The Star of Lancaster (53 page)

Armitage-Smith,
Sydney John of Gaunt

Aubrey, William Hickman Smith
National and Domestic History of England

Bryant, Arthur
The Medieval Foundation

Church, Revd A. J.
Henry the Fifth

Costain, Thomas B.
The Last Plantagenets The Pageant of England
1377 – 1485

Davies, J. D. Griffith
King Henry IV

Davis, W. W. C.
England Under the Angevins

Froissart, Sir John
The Chronicles of England, France, Spain etc
.

Gairdner, James
Lollardy and the Reformation in England

Green, John Richard
History of England

Guizot, M. (Translated by Robert Black)
History of France

Hume, David
History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution

McFarlane, K. B.
Lancastrian Kings and Lollard Knights

Ramsay, Sir James H. of Bamff
Genesis of Lancaster

Stenton, D. M.
English Society in the Middle Ages

Stephen, Sir Leslie and Lee, Sir Sydney
The Dictionary of National Biography

Strickland, Agnes
Lives of the Queens of England

Wade, John
British History

Waugh, W. T.
The Reign of Henry V

Wylie, James Hamilton
History of England under Henry the Fourth
(Four Volumes)

The Plantagenet Prelude

When William X dies, the duchy of Aquitaine is left to his fifteen-year-old daughter, Eleanor. On his deathbed William promised her hand in marriage to the future King of France. Eleanor is determined to rule Aquitaine using her husband’s power as King of France and, in the years to follow, she was to become one of history’s most scandalous queens.

The Revolt of the Eaglets

Henry Plantagenet bestrode the throne of England like an aging eagle perching dangerously in the evening of his life. While his sons intrigue against him and each other, Henry’s conscience leads him to make foolish political decisions. The old eagle is under constant attack from three of the eaglets he had nurtured, and a forth waits in the wings for the moment of utter defeat to pluck out his eyes . . .

The Heart of the Lion

At the age of thirty-two, Richard the Lionheart has finally succeeded Henry II to the English throne. Now he must fulfil his vow to his country to win back Jerusalem for the Christian world. Leaving England to begin his crusade, Richard’s kingdom is left in the hands of his brother, John, who casts covetous eyes on the crown.

Madame Serpent

Broken-hearted, Catherine de’ Medici arrives in Marseilles to marry Henry of Orléans, son of the King of France. But amid the glittering banquets of the most immoral court in sixteenth-century Europe, the reluctant bride changes into a passionate but unwanted wife who becomes dangerously occupied by a ruthless ambition destined to make her the most despised woman in France.

The Italian Woman

Jeanne of Navarre once dreamed of marrying Henry of Orléans, but years later she is instead still married to the dashing but politically inept Antoine de Bourbon, whilst the widowed Catherine has become the powerful mother of kings, who will do anything to see her beloved second son, Henry, rule France.

Queen Jezebel

The ageing Catherine de’ Medici has arranged the marriage of her beautiful Catholic daughter Margot to the uncouth Huguenot King Henry of Navarre. But even Catherine is unable to anticipate the carnage that this unholy union is to bring about . . .

Uneasy Lies the Head

Jean Plaidy

In the aftermath of the bloody Wars of the Roses, Henry Tudor has seized the English crown, finally uniting the warring Houses of York and Lancaster through his marriage to Elizabeth of York.

But whilst Henry VII rules wisely and justly, he is haunted by Elizabeth’s missing brothers; the infamous two Princes, their fate in the Tower for ever a shrouded secret. Then tragedy strikes at the heart of Henry’s family, and it is against his own son that the widowed King must fight for a bride and his throne . . .

Katharine, the Virgin Widow

Jean Plaidy

The young Spanish widow, Katharine of Aragon, has become the pawn between two powerful monarchies. After less than a year as the wife of the frail Prince Arthur, the question of whether the marriage was ever consummated will decide both her fate and England’s.

But whilst England and Spain dispute her dowry, in the wings awaits her unexpected escape from poverty: Henry, Arthur’s younger, more handsome brother – the future King of England. He alone has the power to restore her position, but at what sacrifice?

The Shadow of the Pomegranate

Jean Plaidy

Whilst the young King Henry VIII basks in the pageants and games of his glittering court, his doting queen’s health and fortunes fade. Henry’s affection for his older wife soon strays, and the neglected Katharine decides to use her power as queen to dangerous foreign advantage.

Overseas battles play on Henry’s volatile temper, and his defeat in France has changed the good-natured boy Katharine loved into an infamously callous ruler. With no legitimate heir yet born, Katharine once again begins to fear for her future . . .