Alison Weir Quotes & Sayings

The formal education of women was rarely considered important. Girls of good birth were taught domestic skills at home or in a convent, and rarely learned to read and write, for it was feared that if they did they would waste their talents writing love letters or reading romances that led to promiscuity. — Alison Weir

I must bear it well as I may. As my sainted mother used to say, we never come to the kingdom of Heaven but by troubles. — Alison Weir

At Sandwich, in 1579, she paid the magistrates' wives a great compliment when, without employing a food taster, she sampled some of the 160 dishes they had prepared for her and even ordered some to be taken to her lodgings so that she could eat them later. — Alison Weir

Large and excellent joints, the delicacies and cleanliness customary in Italy were wanting — Alison Weir

He was not afraid, in fact he was content to go: So much that had been pleasurable in his life was now beyond his capacity, and that he could not bear. — Alison Weir

I prefer to be left alone with my books. — Alison Weir

There are too many Dudleys already in this world — Alison Weir

They inhabited a lost world of splendour and brutality, a world dominated by religious change, in which there were few saints. — Alison Weir

I cannot go with you all the way on your journey, but I would go as far as I might — Alison Weir

'Britain's Royal Families' became my first published book, in 1989, from The Bodley Head, and the rest of the story is - dare I say it? - history! — Alison Weir

One French ambassador, having witnessed the royal temper, confided, 'When I see her enraged against any person whatever, I wish myself in Calcutta, fearing her anger like death — Alison Weir

Arthur managed to speak to his grandmother [Queen Eleanor of England], demanding that she evacuate the castle with all her possessions and then go peaceably wherever she wished, for he wanted to show nothing but honour to her person. The Queen replied that she would not leave it, but if he behaved as a courtly gentlemen, he would quit this place, for he would find plenty of castles to attack other than the one she was in. — Alison Weir

It is too dangerous to meddle in the marriage of princes,' he muttered as he withdrew. Arundel made a joke at his expense, saying 'He lost his post as Chancellor that day, for the Queen had usurped it,' which drew wry laughter from the deputation. — Alison Weir

She was not so forbearing when it came to bad breath. After receiving one French envoy, she exclaimed, 'Good God! What shall I do if this man stay here, for I smell him an hour after he has gone!' Her words were reported back to the envoy, who at once betook himself back to France in shame. — Alison Weir

The Union of the Two Noble and Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York, — Alison Weir

In 1965, when I was fourteen, I read my first adult novel; it was a historical novel about Katherine of Aragon, and I could not put it down. When I finished it, I had to find out the true facts behind the story and if people really carried on like that in those days. So I began to read proper history books, and found that they did! — Alison Weir

In one sphere above all others, Anne Boleyn still had the power to influence him, and that was in the case of church reform. Anne was a passionate and sincere evangelical, the owner of a library of controversial reformist literature, and she was sympathetic to radical and even Lutheran ideas. — Alison Weir

At school, up to the age of sixteen, I found history boring, for we were studying the Industrial Revolution, which was all about Acts, Trade Unions and the factory system, and I wanted to know about people, because it is people who make history. — Alison Weir

I steel myself to ignore his taunts and his coarse language. I no longer care what he says or does. It doesn't matter anymore. I am detached, contained in my own private world where he cannot reach me. It is my last refuge. — Alison Weir

If only they would all just leave me alone with my books and my letters, I would be content to let life, and the world pass me by — Alison Weir

I feel very strongly that where the facts exist, a historical novelist should use them if they're writing about a person who really lived, because a lot of people come to history through historical novels. I did. And a lot of people want their history that way. — Alison Weir

Some of my subjects do not know what is good for them, — Alison Weir

Who does not tremble when he considers how to deal with his wife?' asked Henry VIII in his treatise A Defence of the Seven Sacraments; 'for not only is he bound to love her, but so to live with her that he may return her to God pure and without stain, when God who gave shall demand His own again.' Marriage — Alison Weir

Again, she may have made the equation that sexual involvement was inextricably linked with death. — Alison Weir

His handsome face is suffused with rage. He stands before me shaking, then to my disgust, bursts into noisy tears; "I shall tell my mother of you!" he sobs and crashes out of the chamber — Alison Weir

Was I right?" she asked him. "Was I right to make a stand against what I believed to be wrong? Even though many ills have come from it? I have been asking myself this a lot lately. I must be quiet in my conscience. — Alison Weir

Be well advised what ye put in his head, for ye shall never pull it out again. — Alison Weir

It did not do to give your heart to a man so entirely, she thought. Men did not value what they came by easily. Once you loved, you laid yourself open to pain. — Alison Weir

7. CCR; Robert of Reading; Murimuth; Dugdale, Monasticon; Annales — Alison Weir

A husband or wife did not have the right either to demand sex from his or her spouse or to refuse it, and there was a catalogue of forbidden sexual practices, notably homosexuality, bestiality, certain sexual positions, masturbation, the use of aphrodisiacs, and oral sex, which could incur a penance of three years' duration. Nor were people to make love on Sundays, holy days, or feast days, or during Lent, pregnancy, or menstruation. People believed that if these rules were disobeyed, deformed children or lepers might result. — Alison Weir

From whom but the Devil did this advice come under which you are acting? Those who are urging you to repeat your former wrongdoings against an innocent person are seeking in this not your honour but their own convenience. They are clearly the enemies of your crown and the disturbers of your realm. — Alison Weir

The first Elizabeth film was an absolute travesty historically. It really was sloppy. Things like 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and 'The Tudors,' people's perception is distorted because of these. It matters to me as a historian, because I spend my life trying to get it right. — Alison Weir

Katherine of Aragon was a staunch but misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cleves a good-humoured woman who jumped at the chance of independence; Katherine Howard an empty-headed wanton; and Katherine Parr a godly matron who was nevertheless all too human when it came to a handsome rogue. — Alison Weir

Each man was born to his degree, and a happy man was one who did not question his place in life. — Alison Weir

In the South of England northerners were regarded then as uncouth, brutish, undisciplined savages ... — Alison Weir

At six o'clok the young King's terrible sufferings finally ended. After his eyes had closed for the last time, the tempeste raged on. Later, superstitious folk claimed that Henry himself had sent it, and had risen from his grave in anger at the subversion of his will. — Alison Weir

The Burgundian chronicler Philippe de Commines thought the English a choleric, earthy, and volatile people, who nevertheless made good, brave soldiers. In fact he regarded their warlike inclinations as one of the chief causes of the Wars of the Roses. If they could not fight the French, he believed, they fought each other. — Alison Weir

If only the Fates had granted him a longer stay in this — Alison Weir

It gives me a huge buzz when people say they've enjoyed my books, because this grew out of a hobby, and it's an absolute passion, and it's lovely when I get feedback. — Alison Weir

I will never give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he has wounded and enraged me. In my silence lies my strength. — Alison Weir

I waste so much time sleeping. And time is of all losses the most irrecuperable, for it can never be redeemed. — Alison Weir

You must pray to God for forgiveness because I can give you none — Alison Weir

Only during courtship might a woman briefly gain the upper hand, as both Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour did, but woe betide her if she did not quickly learn to conform once the wedding-ring was on her finger. The — Alison Weir

An objective viewpoint was beyond her; she was single-minded to a fault. — Alison Weir

This led to a lessening of confidence in the judicial system. Justice, it seemed, was available only to those who could pay enough to secure a 'right verdict — Alison Weir

When I started researching history in the 1960s, a lot of women about whom I've subsequently written were actually footnotes to history. There was a perception that women weren't important. And it's true. Women were seen historically as far inferior to men. — Alison Weir

Giraldus claimed that he had heard about Eleanor's adultery with Geoffrey from the saintly Bishop Hugh of Lincoln, who had learned of it from Henry II of England, Geoffrey's son and Eleanor's second husband. Eleanor was estranged from Henry at the time Giraldus was writing, and the king was trying to secure an annulment of their marriage from the Pope. It would have been to his advantage to declare her an adulterous wife who had had carnal relations with his father, for that in itself would have rendered their marriage incestuous and would have provided prima facie grounds for its dissolution. — Alison Weir

She had already decided that, when she grew up, she was going to do whatever she pleased and not let anyone order her about. — Alison Weir

Perhaps the Queen's prayers, and those of Bernard, had been efficacious, or perhaps Louise had been more attentive in bed, for during 1145
the exact date is not recorded
she bore a daughter, who was named Marie in honour of the Virgin. If the infant was not the male heir to France so desired by the King
the Salic law forbade the succession of females to the throne
her arrival encouraged the royal parents to hope for a son in the future.
Relationships between aristocratic parents and children were rarely close. Queens and noblewomen did not nurse their own babies, but handed them over at birth into the care of wet nurses, leaving themselves free to become pregnant again. — Alison Weir

Men, however, were encouraged to sow their wild oats, but a woman who did so became a social outcast and ruined her chances of making a good marriage. — Alison Weir

Often, little brother, there is no smoke without fire. — Alison Weir

Until quite recently women's histories were largely overlooked but in the wake of feminism there has been increasing interest in retrieving them. — Alison Weir

I love reading about the supernatural, and time-slip novels, and the mistress of both is Barbara Erskine. — Alison Weir

Life was good, and already she understood that to be aware of happiness when you were actually feeling it, and not just in retrospect, was to be happy indeed. — Alison Weir

But what use was the semblance of power without the substance? — Alison Weir

When these with violence were burned to death,
We wished for our Elizabeth. — Alison Weir

between Scylla and Charybdis, — Alison Weir

But I wish you to know that, were I just Edward and you just Jane, I would prefer to marry you. We accord well together, and have similar views ... Kings cannot make their own choices. I wished you to know that — Alison Weir

Many people have told me that my books read like novels. Perhaps this is because, when I write, I feel I am really there, so strong is my feeling for my subject. On occasion, I have been so moved by the events I have been describing that I have felt like crying. — Alison Weir

Swearing, drunkenness, "haunting bad houses," fighting, and drawing graffiti - hugh penises were a favourite - on the palace walls were all punishable by warnings, — Alison Weir

Although, by todays standards, he set a vast amount of work, he believed as he told Mrs Ashley, that 'If you pour much drink into a goblet, the most part will dash out and run over'. In Ascham's view, it was the carrot, and not the stick, that worked. — Alison Weir

My lady, for your virtue and goodness, God would receive you in rags. — Alison Weir

Since mediaeval times, the King had been seen as two bodies in one: a mortal entity and "the King's person," representing unending royal authority; monarchs therefore referred to themselves in the plural form as "we. — Alison Weir

Late in the 16th centurt, William Cecil's son, Thomas reortedthat Philip had said that 'whatever he suffered from Queen Elizabeth was the judgement of God because, being married to Queen Elizabeth, whom he though a most virtuous and good lady, yet in the fancy of love he could not affect her; but as for the Lady Elizabeth; he was enamored of her, being a fair and beautiful woman. — Alison Weir

... only one man could have been responsible for their deaths: Richard III. — Alison Weir

Kat embraced her, concealing her dismay as best she could. For these few months, fraught as they were, Elizabeth had been entirely hers again. — Alison Weir

As their forces broke, the Yorkist cavalrymen raced to the horse park behind their own lines and mounted their steeds to give chase. As they thundered past, the King and Warwick, flushed with victory, yelled, 'Spare the commons! Kill the lords!' Their words went unheeded. — Alison Weir

a royal bride could come to enjoy considerable power and influence, as did both Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Yet such status and power emanated solely from her husband. She enjoyed no freedoms but those he permitted her. Without him, she was nothing. Queens — Alison Weir

History was a hobby for about, oh, 20 years before I got into print. — Alison Weir

Zionists exploited, exaggerated, invented, or even perpetrated "anti-Semitic" incidents both to procure support and to drive Jews to immigrate to the Zionist-designated homeland. A few examples are discussed below. — Alison Weir

If people really want to know and learn from history, why do they want bad history? Why don't they want good history? Wouldn't you rather know the truth, rather than the legend? — Alison Weir

If silences could be pregnant, then this one went to full term. — Alison Weir

Court life for a queen of France at that time was, however, stultifyingly routine. Eleanor found that she was expected to be no more than a decorative asset to her husband, the mother of his heirs and the arbiter of good taste and modesty. — Alison Weir

What she loved was being admired, being wanted, being pursued - but she did not think she wanted ever to be caught. — Alison Weir

A king was the Lord's anointed, hallowed at his coronation with holy oil. — Alison Weir