This study of early modern queenship compares the reign of Henry VII's
queen, Elizabeth of York, and those of her daughters-in-law, the six
queens of Henry VIII. It defines the traditional expectations for
effective Tudor queens--particularly the queen's critical function of
producing an heir--and evaluates them within that framework, before
moving to consider their other contributions to the well-being of the
court. This fresh comparative approach emphasizes spheres of influence
rather than chronology, finding surprising juxtapositions between the
various queens' experiences as mothers, diplomats, participants in
secular and religious rituals, domestic managers, and more. More than a
series of biographies of individual queens, Elizabeth of York and Her
Six Daughters-in-Law is a careful, illuminating examination of the
nature of Tudor queenship.