The King is Dead

Description

On 28 January 1547, the sickly and obese King Henry VIII died at Whitehall. Just hours before his passing, his last will and testament had been read, stamped and sealed. The will confirmed the line of succession as Edward, Mary and Elizabeth; and, following them, the Grey and Suffolk families. It also listed bequests to the king's most trusted councillors and servants. Henry's will is one of the most intriguing and contested documents in British history. Historians have disagreed over its intended meaning, its authenticity and validity, and the circumstances of its creation. As well as examining the background to the drafting of the will and describing Henry's last days, Suzannah Lipscomb offers her own, illuminating interpretation of one of the most significant constitutional documents of the Tudor period. 'A bold and original attempt to unravel one of the great mysteries of English history' DAVID STARKEY

Suzannah is a historian and TV presenter, and a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the New College of the Humanities. She is the author of 1536: The Year That Changed Henry VIII, and A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England.

I was gripped... an elegantly written forensic examination of Henry's will' -- Saul David, Evening Standard