So High a Blood

February 13, 2017
In this quick-paced overview, Ring, a doctoral candidate in history at Cambridge, depicts a determined Tudor family survivor who eschewed tranquility in favor of scheming for the thrones of England and Scotland. Margaret Douglas’s calculated maneuvering resulted in the marriage between her son, Lord Darnley, and Mary, Queen of Scots, and the succession of their son, James VI of Scotland (and I of England). Ring intends to rescue Margaret from the popular role of overbearing mother to her “spoiled” son, but she provides little textual support for her claims. Mary, Queen of Scots, appears as a lightly drawn figure with hazy motives and Darnley seems almost an afterthought. The relationships between Margaret and the reigning Tudors takes center stage, especially the rash romantic entanglements and shifting court alliances. Still, it’s hard to sense Margaret’s charisma and the strategic abilities that allowed her to remain a claimant while repeatedly switching alliances as her family’s needs changed. Interestingly, Ring successfully argues that Margaret’s strong midlife adherence to Catholicism—after years of remaining privately Catholic—derived from the needs of her children, both living and buried. Ring’s work has its flaws, but it’s suitable for introductory reading on Margaret’s complex life. Agent: Anna Power, Johnson & Alcock (U.K.).

February 15, 2017

In her debut, Ring (history, Cambridge Univ.) delivers a comprehensive biography of the niece of one of England's most notorious monarchs, King Henry VIII. While overshadowed by her famous relatives and the political events of the time, Margaret Douglas (1515-78) rose from her abandonment by her mother, Margaret Tudor, to follow her own ambitions, as well as those of her children and grandchildren, risking her own safety in the process. The author compiles a plethora of research, including contemporary sources, to reveal Douglas's integral role in the Tudor and Stuart dynasties. Alison Weir's The Lost Tudor Princess became the first biography on the royal, and this new study serves as another excellent contribution, perhaps leading to a trend of interest in Douglas. VERDICT Recommended for readers of Tudor history, and the women who made their mark during the era. In addition to the many intriguing stories here, readers will enjoy Ring's ability to put them together into a captivating narrative.--Katie McGaha, County of Los Angeles P.L.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2017
An introduction to one of the Tudor family's least-known women.Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, was married to James IV of Scotland and bore his son, James V. Her second husband, Archibald Douglas, fathered her daughter, also named Margaret. She is the subject of Ring's dramatic history of 16th-century England, a tempestuous period that has been the subject of many books--for good reason. Henry VII's claims to the throne were based on distant family connections, and they fought back many usurpers. That fragile hold on the throne would continue throughout the family's history; save the short reign of Edward VI. For decades, the Tudors fought to control the country's religion, alternating from Catholic to Protestant to Elizabeth's acceptance of the "private devotions" of Catholics. Even Elizabeth changed after the Catholic "Northern Rebellion" and the pope's bull excommunicating her. As the Tudors worried about succession, young Margaret Douglas should always have been a factor--and she was, until a fight with her uncle, King Henry VIII, at the end of his life saw her removed from the succession. Margaret was also the half sister of the Scottish king, James V, and married to Matthew Stewart, the Scottish Earl of Lennox. Margaret was born into this political intrigue, and her life is a perfect example of Tudor machinations. Though she bore eight children in one of the happiest marriages in the Tudor dynasty, only two sons survived. One of them, Henry Darnley, was the object of their ambition, and his son would one day become James VI. Ring ably shows Margaret's adaptation to religious mores and to the caprices of kings and queens, though she is less successful in that perpetual stumbling block of books about English history: connecting names, titles, and relationships. A wealth of correspondence and a strong knowledge of the period combine in a capable book showing life at these strange medieval courts.

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