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Автор Элисон Уэйр
Alison Weir
Traitors of the Tower
Introduction
1. Lord Hastings (1483) The King's Loyal Friend
2. Queen Anne Boleyn (1536) "I Have a Little Neck"
3. Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1541) Hacked to Death
4. Queen Katherine Howard (1542) "Rose Without a Thorn"
5. Jane Parker, Lady Rochford (1542) The "Wicked Wife"
6. Lady Jane Grey (1554) The Nine-Days' Queen
7. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex (1601) "Strike Home!"
Alison Weir was born in London, England, and went to the City of London School. Her great love of history started when she read her first novel. Later, she trained as a teacher. She now lives and works in Surrey and her books include Britain's Royal Families, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley. She has also published two novels, Innocent Traitor and The Lady Elizabeth.
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Introduction
In the Tower of London, between 1483 and 1601, seven famous traitors lost their heads. Visitors are often drawn to the scaffold site on Tower Green where they are said to have died. In fact, five were put to death in a different place within the Tower, in front of what is now the Waterloo Barracks.
This book tells the grim and tragic stories of the traitors who died in the Tower.
Chapter One
Lord Hastings (1483) - The King's Loyal Friend
Lord Hastings was the loyal friend of King Edward IV, the first monarch of the House of York. He helped Edward all his life, and shared his tastes for women and good food. Born around 1431, he came from a good Yorkshire family that had long supported the House of York against the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses. In 1461 he had fought for Edward at the Battle of Towton, which gained Edward the throne. Hastings was given his title, vast lands and a seat on the royal council. He was also made a Knight of the Garter. He married Katherine, the sister of Warwick, "the King-Maker", the man who had helped set Edward up as king.
Hastings was well liked by all. People praised his sense of duty, his charity and his love of the arts. He had great power and wealth, more than many of higher rank, and people only got to see the King with Hastings" favour. But his power, and his wenching with the King, earned him the hatred of the Queen, Elizabeth Wydeville. Her family were his rivals for royal favour, and his deadly foes. Hastings was also rivals with Lord Dorset, the Queen's elder son, for the love of Elizabeth Shore, the King's mistress.
