first half of theth century in Europe was a fascinating era for power politics, spiced with a hefty dash of religious conflict.
As western Christendom was rent by the Reformation and threatened by the rising power of the Ottoman Empire, four memorable monarchs were the of the show, so to speak, and J.
J. Norwich's group portrait of Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire and Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire follows the trials and tribulations of the various states trying to cope with the complex combinations of war, peace and dynastic politics.
As usual, Norwich's beautiful and entertaining narrative in the grand tradition of Gibbon he even puts the naughty bits in the footnotes makes for a pleasurable read.
You don't really have to be a major history buff to enjoy this, but if you are, so much the better.
The Renaissance and CounterReformation was never so much fun, Highly recommended. I really struggled with this rating, It was a very interesting perspective of the times and was told following each monarchs life events and how they interacted with each other or not.
While I really liked the writing style there were moments I was not sure I wanted to finish it because quite a few inaccuracies kept popping up.
The author lists all his sources but does not footnote them so was difficult to tell where all the misinformation was coming from.
Nevertheless,very interesting idea for a book and I only had wished it was better researched as I love the idea for a behind the scenes look at these most fascinating rulers.
This was a well written book, Not a dry read at all, this book reads like a historical fiction book, This book follows the life of the kings of the world in the time of King Henry VIII.
It's a subject that you seldom get to learn about, It was an interesting comparison of them all and see the bigger picture of how they shaped history.
This overview of four powerful leaders of theth century reads like a blog, In some ways that is nice, It is easy to read and doesn't get into too many details, On the other hand, it also includes opinions and outright errors, Despite the fact that this is supposed to be about four men, it felt like it focused on Henry VIII in much greater length.
Received from NetGalley.
I ended up listening to the audio book for this and it really helped me get through the book.
I loved the book but for some reason actually reading it seemed to take forever, My favorite part of history to read/learn about is Tudor England so I knew quite a bit about Henry VIII, but I knew little to nothing about the rest of the princes in this book.
I learned a lot about the rest of Europe during this time period and thought it ended up being a great book.
Enjoyable and easy reading, there are some definite historical "issues" here as other reviewers have noted, I won't say that this author was categorically wrong, some of the specifics are still debated by historians, but there were definitely some clear inaccuracies or at least rumormongering without clearing indicating such.
Apart from the accuracy issues, it's also pretty shallow, Norwich hits the highlights, and goes into depth here and there likely on topics events that were of personal interest to him, but there's a lot that goes unmentioned.
History books can be popular, sensational, biased, slanted, and incorrect while still being brillianteven essentialanalyses, Pop history can be good history, For instance, my first recommendations for anyone interested in the late middle ages are Huizinga and Tuchman, precisely because while they present a deeply flawed narrative, they are engrossing, engaging, and present a view of a historical milieu thateven with its flaws andyears of superceding scholarshipis not necessarily incorrect.
This book is lazy, superficial, sensational, heavilyspun, and frequently incorrect, It reads like a buzzfeed article: his characterizations are glib, his interpretations are simplistic, his subjects are reduced to cardboard cutouts, and while his historical research may be broad, it's firstpageofgooglesearchresultsshallow.
And if I can spot these flaws, it's a bad sign, since my interest in European history wanes around the middle of the XVc and completely evaporates by.
Someone who's actually knowledgeable about XVIc history would probably have a stroke if they read this book, Definitely in my comfort zone here medieval history! Whilst already familiar with each of the four princes Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain, and Suleyman the Magnificent I enjoyed the way Norwich whom I am rather partial too, links these contemporaries together.
For all four men were contemporaries, ruling four powerful European empires England, France, Spain amp Imperial Empire, and Constantinople.
And Norwich himself writes. . "the four of them together held Europe in the hollow of their hands, . . "
We begin c,and are taken up to the death of Suleyman c,the last of the four, Their stories are often intertwined as they were at times often allies and fierce rivals or both!
For those familiar with the period, it is a concise read.
For those unfamiliar it will be an eyeopener, Four great princes were born within a single decade: Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain and Suleiman the Magnificent.
They were very different. Francis, bursting with energy and swagger, was known as le roi grandnez whereas Suleimans' victorious pyramid of,Hungarian skulls left Europe aghast, Henry, infamous for his six wives, changed England more than any other king in history whilst Charles V, most powerful of the four, ended up swapping his crown for a monastery.
In this book, John Julius Norwich vividly shows how their wary obsession with each other laid the foundations for our modern world.
Full of memorable stories and with a cast list ranging from Leonardo da Vinci to Joanna the Mad, Four Princes offers the perfect introduction to History's most turbulent and interesting century.
“Francis, Henry, Charles, Suleiman: here are our four princes, Individually, they could hardly have been more different together, they dominated the world stage and moulded the continent of Europe.
None perhaps not even Suleiman was a truly great man but they all possessed elements of greatness, and each left a huge and indelible footprint on the land or lands over which he ruled.
”
Henry VIII of England
Henry was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
He was a scholar and theologian who spoke French, Spanish and Latin, But he was also very much the sportsman: a superb horseman who enjoyed the hunt, a tennis player and a wrestler, who also participated in archery and was prepared to take on anyone in the joust.
He loved music, and he actually composed songs and masses, He also played the lute and the virginals,
Francis François I of France
Francis belonged to the Valois dynasty, He was tall, muscular and he had a prominent nose which of course resulted in the nickname “le roi grandnez”.
However, he was very popular with the ladies as he was very charming and a good conversationalist, Like Henry, Francis enjoyed hunting and jousting, The author discusses Franciss great love of art, and that Francis brought the great Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci to France.
Earlier this year I read a book written by French historian Franck Ferrand, “sitelinkFrançoiser, roi de chimères” in which he questions whether this was in fact true he suggests that it was in fact Franciss mother, Louise of Savoy, who was responsible for bringing the great artists to France and purchasing great works of art.
Be that as it may, Francis had an excellent collection of art and at the time of his death his library contained over,books.
"He was a personal friend of François Rabelais, for whose unforgettable giant Pantagruel he is said to have provided the inspiration.
"
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire at the age of
twentyfive.
He was tall, slim, intelligent and cultivated, He spoke Turkish, Persian and Arabic, and he also knew some Greek, Bulgar and Hungarian, A patron of the arts, he was known for writing beautiful poetry, However, in order to obtain his position and secure it he murdered the male members of his family.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles was born in Ghent and was of the Hapsburg dynasty.
He was the son of Philip the Handsome of Austria and of Joanna the Mad of Aragon and Castile.
Charles was King of Aragon and Castile, as well as of Naples and Sardinia, Subsequently he was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor, He was not physically attractive, and he was also a stammerer, He was deeply religious, and not as cultivated as Henry or Francis, but Charles loved music, He could play a variety of instruments and was said to sing beautifully, "He is frequently quoted as saying that he spoke French to his friends, German to his horses, Italian to his mistresses and Spanish to God.
"
John Julius Norwich explores the splendour, policies and actions of these four powerful rulers who reigned during the first half of the sixteenth century.
As the title of the book indicates, each of these rulers also had obsessions which drove them to act as they did.
Henry became obsessed with his succession, He absolutely had to have sons to succeed him, He also cast an eye on France, Francis was obsessed with regaining land which France had lost, but in particular Milan Valentina Visconti of Milan was his predecessors grandmother.
Charles, being of Burgundian origin, wished to restore Burgundy to its previous status, It had reverted to the French Crown on the death of Charles the Bold, He also saw himself as the leader of all of Christendom, and he wanted to regain the Empire of the East which had been lost to the Ottomans.
A predecessor of Suleiman had conquered Constantinople in, and Suleiman wanted to enlarge the Ottoman Empire, He was a serious threat to the rulers of Europe,
Having provided a very brief overview of who these four rulers were and what motivated them, I leave you to read what John Julius Norwich writes about them, their policies and their actions.
The author provides much background and a wealth of detail, some of which is very amusing such as an older and hugely obese Henry being fitted with armour to go to war and having to find a horse to carry him.
Many people who were important in the lives of these men are introduced, but the focus throughout remains on these powerful monarchs themselves, and their individual legacies.
The author also shows how their immediate successors were rather insignificant compared to them, It is not a comprehensive history of the period, but it is a very good overview of that time.
The book is written in an easy to read conversational manner I was glued to it for two days.
Here is a painting Wikipedia of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, which was a summit held between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France in.
On this occasion each did his best to outdo the other in terms of pomp and ceremony:
I received a free E Arc from Netgalley of this book.
It's been a long time since I read a nonfiction history book that wasn't set in the AngloSaxon/Viking period, but the Tudor period or rather Elizabeth I was my first great history crush and I was fascinated by the idea of this accounting of the first half of the sixteenth century.
History books too often focus on one person, one event or one series of events, it's high time that 'history' looked at the wider reach of events and this is exactly what the author tries to do.
There can be few who know nothing about the reign of Henry VIII and his two 'frenemies' Charles V and Francis I of France, but by offering an account of the interactions of these three men, and adding Suleiman the Magnificent into the mix, a far richer landscape of Europe at this time is revealed.
It was a time of great change, and all four of these men strove for something different, but all of them wanted, perhaps, to earn the biggest reputation for themselves, and they all seemed determined to bankrupt themselves in order to do so.
The author treats each king in a similar way he might not agree with their actions but he can at least offer an explanation for their actions, and, with not a little humour, he's able to find their achiles heel for Suleiman it seems to have been the weather, for Charles V his unambitious son, the later Philip II, for Francis I his hatred of Charles V and we all know about Henry VIII and his need for a son and heir.
And yet these men all dealt with far greater issues as well and I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Charles V who seemed to face some sort of disaster from everywhere simultaneously.
I would have liked more information about Suleiman as I know so little about him, but the purpose of the book precludes that indeed I think some understanding of the period is needed beforehand in order to appreciate all that the author has to offer.
Overall, this is a very readable account of the time period the Papacy looms large, as to be expected, as do some of Suleiman's piratical allies, but each king is given his own space and time and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading history books.
.