Conservative Book Talk

800 pages is more than enough for a deeply thought out biography… but this one covers six biographies spanning one of the most important periods in English history. The book gets boring only because the author insists on three points so often. 1) Religion is an effort to accumulate power where otherwise there is none; 2) fate is inescapable and people are 100% consistent in their motivations 100% of the time; 3) most historians have the Tudor chronology all wrong because of a lack of sources from the era; and thus, this version of events is in a different order with different motivations. The second point, ironically, is the most annoying, because we are reminded of it 100% of the time.

Plot: Biographical sketches of all six of Henry’s wives. Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Katherine, and Katherine. And even at 800 pages, it only skims the surface of most of these women. The author has a lot of “new” theories and twists on the historical chronology that make for a more spicy story (which reads like a series of dates-gone-wrong on “Saved By The Bell”). Also covers the political intrigue on the Spanish side of things, with many excerpts from ambassadorial letters (alongside tavern ballads).

Positive: Little details like badges and livery colors, plays, ballads, and court jousting tournaments, keep things interesting. And the constant referral to the Spanish ambassador’s perspective makes for a “Cinderella-as-told-by-the-stepmother” twist to everything that is funny, in a morbid sort of way. (okay, so he’s serious, and unlike the Disney reversal books, few people know enough about this story to find the differences. The reason that’s in the positive section; now I want to learn more, so that I can detect more nuances of error in the future!) And really, it IS funny to think of Anne of Cleves desiring to marry Henry again. She had land, money, power and a nice position in court for the first time in her life; he had just beheaded wife #5 for no good reason. No one wanted to marry Henry by then; not even wife #6! Also, most of his sources are not usually quoted in other works, so, again, to read another side of the story can be good.

Negative: Starsky insists that he has new research to break up the existing schools of thought regarding the Tudor era. Therefore, he claims, much of the chronology given to Henry VIII’s reign is wrong, due to partisanship of the historians and the lack of evidence from the period itself. So, the six wives are reinterpreted from David Starsky’s contemporary, atheistic, and “courtly love” (which in revisionist terms means a mix of the gothic ideal of pining away for a “true love” who is married and the hippie “free love” movement) perspective. Its pretty much a reversal of the history, right down to casting Henry’s 5th wife as the “normal” Tudor-era woman and the best wife of the lot. I disagree with all of the above, but on one point especially I would like to make a case; the Tudor period is one of the most well-documented eras in history. Journalism, journaling, record-keeping, and letter-writing all exploded as fashionable activity during the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign. All this correspondence and availability of records naturally saw an increase in espionage; so if English records aren’t enough, there are often French, Austrian, Spanish, and other countries whose spies recorded the same information in letters to their own country, each other, and often other countries as well via ambassadorial instructions and papers. Tudor history is so well known precisely because of the wealth of records available.

Overall: not recommended, except as a counterpoint to a better biography. I enjoyed the facts as a historian, but as a reader, his style is boring. He says what will happen in the beginning of the chapter, then forecasts it again and again and again with words like “inevitably”, and “a palatable feeling of doom”, etc. When the end of the chapter comes along, instead of giving more detail to make the “yeah-the-guy-was-right-again” part interesting, he gives less detail than even we’ve read so far. He needs some writing lessons, the guy does. E.B. White has a book on writing that’s so good its worth just plain reading (now that’s superior writing skills for you!)

Tags: biography, David Starsky, Sincerelyornot, Six WIves of Henry VIII

October 31, 1517; Martin Luther nails the 95 theses to the wooden door of the church in Wittenburg. I would like to take this opportunity to make a plug for Reformation Day. Halloween has demonic origins, and our society as a whole is really going for the roots of the holiday with all its grusomeness. “Harvest Parties” are just fine, but what if, instead of just neutralizing the holiday, we as Christians actually sought to reform it? Make it about learning the roots of the Protestant Reformation (which, for any Catholic readers, was also the start of the Catholic Reformation and led to a revival of the Catholic church in many areas of Europe. So pick someone like Erasmus, but its still the same idea). Encourage people to dress up as Biblical/ Christian heroes of the faith; give handouts with a short biography of a Reformer (available online; I wrote ours in one hour after reading this book); have booth attendants dress up in medieval costume; or even ask the pastor to prepare a short talk on the Reformation and its significance. This year, our church is theme-ing our (first ever) Reformation Day party on Martin Luther.

Plot: Martin Luther is famous for starting the Protestant Reformation. A monk of the Augustian Order, he was a diligent scholar whose dedication to the church (and history as a law student with a degree in theology) made him a prime candidate for a professorship at the university of Wittenberg, where he had time to study the scriptures and write. His travails with (and eventual separation from) the Catholic church were published all over Europe, (not always with his consent; the famous 95 theses were written in Latin because they were intended as points for scholarly debate, not public consumption). The former monk eventually married a nun, and they had six children. Far more fascinating than his life, though, were his writings of theology, and the context in which he said them.

Good: Lots of period details, literally and figuratively: there are fun 16th century prints on almost every page, including both famous woodcuts (Luther accused of heresy, the debate at Worms, etc.) and rarer etchings (fancy Reformation-themed capitals kick off each chapter). I confess, I love pictures like these; especially since the Latin names look similar to English, so I could translate who was who for myself! Also, the author takes time to point out the historical setting, including that which made Luther a 16th century celebrity. The printing press was the YouTube of that era: new, exciting, and made “instant” notoriety available to more people than ever before. And Luther utilized it (by the grace of God) while the Pope didn’t. This is only a small example out of a multitude.

Bad: This isn’t really bad, but worth considering if your child is reading this. I should note that the author explains many various doctrines of the era, and while good to know, the author is not shy about his opinion. Infant baptism is good, transubstantiation is wrong, etc. I am old enough to understand that what a book says doesn’t necessarily reflect my personal beliefs; not all teenagers, even, may have gone over these points of doctrine for themselves. Personally, I loved it, because Bainton’s view dovetails with most people in the 1500s, and he explained a lot of things I hadn’t quite understood, “how can anyone think that?” Younger minds might simply absorb the opinions, though, and not catch the disclaimers that bracket the ideas the author disagrees with (the existence of elves, for example, was a common belief among German peasants like Luther’s parents).

Overall: I loved this book. It made Luther seem more human than others I have read. His faults are mentioned, but so are his graces. Roland Bainton incorporates the rich tapestry of Renaissance life into his narrative of Luther’s life. Highly recommended for all ages.

My apologies for not posting this last week when it was more timely. Matt

Tags: , biography, book, History, Martin Luther, Reformation, review, Roland Bainton, Sincerelyornot