Obituary: Eric Ives

Paul Lay remembers the historian and Tudor expert Eric Ives, who passed away this week.

Paul Lay | Published in 27 Sep 2012

We were saddened to hear about the death of Eric Ives, Emeritus Professor of English History at the University of Birmingham, who passed away on September 25th. He was 81.

A regular contributor to History Today, Eric was best known for his masterly study, Anne Boleyn, published in 1988. Though not without its critics, it remains the best biography of the tragic queen.

Eric was also an expert on the development of higher education and often compared its increasingly bureaucratic machinations with that of the Tudor court. A superbly combative and funny speaker, Eric was a man of deep Christian faith who will be missed by many. Our condolences go to his family and friends.

Here is a selection of Eric's articles from the pages of History Today:

Will the Real Henry VIII Please Stand Up?

Henry VIII may be our most famous monarch, a man who still bestrides English history as mightily as he dominated his kingdom nearly 500 years ago – but how well do we really understand him?

Marrying for Love: Edward IV and Henry VIII

Eric Ives looks at the cases of two English monarchs who broke with convention by selecting spouses for reasons of the heart, rather than political convenience.