Customer Reviews

THE SPANISH BRIDEGROOM

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This book rocked! It was my fourth book that I read by Jean Plaidy, and it was the one that made me fall in love with her books and make her my favourite author.

Philip was a small fair boy and was raised to be a serious Catholic. When he was a teenager, he married Maria Manuel from Portugal. She was very pretty with her dark hair and dark eyes. Philip was in love, but he didn't want to tell her because he had his whole life to anyways. After an encounter with his grandmother, Juana the Mad, Maria is with chid and to Spain's happiness it is a son, Don Carlos. To Philip's greif, Maria dies too. Philip got upset because he never got to tell her how much he loved her.

After years of widowhood, Philip marries for state reasons. He married Mary Tudor (read In The Shadow of The Crown by Jean Plaidy). Don Carlos was a little screwed up in the head and Philip knew that he would not be a good ruler. So, he figures if he marries Mary and gets a new heir for his empire and add gets England for his son.

He meets Mary and is not too charmed by her. She was old, but she had been a beauty in her youth. He treated her kindly and Mary was thrilled. She had been neglected and hardly loved since her mother's death and was thrilled that this handsome young man was treating her kindly. This was a man who would help her country come back to Rome (it was a Protestant country ever since the reign of her father, King Henry VIII). But Philip does treat her well and she is very happy. (If you type in Philip II into google and go to images, you will see that Philip is even handsome by today's standards.)

But after living with Mary, he is not crowned king of England. The people hate him. But Philip does like Mary's half sister, Elizabeth. He considers marrying her if Mary were to die. Philip didn't even love her as a husband should love a wife. He sort of thought of her as a painful old aunt. He leaves and promises to be back in a few months. But he doesn't come back until he needs help from England in a war against France.

Mary dies later. She was very unhappy and wanted Philip there. She really did love him. Poor Mary.

AFter that, Philip asks for Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth I (Queen of this Realm by Jean Plaidy and Gay Lord Robert by Jean Plaidy)to marry him. She dallies with the proposal. She did have many to choose from. Since he didn't get any real answer, Philip marries a French Princess, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was originally intended for Don Carlos, but Philip married her himself. But Don Carlos was already half in love with her himself. He saw her minature and was in love with the idea of marrying her. He would even stop killing animals for her. Don Carlos was furious when Philip married her. He already hated Philip enough.

Elizabeth, now Isabella, just wanted to stay in France. But it was her duty to go to Spain and be Queen. In Spain, her husband was cold to her and hardly smiled. Sometimes in private he would treat her tenderly though. Her step-son was a comfort. He spoke French to her and made her feel not so alone. After a few years of marriage to Philip, she only has princesses. Philip was sure that she would eventually give him a son.

But, Philip finds himself in love with her. He never wanted to love anyone else since his first wife. Isabella was pregnant and he was planning on telling her his feelings towards her. Unfortunately, she dies in childbirth, her daughter with her.

This book is awesome and I think that you should read it. I loved it and it is one of my favourite Jean Plaidy books. You should also read the books that I put in there too. It is interesting to see what the different people are thinking over the same situations. Also, I recommend the Isabella and Ferdinand series if you liked The Spanish Bridegroom. The first book is called Castile for Isabella, 2nd is Spain for the Sovereigns and 3rd is Daughters of Spain. They are awesome too.

This book was much more fascinating than I thought it would be. The authors thoroughly researched their history and presented a view into the mind and emotions of Phillip II and the other characters which is fascinating. His family history is very interesting. It includes mental illness, psychopathy, and tragic romance. The characters' personalities and emotional functioning come to life in this analysis of the reasons behind their behaviors. It builds to a climactic end. I enjoyed this book very much.

This book helped along the fascination I have for that period. Jean Plaidy in her characteristic style brings out all the influences on Philip's life. His strict spanish upbringing warring with his deeper sensual nature. The book is divided into 3 parts, dedicated to 3 different phases of his life as well as 3 different women that he was married to. The impression I got is this: That JP started with an extreme close up view of Philip when he was young and gradually distanced the view by including more characters into the story. One of those books that brings out the shades of grey - in historical characters - only to well. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the tie ins between English and Spanish histories.

This is one of my favorite Plaidy books! It is very well written, and it really makes you think, "Was Philip II of Spain a good guy, doing everything he did out of duty, or was he bad, doing it out of hatred and sadism?" I didn't like him before I read this book because of his role in the Inquisition and the fact that I blame him for my heroine's death, Lady Jane Grey (hence my nickname). I still wonder.

Philip II grew up with duty always first. He was serous about everything, and he always acted like an adult. His first marriage was his choice. He fell in love with his first wife, but never knew how to tell her. She died before he got a chance. Around this time, the Inquisition started heating up, under his control. Also, Mary I cam to the throne in England. She was a Catholic trying to bring Catholicism back to England, as well as the Inquisition. The marriage would be good for Philip, but he had no feeling towards Mary, and the English hated him. He married anyway, and in a few years, she died as well. After she died, Philip had to make another alliance, this time with France. He married the daughter of the King. Once again, he fell in love, and once again, she died before he could tell her. Philip had a son by his first wife that was not quite right in the head and he tried to kill Philip. Philip thought it was his duty to his country to get rid of his son. For the sake of Spain, he did.

From reading this review, you will probably despise Philip. I am not a good a writer a Plaidy, so I cannot be surprised. The only thing I ask is to read this book before you judge him.

This is the often untold story of Philip II of Spain. From all my encounters of him in fiction he is a mean, nasty little man with no emotion and evil plans. But in Plaidy's book he's not at all like that. She gives him a human face and a sometimes sad one at that. Born in a royal house where dignity came before everything else Philip had very littler choice in the manner of man he grew up to be. From the very beginning he has to be the Prince of Spain, destined to be King of Spain and ruler of many lands. But from the start he wished he could be something of a different person. More personable, loving and capable of expressing that love. However this is something he never truly learns to do and because of this is the man we know as a "mean, nasty little man." He marries and falls in love with his first wife, who then dies tragically. He is forced into the, apparently unpopular with not only England, but himself, marriage with Mary Tudor. Free of her and her tragedy he marries his son's fiancee and loves her, but she never loves him in the manner he wishes. Philip is never one free from sadness. From his wishing to know and have love, to his crazed grandmother Juana of Castile, to wanting to be everything his father wished. This is a great book by Plaidy in her Tudor series and not one to be missed

The Spanish Bridegroom is my favorite book of all time. It shows incredible insight into the life of Phillip II of Spain,Queen Elizabeth's arch enemy. Even though he was an ardent champion and defender of Papal catholicism at the very height of the inquisition, Jean Plaidy has you empathizing and even rooting for him. Plaidy sets you down in that world and there you stay until the book regrettably comes to an end leaving you thinking about, and in my case, missing the characters for years.(I first read it in the late 1970's and I still think about it).
Honest to God... you really need to read this book.
Charles w Johnson