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.”

“When these with violence were burned to death,We wished for our Elizabeth.”

“My lady, for your virtue and goodness, God would receive you in rags.”

“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.”

“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”

“I cannot go with you all the way on your journey, but I would go as far as I might”

“There are too many Dudleys already in this world”

“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”

“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”

“You must pray to God for forgiveness because I can give you none”

“I prefer to be left alone with my books.”

“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.”