Special Guest Post by Sylvia Barbara Soberton, Author of Marriage, Tudor Style: Love, Hate & Scandal

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Step into the world of scandalous Tudor-era marriages in this delicious new book from Sylvia Barbara Soberton . . .

Henry VIII had six wives but he was not the only person in Tudor England whose marriages created scandals. Many courtiers found themselves entangled in a delicate dance between love, duty and politics. The allure of an heir, the pursuit of power and money and the whims of passion shaped the fates of those who entered the sacred bonds of matrimony.

My new book entitled “Marriage, Tudor Style: Love, Hate & Scandal” unravels the stories of fifteen Tudor couples whose marriages created scandals. Each union is a chapter in a riveting saga of desire, scandal, betrayal and the quest for love. Here are my top three favourite scandalous Tudor marriages:

George Hastings & Anne Stafford:

Anne Stafford was one of the two sisters of Edward Stafford, third Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham was the greatest peer at Henry VIII’s court and the King’s cousin (Buckingham’s mother Katherine Woodville was the sister of Henry VIII’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth Woodville). 

A scandal of epic proportions erupted in 1510 when Henry VIII was rumoured to have taken a married woman as his mistress, although the affair was not conducted between Anne Hastings and the King, as is usually assumed, but between Lady Hastings and William Compton, one of the highest officials at court. 

When the Hastings-Compton affair was discovered, Anne was packed off and sent to a convent while the Duke of Buckingham left the court in a huff. George Hastings had eventually forgiven his wife for her infidelity and she soon returned to court. The couple had several children together but Anne’s name was linked with Compton again in the 1520s.  George and Anne were rewarded for their service in 1529 when George became the earl of Huntingdon.

Henry Percy & Mary Talbot:

Henry Percy, son and heir of the fifth Earl of Northumberland, is best known for his romantic relationship with Anne Boleyn. In the 1520s the couple entered into a pre-contract but it was broken off by Cardinal Wolsey who was acting on the King’s orders. 

Percy then married Mary Talbot, daughter of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and Anne became the King’s queen to be. The Percy-Talbot marriage was an unhappy match. Mary was sickly, suffering from epilepsy, while Percy resented the fact that he married her against his will. There was no love between them and the couple separated in 1529, shortly after Mary gave birth to their stillborn child.  

Thomas Burgh & Elizabeth Owen:

Elizabeth Owen was the daughter of Sir David Owen, an illegitimate son of Owen Tudor. She married Thomas Burgh, one of the sons of Thomas Burgh, 1st Baron Burgh. When his elder brother Edward (married to Katherine Parr at the time) died in the 1530s, Thomas became his father’s heir. 

In 1536 Baron Burgh accused his daughter-in-law of adultery, insinuating that the child she was expecting was not his son’s. Elizabeth defended her honour and when her son was born prematurely, she dictated letters to Thomas Cromwell while recovering from a difficult childbirth. When Elizabeth’s husband Thomas died, her father-in-law disinherited their three small children. 

While much has been written about the Tudor dynasty, few books focus exclusively on marriages. 

“Marriage, Tudor Style: Love, Hate & Scandal” combines elements of historical intrigue, romance and scandal, making it accessible to both history enthusiasts and general readers. Filled with lesser-known facts, personal letters and insights from historical documents, the book offers a rich tapestry of Tudor life.

Sylvia Barbara Soberton

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About the Author

Sylvia Barbara Soberton is a writer and researcher specialising in the history of the Tudors. She is best known for The Forgotten Tudor Women book series, which concentrates on shifting the perspective from famous figures like Henry VIII’s six wives to the lesser-known, but no less influential, women of the Tudor court. Sylvia has written ten books to date, and her newest titles include The Forgotten Years of Anne Boleyn: The Habsburg & Valois Courts, Ladies-in-Waiting: Women Who Served Anne Boleyn and Medical Downfall of the Tudors: Sex, Reproduction & Succession. Her ground-breaking paper on Anne Boleyn and the accusation of witchcraft was published in the Royal Studies Journal in 2023.  You can find Sylvia on Facebook,  Goodreads and Twitter @SylviaBSo