Historical Friction: Alison Weir on Elizabeth I

WHILE FOLLOWERS OF today's British royals have had plenty to gossip about, folks in the 16th century had even more to chew on.

The people of England saw King Henry VIII go through six wives — and a popular rhyme sums up the fate of each of them: "divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived."

Under the subsequent rules of his three children, the people dealt with religious persecution, marriage rumors, stillborn heirs and adultery.

Novelist and historian Alison Weir's fascination with the Tudor reign, and British monarchy in general, has led her to write more than a dozen biographies on British royalty as well as two historical fiction books.

Her most recent novel, "The Lady Elizabeth," is an engaging account of Elizabeth I's early years, from her childhood through her pronouncement as queen after the death of her sister, Queen Mary I. (She'll discusses it and all things Tudor on Wednesday at the Hirshhorn.)

Weir said her interest in Elizabeth stemmed from queen's engaging personality and wit.

"I think she's an absolutely fascinating character," Weir said, explaining that through the author's previous nonfiction work with the queen her "editor suggested that I relive Elizabeth's early life, and the idea was so appealing and compelling, I couldn't resist it. She's just a formidable, feisty lady and I admire her so much."

Unlike her biographies on Elizabeth, with "The Lady Elizabeth," Weir was able to take some dramatic license.

"The luxury for an historian in writing fiction is being able to get inside your character's head and try to be them and experience what it was like to go through what they went through. I've used the facts, but I have used my imagination to fill in the gaps and where it comes to emotions and motivations and reactions," she said.

"I think that historical novelists have almost a duty to their readers to make sure that the book is as factual as possible. You're writing about a person who really lived," Weir said, adding that she includes an author's note at the end of the novel to detail where she deviated from the historical record.

And the historical record includes quite a number of names, Roman numerals, counts, duchesses and monarchies in different countries. The amount of information can be intimidating for those unfamiliar with the history of Britain, but Weir said she took that into consideration while writing her novel. She hopes "The Lady Elizabeth" will serve as an enticing introduction to the era.

"Hopefully, I've given them enough to help them to understand that period," she said. "I think they're going to be very surprised by a lot of things, not the least of which is how precocious and advanced Elizabeth is as a child. Also, the way that children were treated, how obedience was demanded by parents and how large a role religion played in people's lives in those days.

"I think there's a lot here to raise eyebrows and people will make a lot of comparisons with what happens today and how we've changed as a society."

For Weir, one of the most difficult subjects to tackle in historical novels is the young age at which people got married.

"It was perfectly normal in Tudor times for a girl to be married and cohabit with her husband at 12 years old — that was the age the church permitted it," Weir explained, adding that boys were permitted to marry at age 14.

But, she said, "I wouldn't be writing detailed sex scenes for someone that age for modern readership. I think it would be distasteful. I wrote a rape scene for Lady Jane Grey [for her novel "Innocent Traitor"] at the age of 15 because that, for me, was the one thing that could have explained her hatred for her husband and her refusal to make him king. ... I wouldn't like to do it for anyone much younger than that.

"We have to remember, I always say, you never look at the past through the context of the present; you always look at it within its own context."

» Hirshhorn, 7th Street and Independence Avenue SW; Wed., 6:45 p.m., $35; 202-633-1000. (L'Enfant Plaza)

Written by Express contributor Katherine Silkaitis
Images courtesy Smithsonian Resident Associates