Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots - The Men Who Kept the Stuart Queen

Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots - The Men Who Kept the Stuart Queen written by

Mickey Mayhew and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 224

Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots covers the lives and careers of the men and women who

‘kept’ Mary Queen of Scots when she was a political prisoner in England, circa 1568/9-1587.

Mary’s troubled claim to the English throne - much to the consternation of her ‘dear cousin’

Elizabeth I - made her a mortal enemy of the aforementioned Virgin Queen and set them on

a collision course from which only one would walk away. Mary’s calamitous personal life,

encompassing assassinations, kidnaps and abdications, sent her careering into England

and right into the lap of Henry VIII’s shrewd but insecure daughter. Having no choice but

keep Mary under lock and key, Elizabeth trusted this onerous task to some of the most

capable - not to mention the richest - men and women in England; Sir Francis Knollys, Rafe

Sadler (of Wolf Hall fame), the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, and finally,

the puritanical nit-picker Sir Amyas Paulet. Until now, these nobles have been mere bit-

players in Mary’s story; now, their own lives, loves and fortunes are laid bare for all to see.

From Carlisle Castle to Fotheringay, these men and women all but bankrupted themselves in keeping the deposed Scots queen in the style to which she was accustomed, whilst fending off countless escape plots of which Mary herself was often the author. With the sort of twist that history excels at, it was in fact a honeytrap escape plot set up by Elizabeth’s ministers that finally saw Mary brought to the executioner’s block, but what of the lives of the gaolers who had until then acted as her guardian? This book explains how Shrewsbury and Bess saw their marriage wrecked by Mary’s legendary charms, and how Sir Amyas Paulet ended up making a guest appearance on ‘Most Haunted’, some several hundred years after his death. In that theme, the book also covers the appearances of these men and women on film and TV, in novels and also the various other Mary-related media that help keep simmering the legend of this most misunderstood of monarchs.

An excellent book looking at the various imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots who

needed to be kept safe/imprisoned securely in order to be able to execute her. This

would obviously take a lot of work and commitment especially if you were the family

entrusted with keeping her captive. This would have big effect on some people who

had to look after her, both financially and with regard to the relationships, the captors

already had. This book was full of wide range of stories all quite interesting and I felt

not really the usual we get in these types of history books. I really enjoy this author

Mickey Mayhew’s writing, and although a little different to his previous book House

of Tudor was still just as good. I enjoyed the profiles of all the main people in the

back of the book along with an excellent bibliography. A book, very well worth a read.

English Rebels and Revolutionaries

English Rebels and Revolutionaries written by Stephen Basdeo and

published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 288

Throughout history brave Englishmen and women have never been afraid to rise up

against their unjust rulers and demand their rights. Barely a century has gone by

without England being witness to a major uprising against the government of the day,

often resulting in a fundamental change to the constitution. This book is a collection

of biographies, written by experts in their field, of the lives and deeds of famous

English freedom fighters, rebels, and democrats who have had a major impact on

history. Featured chapters include the history of Wat Tyler’s Rebellion, when an army

of 50,000 people marched to London in 1381 to demand an end to serfdom and the

hated poll tax. Alongside Wat Tyler in this pantheon of English revolutionaries is Jack

Cade who in 1450 led an angry mob to London to protest against government

corruption. There are three chapters on various aspects of the English Civil War,

during which the English executed their king. Other rebel heroes featured include

Thomas Paine, the great intellectual of the American and French Revolutions;

Mary Wollstonecraft, author of The Rights of Woman; Henry Hunt, who, as well as

the Chartists after him, campaigned for universal suffrage; William Morris, the

visionary designer and socialist thinker; and finally the Suffragettes and Suffragists

who fought for women’s voting rights.

English Rebels and Revolutionaries throughout English history, the book is a collection separated into chapters written by individual experts and historians. The book is split into three sections, the Medieval Era, the English Revolution and the 18th Century, highlighting a number of individuals and events that happened in those times. I must admit I preferred the 18th Century section most as I had studied that at university, but the other two sections were just as good. It’s a very informative book and also very comprehensive in detail and facts. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and really enjoy these types of book. Highly recommended.

The Medieval Crossbow

The Medieval Crossbow written by Dr Stuart Ellis-Gorman and published

by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 240

The crossbow is an iconic weapon of the Middle Ages and, alongside the longbow, one of the most

effective ranged weapons of the pre-gunpowder era. Unfortunately, despite its general fame it has

been decades since an in-depth history of the medieval crossbow has been published, which is

why Stuart Ellis-Gorman’s detailed, accessible, and highly illustrated study is so valuable.

The Medieval Crossbow approaches the history of the crossbow from two directions. The first is a technical study of the design and construction of the medieval crossbow, the many different kinds of crossbows used during the Middle Ages, and finally a consideration of the relationship between crossbows and art.

The second half of the book explores the history of the crossbow, from its origins in ancient China to its decline in sixteenth-century Europe. Along the way it explores the challenges in deciphering the crossbow’s early medieval history as well as its prominence in warfare and sport shooting in the High and Later Middle Ages.

This fascinating book brings together the work of a wide range of accomplished crossbow scholars and incorporates the author’s own original research to create an account of the medieval crossbow that will appeal to anyone looking to gain an insight into one of the most important weapons of the Middle Ages.

As a former Archery Coach, I was looking forward to reading this book, although the crossbow has a poorer reputation in the archery world. That is because people like to create an allure around items like the Longbow and how that is steeped in history, but the crossbow is actually one of the deadliest and most accurate weapons before the rifle. The crossbow used to have such power and accuracy, it meant the individual soldiers had very little chance of survival against them as it would pierce their armour so easily.

Although they could be more easily hidden and could be used by less skilled marksmen, their major problem was that they were so hard to load physically and often had to be used by two men. This was an excellent book which showed that the author had gone through a good bit of research, telling the tale, history, use and tactics that revolved around the crossbow. The first half of the book concentrates on the technicals and the second half concentrates on the history and the battles were influential in. A really good book, definitely one for the historical weapons buffs.