4 wives. Maria Maneola, his first wife, was wed to him at a very young age. He truly loved this wife, but as he grew up so quiet and restrained, he could never tell her his true feelings. Unfortunately, he never got the chance since their marriage was destined to be a short one, with Maria dying after childbirth. Mary Tudor, his second wife, was purely a political match. Philip was loath to wed Mary, but he knew it would be for the good of Spain to join with England, so he put on a mask of gaiety and trudged through this short marriage.
The last wife represented in this novel is Elizabeth of Valois, the young daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. Regardless of the huge age difference, this marriage proved to be a successful one in terms of affection. Philip truly came to love little Isabella (as she was known in Spain), and she bore him 2 daughters. Unfortunately, she was not strong enough to handle her 3rd and final pregnancy, and she too died shortly after childbirth.
And that's it...that's where the book ends. I have NO idea why, though. Philip married one more time to Anna of Austria in 1570, and they were married for 10 years, the longest of any of his marriages. She bore him 5 children...4 of which were boys (something he was always longing for with his three previous wives)! I can not fathom why Ms. Plaidy would get so far into the life of this man, then abruptly stop when he still had 30 years of life yet to live! I guess we'll never know.
Overall though, I did enjoy this book. It's extremely well written, and like every other Jean Plaidy book I've read, the pages just fly by. For what WAS included here, it was a very accurate account of the life of Philip II of Spain...I just wish she had finished the story.
We see him grow into an earnest, solemn little boy who strives to be the best Prince of Spain he can possibly be. He hopes to emulate the greatness that he associates with his father, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. As a teenager and young man, everything he does is in the name of Spain. He has little fun and laughs very rarely, but he's a good Prince, and the Spanish people love him.
Philip will, in his lifetime, acquire 4 wives. Maria Maneola, his first wife, was wed to him at a very young age. He truly loved this wife, but as he grew up so quiet and restrained, he could never tell her his true feelings. Unfortunately, he never got the chance since their marriage was destined to be a short one, with Maria dying after childbirth. Mary Tudor, his second wife, was purely a political match. Philip was loath to wed Mary, but he knew it would be for the good of Spain to join with England, so he put on a mask of gaiety and trudged through this short marriage.
The last wife represented in this novel is Elizabeth of Valois, the young daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. Regardless of the huge age difference, this marriage proved to be a successful one in terms of affection. Philip truly came to love little Isabella (as she was known in Spain), and she bore him 2 daughters. Unfortunately, she was not strong enough to handle her 3rd and final pregnancy, and she too died shortly after childbirth.
And that's it...that's where the book ends. I have NO idea why, though. Philip married one more time to Anna of Austria in 1570, and they were married for 10 years, the longest of any of his marriages. She bore him 5 children...4 of which were boys (something he was always longing for with his three previous wives)! I can not fathom why Ms. Plaidy would get so far into the life of this man, then abruptly stop when he still had 30 years of life yet to live! I guess we'll never know.
Overall though, I did enjoy this book. It's extremely well written, and like every other Jean Plaidy book I've read, the pages just fly by. For what WAS included here, it was a very accurate account of the life of Philip II of Spain...I just wish she had finished the story.
March 1, 2015
It became one of my personal goals to read 1 historical romance book every month. And this book started amazingly. I loved the author's words at the beggining and how she chose to show us a very strong monarch. I was excited for this book just after 20 pages and I had a feeling that it had the potential to become one of my favorite books. It didn't happen.
You have some limitations when it comes to story: you're following a pattern of events that already happened and if you decide to write about history, you're supposed to make things interesting. So I don't exactly have things to complain story-wise, I disliked some of the touches that were supposed to either make me feel pity or adoration, because they just were nothing to me? The writer didn't manage to have my attention and I was kind of meeting everything in the book with a 'meh'. I couldn't care about the story, and neither about the characters.
Because, really, besides Philip, I couldn't stand any of the characters. All were way too undeveloped to make me get attached to them and I couldn't care less about all the love and worries that were supposed to fill this book. Believe me, no on is more disappointed than me by this. I liked the story the first 60 pages or so, but when real ruling came into discussion, all was destroyed. Philip's loves and brides were all just dolls, I couldn't get any emotions from then and this is mainly the writing style's fault as well.
Also, this book is advertised wrong. Please don't let yourself fooled by "loving father and sensual lover" because, really, all the book is just Philip's struggle to be like that and failing where this traits mattered the most. I don't have nearly enough historical knowlegde to complain about how Philip's personality was written, but I was very, very disappointed in his mature self, as a person. I felt like I was in a playground, surrounded by small kids and I was feeling the urge to start screaming at them to just do that or don't dare do that. The kids being all these royal blooded in this book.
My main problem was the lack of empathy. I couldn't connect with any character and this ruined the book for me. Still, even though when it comes to characters it brings a minus, when it comes to keeping the reader interested, the writing is okay?? Like I didn't give up this book because it still was written in a particular way, the chapters still ended with cliffhangers and even if it is not the brightest thing I've read, it was still interesting? In `finding about history` way of interesting?
I don't even know? I feel like I've only complained about this book in this review, but I actually enjoyed it quite okay, because it got 3/5 stars after all.
You have some limitations when it comes to story: you're following a pattern of events that already happened and if you decide to write about history, you're supposed to make things interesting. So I don't exactly have things to complain story-wise, I disliked some of the touches that were supposed to either make me feel pity or adoration, because they just were nothing to me? The writer didn't manage to have my attention and I was kind of meeting everything in the book with a 'meh'. I couldn't care about the story, and neither about the characters.
Because, really, besides Philip, I couldn't stand any of the characters. All were way too undeveloped to make me get attached to them and I couldn't care less about all the love and worries that were supposed to fill this book. Believe me, no on is more disappointed than me by this. I liked the story the first 60 pages or so, but when real ruling came into discussion, all was destroyed. Philip's loves and brides were all just dolls, I couldn't get any emotions from then and this is mainly the writing style's fault as well.
Also, this book is advertised wrong. Please don't let yourself fooled by "loving father and sensual lover" because, really, all the book is just Philip's struggle to be like that and failing where this traits mattered the most. I don't have nearly enough historical knowlegde to complain about how Philip's personality was written, but I was very, very disappointed in his mature self, as a person. I felt like I was in a playground, surrounded by small kids and I was feeling the urge to start screaming at them to just do that or don't dare do that. The kids being all these royal blooded in this book.
My main problem was the lack of empathy. I couldn't connect with any character and this ruined the book for me. Still, even though when it comes to characters it brings a minus, when it comes to keeping the reader interested, the writing is okay?? Like I didn't give up this book because it still was written in a particular way, the chapters still ended with cliffhangers and even if it is not the brightest thing I've read, it was still interesting? In `finding about history` way of interesting?
I don't even know? I feel like I've only complained about this book in this review, but I actually enjoyed it quite okay, because it got 3/5 stars after all.
December 27, 2012
Plaidy brings historical figures to life. She gives them personality, motives and emotions. She speculates as to how they saw the world and their role in it. Here she gives a sympathetic rendering of Philip II of Spain.
The author shows how Philip II was raised to value his duty to Spain and have a passion to stamp out heretics. Poor Philip wants a family life, but he can only glimpse it through mistresses. The book covers his first three (of four) wives.
The political situation requires strategic marriages. Philip accepts that he cannot choose a wife but he is eager to try to love those whom politics send his way. His first marriage was too brief. His second wife, Queen Mary of England, had been so worn through the trials of her life that she was tired and undesirable when circumstances finally brought him to her. (Her hysterical pregnancy gives twenty first century readers a clue as to her mental state.) Philip's third wife cannot provide him the love he craves. She is sensitive to the victims of the inquisitions that he has ordered.
Also unfortunate for Philip, his own son does not respond to the royal system in the same way. Plaidy envisions this son, Carlos, as feeble with a mind of his own and an extreme hatred for Philip.
The original 1971 publication was titled "The Spanish Bridegroom". This is a good title for this book. The title of this new edition leaves me guessing, which queen's love (or which two or three queens, or if this refers to a queen-stepson relationship) the book is about. The former title is noted on the verso of title page along with the strange disclaimer that "...Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locals is entirely coincidental."
This is another good Plaidy novel. It stands out from the other books I've read of hers because it is about the romantic life of a male and it relies less on dialog than her others.
The author shows how Philip II was raised to value his duty to Spain and have a passion to stamp out heretics. Poor Philip wants a family life, but he can only glimpse it through mistresses. The book covers his first three (of four) wives.
The political situation requires strategic marriages. Philip accepts that he cannot choose a wife but he is eager to try to love those whom politics send his way. His first marriage was too brief. His second wife, Queen Mary of England, had been so worn through the trials of her life that she was tired and undesirable when circumstances finally brought him to her. (Her hysterical pregnancy gives twenty first century readers a clue as to her mental state.) Philip's third wife cannot provide him the love he craves. She is sensitive to the victims of the inquisitions that he has ordered.
Also unfortunate for Philip, his own son does not respond to the royal system in the same way. Plaidy envisions this son, Carlos, as feeble with a mind of his own and an extreme hatred for Philip.
The original 1971 publication was titled "The Spanish Bridegroom". This is a good title for this book. The title of this new edition leaves me guessing, which queen's love (or which two or three queens, or if this refers to a queen-stepson relationship) the book is about. The former title is noted on the verso of title page along with the strange disclaimer that "...Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locals is entirely coincidental."
This is another good Plaidy novel. It stands out from the other books I've read of hers because it is about the romantic life of a male and it relies less on dialog than her others.
April 9, 2025
This was one of the first historical novels set in this period that I ever read. I don’t remember much of it except Phillips marriage after Mary - just a couple of scenes really. Therefore I didn’t give this a much higher rating but honestly, since I remembered the book after decades I would recommend it. Especially for younger readers just starting out in historical fiction.
September 19, 2019
I just finished reading this novel, which is in my library system, about the wives of Philip II of Spain including Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I's elder sister. and their brief marriage where Mary as Queen tried so hard to have a child with Philip. This is an engrossing read. I enjoy Jean Plaidy's novels and wanted to recommend this one to you.
March 11, 2018
Jean Plaidy is as enjoyable as ever. I admire the way in which she approaches history, and the overlap in characters across her novels. I've never found her books spectacular or memorable, but they are always a good read.
June 29, 2019
I enjoyed this. I learned a lot about Phillip II I hadn’t known. I thought the characterization was realistic. My main negative thought was the story ended with Elizabeth’s death and we never get to read to learn about Phillip’s last wife and years.
October 7, 2019
Really enjoyed reading this book. This book really got me back to physically reading and I am glad I read it. There were obviously many aspects of the book in terms of plot line that I did find annoying even if true but overall a solid book!
October 23, 2021
I love historical fiction about the royal family, and this one is about people I knew little about. The characters were vibrant and realistic, and their problems were heartbreaking. The Inquisition scenes put me off, and it is a sad part of our history. Regardless, an enjoyable journey.
March 27, 2019
Philip
Wow!! He took his duty rather seriously. Still very sad and disturbing what he thought was right wasn't so right.
Wow!! He took his duty rather seriously. Still very sad and disturbing what he thought was right wasn't so right.
April 5, 2019
Misleading title. It was more about Phillip II than his wives.
September 4, 2019
Can't read anymore. The author expects me to believe a two year old is having these conversations and reasoning like an adolescent. I can't get beyond it.
January 4, 2020
Intrigues of kingdom making
Double dealing , political intrigues are nothing new. A little glimpse into some historical events. A look at the terrifying time of the Inquisition.
Double dealing , political intrigues are nothing new. A little glimpse into some historical events. A look at the terrifying time of the Inquisition.
January 20, 2020
Enjoyed knowing more about the royals of Spain.
June 9, 2020
Jean Plaidy brings the world of Philip of Spain into magnificent focus. You see him grow from a child to man too early, to the fanatical supporter of the inquisition.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2020
Not one of her better books, this is the life story of Philip II of Spain, great-nephew of Katherine of Aragon, who married Henry VIII's daughter, Queen Mary.
August 16, 2020
It is unfortunate that this book doesn't cover Philip's last wife, who provided him with his heir.
November 8, 2020
Interesting opposing view of Philip 2 of Spain as a gentle, passionate - if fervent in his religious beliefs-- man and less ofious and monstrous than other takes on him.
August 13, 2021
Great story, good writing, but the end seems rushed.
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