Where It All Began

I have always been a huge fan of history; my favorite historical period if the Tudor era, which was famous for people such as Henry VIII, Mary “Bloody Mary” Tudor, and Elizabeth I. My absolute favorite person from the Tudor era is Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife and mother of Elizabeth I. She’s actually my most favorite person throughout history!

Unlike so many of the things I am passionate about, I can pinpoint exactly where my fascination with Tudor history began. When I was in fourth grade, my mother bought me a book by Kathryn Lasky titled Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor. It was the first book in a new series called The Royal Diaries and each book in the series was a fictional account of a young princess who would grow up to be a historically significant member of royalty¹. Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor was my first introduction to the Tudor era and the fictional account of Elizabeth’s days in her father’s court as the daughter of Henry VIII and his despised second wife fascinated me. Her voice was so real, so true, and historical accounts were woven into her fictional diary with such power that I was mesmerized by Elizabeth’s life. In fact, I very clearly remember crying when I finished the book, because once it was over I felt like I had lost a best friend as that was what Elizabeth had become to me as I read the book.

At the end of the diary, there was an epilogue, a historical note, a family tree, and assorted photos with corresponding captions of Elizabeth as well as important people in her life. That more than anything helped me separate fact and fiction and allowed me to put names to faces². I have been hooked on Tudor history ever since and while the rest of the books I had in The Royal Diaries will eventually be given away or donated to libraries, I will never, ever let go of my copy of Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor. I just love it too much to ever part with it!

Question of the Week: Can you pinpoint the exact moment/time when one of your passions/interests began?

1. Other royal girls in the series included Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, Isabella of Spain, Anastasia Romanov, Queen Victoria of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii. [↩]
2. There was a chart with Henry VIII and his six wives represented with drawings and under each name was a quick summation of what impact that particular wife had on Henry, the English court, and overall history [↩]

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.