The Lives of Tudor Women
Elizabeth Norton2016

What was it really like to be a woman in England's turbulent Tudor age?

Elizabeth Norton explores the seven ages of the Tudor woman, from childhood to old age, through the contrasting examples of women such as Elizabeth Tudor, Henry VIII's sister who died in infancy; Cecily Burbage, Elizabeth's wet nurse; Rose Hickman, merchant's wife and religious activist; Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of a controversial queen; and Elizabeth Barton, a peasant girl who would be lauded as a prophetess.

Their stories are interwoven with special features exploring subjects as diverse as contraception, all-female gangs, witchcraft, and the toys available to the Tudor baby, painting a portrait of the lives of queens and serving maids, widows and chaperones, nuns and harlots.