So High A Blood is the story of Margaret
Douglas. If you haven’t heard of her before today, that’s ok…I had not either
prior to reading Morgan Ring’s book about her life. She played an important
political role in 16th Century England. As part of the Tudor royal
family, niece of Henry VIII and daughter of Margaret Tudor, Queen of the
Scots, Douglas tried in vain
through much of her life to unite the Scottish and English crowns. While the
unification ultimately happened after the passing of Elizabeth I in 1603,
Douglas was one of the key players in English royal and political life.
Being
in the royal family in the 16th Century ran the risk of being
imprisoned or even executed if you fell out of favor with the monarch. Douglas
was sent to the Tower of London three times, twice by Henry VIII and once by
Elizabeth. Two of those banishments were for seeking marriage without royal
approval and it was this second marriage, of her son to Mary, Queen of the
Scots, that paved the way for England and Scotland to ultimately get unified
under a common crown. The story of Douglas’s
life also portrayed the struggle of
England’s religious sects as the country shifted from Catholic to Protestant to
Catholic to Protestant throughout the century, based on the whim of the
monarchy. Douglas, a Catholic, did not politicize her religious views.
Ring’s
work is solid, scholarly, but not captivating unless you are a fan of family
drama that so often has plagued English royal life, especially in the 16th
and 17th Centuries. Ring provides a well-researched look at one of
the key political players in royal life during this time and how Douglas
ultimately set about the path towards England and Scotland being united.
