Four Princes

In Europe, 1491 to 1500 was an exciting time to be alive The entire continent was overshadowed by four rulers, all born within a ten year period King Francis I of France, the most interesting of the quartet, bursting with energy and swagger, was a great patron of the arts and the personification of the Renaissance.King Henry VIII of England who was not born to be king but embraced the role with gusto broke with the Roman Catholic Church, and made himself head of the Church of England.Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, the most powerful man in the civilized world, obsessed with the religious disputes of Europe, was leader of the Spanish and then Roman Empire.Suleiman the Magnificent, the richest of them all, stands apart as a Muslim, who brought the Ottoman Empire to its apogee of political, military, and economic power, as well as to the golden age of its artistic and architectural prowess.Never before had humankind seen such giants coexisting Against the rich background of the Renaissance, they laid the foundation for modern Europe Individually, each man could hardly have been different Their mutual relations shifted constantly often they were actively hostile and occasionally they were friendly There was a healthy respect between them never did one make the mistake of underestimating another And together, they dominated the world stage. Download Four Princes By John Julius Norwich – kino-fada.fr Francis, Henry, Charles, Suleiman here are our four princes Individually, they could hardly have beendifferent together, they dominated the world stage and moulded the continent of Europe None perhaps not even Suleiman was a truly great man but they all possessed elements of greatness, and each left a huge and indelible footprint on the land or lands over which he ruledHenry VIII of England 1491 1547 Henry was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty He was a scholar and thFrancis, Henry, Charles, Suleiman here are our four princes Individually, they could hardly have beendifferent together, they dominated the world stage and moulded the continent of Europe None perhaps not even Suleiman was a truly great man but they all possessed elements of greatness, and each left a huge and indelible footprint on the land or lands over which he ruledHenry VIII of England 1491 1547 Henry was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty He was a scholar and theologian who spoke French, Spanish and Latin But he was also very much the sportsman a superb horseman who enjoyed the hunt, a tennis player and a wrestler, who also participated in archery and was prepared to take on anyone in the joust He loved music, and he actually composed songs and masses He also pla...Reading history by historians who have ceased to give a damn is a great simple pleasure.By ceased to give a damn I mean, as in this case, the historian has achieved sufficient age, dignity, and renown that he is free to tell a good story about stuff that interests him, without the tedious bowing and scraping to established opinion and other historians which often drags down other histories Norwich knows a lot of cool stuff and enjoys knowing it, and he invites you to know it and enjoy it too Reading history by historians who have ceased to give a damn is a great simple pleasure.By ceased to give a damn I mean, as in this case, the historian has achieved sufficient age, dignity, and renown that he is free to tell a good story about stuff that interests him, without the tedious bowing and scraping to established opinion and other historians which often drags down ot...This fascinating book takes an umbrella view of the combined influences of four powerful rulers of the first half of the sixteenth century Henry VIII of England, Francois I of France, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Between them they ruled all most of Western Europe and many of the lands between Austria and Turkey A fifth powerful figure, the Pope, is not included in the title but is there as a crucial player in the co...I don t know why I keep reading John Julius Norwich books I like his breezy style and the overviews, but he s completely unreliable Or to put it another way, he far prefers the cool stories and wonderful gossip of history to the boring minutiae of dates and facts and stuff that actually happened This is of course why I keep reading him It sfun.I was going to say I wish my job was just randomly making up stuff and publishing it but then I remembered I m a romance novelist On the othe I don t know why I keep reading John Julius Norwich books I like his breezy style and the overviews, but he s completely unreliable Or to put it another way, he far prefers the cool stories and wonderful gossip of history to the boring minutiae of dates and facts and stuff that actually happened This is of course why I keep reading him It sfun.I was going to say I wish my job was just randomly making up stuff and publishing it but then I remembere...This overview of four powerful leaders of the 16th century reads like a blog In some ways that is nice It is easy to read and doesn t get into too many details On the other hand, it also includes opinions and outright errors Despite the fact that t...I really struggled with this rating.It was a very interesting perspective of the times and was told following each monarchs life events and how they interacted with each other or not.While I really liked the writing style there were moments I was not sure I wanted to finish it because quite a few inaccuracies kept popping up.The author lists all his sources but does not footnote them so was difficult to tell where all the misinformation was coming from.Nevertheless,very interesting idea ...Definitely in my comfort zone here medieval history Whilst already familiar with each of the four princes Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain, and Suleyman the Magnificent I enjoyed the way Norwich whom I am rather partial too , links these contemporaries together.For all four men were contemporaries, ruling four powerful European empires England, France, Spain Imperial Empire, and Constantinople And Norwich himself writes the four of them together Definitely in my comfort zone here medieval history Whilst already familiar with each of the four princes Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain, and Suleyman the Magnificent I enjoyed the way Norwich whom I am rather partial too , links these contemporaries together.For all four men were contemporaries, ruling four powerful European empires England, France, Spain Imperial Em...The early years of sixteenth century Europe were dominated by key players Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, and Charles V of Spain Lesser known in Western Europe but certainly not less of a tour de force was Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Turks These massive figures tugged and pulled at each other constantly influencing affairs John Julius Norwich takes an uncharacteristic approach to historical biography by mainly focusing on this interplay in, Four Princes Henry VIII, The early years of sixteenth century Europe were dominated by key players Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, and Charles V of Spain Lesser known in Western Europe but certainly not less of a tour de force was Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Turks These massive figures tugged and pulled at each other constantly influencing affairs J...Terrible I don t know enough about Francis I and Charles V to comment their parts, but Henry VIII s and Suleyman I s are full of inaccuracies Moreover, the women are treated awfully in this book Anne Boleyn is presented as rude and hated by everybody, by Henry as well The author blames Anne for anything bad that Henry did, like forbidding Mary to visit her mother He also says that we will never know for certain if Anne was really guilty of adultery and that it may well be that she slept Terrible I don t know enough about Francis I and Charles V to comment their parts, but Henry VIII s and Suleyman I s are full of inaccuracies Moreover, the women are treated awfully in this book Anne Boleyn is presented as rude and hated by everybody, by Henry as well The author blames Anne for anything bad that Henry did, like forbidding Mary to visit her mother He also says that we will never know for certain if Anne was really guilty of adultery and that it may well be that she slept with one orof them simply in the hopes of having the son that she felt she could no longer expect from her h...An immensely readable history of the first half of the 16th century, told through the lives of four rulers who between them dominated Europe throughout it England s Henry VIII, France s Francis I, the Habsburg Charles V and the Ottoman Suleiman the Magnificent For the British reader, much of the interes...

• English
• 02 April 2018
John Julius Norwich
• Hardcover
• 304 pages
• 0802126634
• John Julius Norwich
• Four Princes