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The Divorce of Henry VIII

The Untold Story

Catherine Fletcher

$22.99

Paperback

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English
Arrow
16 April 2013
The inside story of Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon - 'an intricate and fascinating story' Hilary Mantel

'An eye-opening book, an intricate and fascinating story' Hilary Mantel

1527. Henry, desperate to marry Anne Boleyn and ensure the Tudor line asks Pope Clement VII to grant him a divorce. Enter Gregorio Casali, an Italian diplomat hired to represent Henry's interests in the Vatican. Through six years of persuasion, threats and bribery Casali lives by his wits, playing off one powerful patron against another, negotiating with ambassadors from Spain, France and beyond, each crowding the Vatican to press their interests in the Tudor break up. Before it is done, Henry will decide to divorce not just Catherine, but the Church itself. Set against the backdrop of war-torn Renaissance Italy, The Divorce of Henry VIII combines a gripping family saga with a highly charged political battle between the Tudors and the Vatican to reveal the extraordinary true story behind history's most infamous divorce.

(Originally published with the title Our Man in Rome)
By:  
Imprint:   Arrow
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 19mm
Weight:   213g
ISBN:   9780099554899
ISBN 10:   0099554895
Pages:   288
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Catherine Fletcher was born in Birkenhead and spent her teenage years in Scotland. She graduated with a First in Politics and Communication Studies from the University of Liverpool in 1996. After a stint in student politics she worked for the BBC Political Unit and BBC Parliament as a researcher and TV producer. A holiday in Florence sparked an interest in Renaissance history and in 2004 she changed career and went back to university to study for a PhD in History at Royal Holloway, University of London. She subsequently held research fellowships at the British School at Rome and the European University Institute in Florence and is now a Lecturer in Early Modern History at Durham University. Our Man in Rome is her first book.

Reviews for The Divorce of Henry VIII: The Untold Story

<p> An impressive, dogged study for armchair Tudor detectives. -- Kirkus Reviews <p> An eye-opening book, an intricate and fascinating story of an elusive man with an impossible job. A brilliant and impressive feat of original research, and necessary reading for anyone fascinated by the story of Henry's divorce... Catherine Fletcher has allowed the story to tell itself, except that she's been so clever in the telling of it, cutting through to what matters without over-simplifying. -Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall <p> This book casts bright light on an extraordinary cast of characters at a dark moment in the affairs of Christendom. With considerable scholarship, borne lightly, Catherine Fletcher vividly evokes the worlds of Papal Rome and of Henry VIII's Court in England, and deciphers the diplomacy of nightmare. --Susan Brigden, author of New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors <p> It is no small achievement to find previously unexplored documents and to offer a new take on one of the most famous divorces in history. Yet Fletcher does just that with great scholarly verve and literary aplomb. This is a compelling tale of high politics and dodgy dealings, renaissance diplomacy and family drama. This is the untold story of Gregorio 'The Cavalier' Casali Henry VIII's man in Rome. --Anna Whitelock, author of Mary Tudor <p> Catherine Fletcher rescues from undeserved obscurity a key player in one of history's great events. Gregorio Casali turns out to be a thoroughly intriguing character: a skilled diplomat, but also a controversial networker, bribester, and all-around fixer who went by the code name Bald Head. With impeccable scholarship and a zest for the delightful minutiae of history, Fletcher navigates the intricate byways of Renaissance diplomacy to bring this vital new figure into the story of Henry VIII's 'great matter.' --Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome and The Judgment of Paris <p> This entertaining and meticulously rese


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