#chapuys: 'little bastard'

[fideidefenswhore]

Did most of Henry's court dislike Elizabeth just because she was the daughter of Anne Boleyn? Do you think that she was bullied by them growing up?

No, I think very few disliked her, for that reason or otherwise (Observant Friars, the Aragonese and later Marian, factions, notwithstanding). She was literally a child, and after 1544 she was officially third in line to the throne, & once Edward VI became King, second in line. There's the argument that most would have revered Mary more, for at least habit's reason (she had been acknowledged Princess for the first seventeen years of her life, versus Elizabeth's scant three); but Elizabeth would have probably been revered, too. All the reports of her as a child, both when Anne was Queen and after her death and disgrace, spoke of her 'towardness', her gravity, her intelligence, her grace, politesse and charm...even Chapuys, after the death of his bete noire, admitted she was a pretty child.

Who would have been brave enough to bully a King's daughter (who wasn't exiled, wasn't in disgrace, see, Mary 1533-36), later, a King's sister, really? What would it have gained them? There were probably some sidelong glances and speech in Edward VI's reign, but that would've had more to do with the drama with Thomas Seymour, and there was outright hostility towards her in Mary I's reign, but that was likely courtiers emulating their sovereign.

[janesemel]

It’s because at first the version of Mary that exists in Chapuys’ head is little more than a sexist, paternalistic remix of her real identity, so thoroughly warped by the age & class difference that he sees her as barely more than a porcelain madonna, a moral/religious figurehead, so sexless she’s barely human. But as Mary ages and their relationship is maintained through less explicitly stressful circumstances then the ones it was conceived under amidst the Great Matter, she begins to grow outside of the parameters he established for her internally. She gets her life back, she’s not just pretty and in pain anymore, she’s energetic, provocative, romantically active, loud. And that scares him, the way it scared him with Cesare’s mother, but it also excites and intrigues him, not least of all because he can’t be physically intimate with Mary the way he was with the mistress who bore his illegitimate son. The illegitimate son he left so he could go perform diplomatic duties in the same country as Mary. Who wants to be a mother. Who loves children. Who is at once everything he’d ever want in a woman and young enough to be his biological child, facts which would be so blatantly immoral if he ever confronted their coexistence that he has to force himself to stay in denial about it. While Mary goes around planning for the future and playing footsie with Phillip of Bavaria, more or less unaware that her very existence is eating this poor bastard’s brain. Eustace is a 50 year old politician with TSwift’s “You Belong With Me” playing in his head every time he meets eyes with his dead friend’s 21 year old daughter. It’s pathetic. It’s disgusting. It’s narratively delicious.

[ravencromwell]

Am back to watching the best! tutor-era show in existence: one Wolf Hall, adapted by the incomparable Peter Straughan because Thomas Cromwell, fundamental gutter-rat who'll fight dirtier than half the bastards in London even know is possible while having a veneer of polished civility is giving me the fiercest Ros Vortalis vibe my GOD. So, I thought I'd share the best fucking exchange from the show which is just Mark Rylance's Cromwell going absolutely fucking feral over dinner with the tiniest provocation over his surrogate dad Cardinal Wolsey. I can't find the YouTube clip, which is an absolute travesty because the dialogue alone will never do Mark's performance justice and any of you who haven't devoured this series find it by any means necessary and then come scream about it with me. But for now, let me show you the ambassadorial dinner no one fucking expected disgraced Tom Cromwell to have the balls to show up at:

[Tom, cool as a cucumber while everyone else freezes in horror since they have absolutely! been gossiping about him]: "Did you want to talk about me, Master More? You can speak while I'm here, I have a thick skin." [Thomas More's inner monologue: oh, fuck the crazy bastard who's been a hired mercenary! of all things! for our enemies the French! showed up oh he's _looking at me oh dear let me wipe the sweat from my brow with this napkin and give the master-class on everything you don't do to lie convincingly]: "No-one was talking of you." [Cromwell: inwardly rolling up sleeves. Oh, this will be fun!]: "Of the Cardinal, then?" [poor. poor host: I will salvage my dinner if it's the last thing I do. I simply must summon my power of manic cheer!] Thomas, this is Monsieur Chapuys, the Emperor's new ambassador here in London. Monsieur Chapuys, my friend, Thomas Cromwell. [poor new ambassador who doesn't understand what's about to happen to his polite society debut]: Enchanted. [after which he makes his evening's first and last mistake, leaning over to Thomas More to chat in Italian: "I have heard of this one. No one knows where he comes from. Like the wandering Jew." [poor bastard's new and dumb and fails to understand Cromwell isn't happy since Wolsey fell unless he eviscerates six people before bed] [Tom inwardly: oh, this is how we're gonna play it?] "I hardly know where I come from, myself. If you want to speak half-secretly, try Greek, Monsieur Chapuys." [host, staring between a gawp-mouthed new ambassador, sulking Thomas More and smug as a pig in shit Tom Cromwell: manic cheer aid me now! Upon which he says to More:] "My friend, you are looking at your herring as if you hate it." [Thomas More, making five-year-olds look like Zen masters of self-control by comparison]: "There's nothing wrong with the herring." [poor host, finally defeated]: "Ah." [More, who cannot let himself keep getting slapped around he's a man of importance I tell you!]: "But of Cardinal Wolsey, I'll say only this -he has brought his fall on himself. He's drawn all to himself - land, money and titles. He's always had a greed for ruling over other men. I think it's a little late to read the Cardinal a lesson in humility. His real friends have read it long ago and been ignored." [Cromwell inwardly: this stopped being fun and became the biggest crock of shit I've ever been priveleged to witness. Fuck civility.] "And you count yourself a real friend, do you? I'll tell him - and by the blood of Christ, Lord Chancellor, he'll find it a consolation as he sits in exile and wonders why you slander him to the King." [Host, genuinely scared they might fight with the butcher knives now and More is a weedy little thing Cromwell could take him without even breaking a sweat oh god what if he dies at my dinner? Because I invited Cromwell Thomas More is second-in-command to the king!] "Gentlemen..." [Cromwell, oblivious, having worked up his full glorious head o' steam]:" No, let's have this straight. Thomas here says, "I'd spend my life in the church, if I had a choice. I'm devoted to things of the spirit. I care nothing for wealth. The world's esteem is nothing to me." So how is it I come back to London and find you've become Lord Chancellor? What's that?" Three beats of aching, glorious silence. "A fucking accident?"

[queenmarytudor]

Hi! I found this source by Chapuys that was dated in 1534, saying KOA and Mary met? I’m confused because no other sources mention this, and I’m wondering if it was incorrectly labeled? “The Princess has been very ill. Having been obliged to remove and follow the Bastard when a little indisposed, it increased her illness, but she is better. It has been a great comfort to her that the King her father sent her his physician, and permitted the Queen also to visit her."

I explain it fully in this post, but I think it's just a mistranslation that misses out the s, so instead of:

"the King her father sent her his physician, and permitted the Queen also to visit her."

it's

"the King her father sent her his physician, and permitted the Queen[’s] also to visit her."

The rest of Chapuy's letter makes it clear he's referring to Katherine's physicians and not herself sadly.

[emmaofnormandy]

~Protecting the damsel: Obi-Wan Kenobi is lady Mary Tudor’s guardian.. (part III)~

Mary was dinning with her half younger sister, making sure her well fare was in check. They had a pleasant conversation about mundane matters as well as that of their father. It did not escape the oldest of the two that Elizabeth, whilst eager to be restaured properly in royal favor, resented the absence of their father, who always took a long time to summon them at court.

“I’m sure he’s occupied with matters that go sometimes beyond our understanding”, said Mary. “Do not fret, he has both of us and our brother in his heart.”

Yet, she understood well that sentiment that crossed her heart and could not help but feel it too every once in a while. She remembered once how she told his councilors that she was no bastard. If he believed she was one, why wouldn’t he say it in her face?

The dinner went well and lady Elizabeth asked her sister to stay a little longer, but Mary had no plans to spend more than one night in Hatfield as she had business to attend in her lands located at East Anglia. 

“But you are always in my prayers, Elizabeth. On that I assure you.”

As she gazed upon her younger sister’s eyes, so dark like her mother’s, Mary felt as if she was inevitably brought upon to Anne Boleyn’s inheritance. However, to cast the shadow of a long distant past to an innocent was not part of Mary’s nature. We are both motherless and, to a certain extent, fatherless. 

The price we pay for carrying the Tudor blood is always too high. 

A thought that never made out to her lips.

***

Obi-Wan found out there were Sith agents in betwist the noblemen at the royal household of his princess’s father, which might complicate the things more than he’d like. 

He could not abandon lady Mary and leave her exposed to the attack of his enemies, but could he sit and wait for the right moment to defeat these darkling creatures?

Anxious as he was to solve the matter quickly, he decided to employ a man of his trust who was part of Lady Mary’s entourage and request him to move London right away in order to prevent conspirators to cause the downfall of Queen Katheryn and, by extent, remove lady Mary of her birth rights. 

There were more to it than he’d let it show but until his princess was summoned to court, he could not leave his station abandoned. Therefore, in spite of himself, he stayed overnight. Eventually, though, lady Mary had him inside, once she provided him chambers and food. In respect to the memory of Chapuys, she was treating the Jedi Knight with the respect he earned in so little time. But there was also something alluring in regards to his person that she could not tell what was that exactly.

“It has been a long day, Master Kenobi”, said she. “I pray you have not gotten yourself bored that quickly.”

He chuckled softly . There was a moment where their eyes lingered in an exchange of glances, but Obi-Wan distracted himself with wine. He could not get lost in those eyes. He cleared his throat.

“Not at all, Your Highness”, said he at last. “I got myself acquainted with the surroundings . Must I say that the landscape here is very lovely to one’s eyes.”

“The countryside has such a beautiful scenario, out of the chaotic world we are in”, said Mary, in her own contemplations. Then she turned her eyes to Obi-Wan with a melancholic air that the Jedi Master could sense through the Force. “If I could switch positions, I dare say I’d live contently being a peasant.”

Obi-Wan sometimes had difficulties to remember that things operated in a different manner in this Earth planet. For a start, people there seemed to know very little the concept of Republic. 

“Would you, my lady?”

He knew it was bold of him to express his thoughts, but in that moment he saw no harm and neither did Mary, who laughed quietly. 

“A good observer, aren ‘t you, Master Kenobi?”

Obi-Wan smiled. But in many ways, there was something about her that reminded him of his old flame, the Duchess. The mere reminder Mary may unintentionally evoked without knowing it was enough to ache the older man’s heart. Nonetheless, he concealed well.

“I would like to know more of you, my lord. You seem very quiet and introspective. Dutiful, but also not as ambitious as many men of your position would be”, said Mary, intrigued.

The Jedi had to be careful with what he’d tell her, but he knew how to play that game he often played in a far, far away galaxy.

“My lady, I am bound to the vows of knight. Nurturing ambition is not part of these vows even though I had the unfortunate path crossed by such men.” He smiled. “All I genuinely care is for your safety. I am a peacemaker by nature and will always be so.”

They were now walking slowly, passing by a long and empty corridor. The moonlight was perceivable through a stained glass of the household, but they both paid little attention to it.

“You seem to have been well trained to this task”, observed Mary. “But how did it start? When did you think about becoming the knight you’ve now become?”

That was a difficult question, to which only an embellished answer could please his princess. The truth itself would not be possible to be told: in fact, humankind of that planet was completely unaware there were other civilizations far ahead in morals and with problems of their own. Very carefully, Obi-Wan, who was not in Earth for the first time, knew how to tell the story of his background without raising suspicious.

So that was when he told lady Mary about his childhood, the moment he felt the Force (which he translated to a Catholic language that his mistress would comprehend and which he saw how much it pleased her to be told) and how Qin-Gon Jinn was the responsible for knighthood. All of this required a good change of names and backgrounds, but he already told this to many men before his lady so that proved not being difficulty. Yet, he felt a fang of guilty dig right into his conscience. 

Why does it feel so wrong?

“I hope your lordship knows how much your presence is appreciated”, said lady Mary once they were close to her bedchambers. Obi-Wan could feel a sort of attachment forming, but he did not wish to think about it. He bowed, praying to be wrong in his assumption. 

“I appreciate, Your Highness. I am here to serve.”

She extanded her hand and Obi-Wan took it to her lips, where he pressed a kiss. This time, her soft porcelain skin left an unimagined effect on him. Mary seemed to notice it, for a slight smirk curled upon her lips as their eyes meet.

But Obi-Wan was too aware of his vows to let them slip... He stood regally and did not take more of her time to say goodbye. As Mary went indoors, she felt her heart ache. Why every time happiness was close to a grasp she felt it slip away from her fingers?

That night, Mary was haunted by old scars, so she wept. Even though he was in a distant bedchamber, Obi-Wan felt her pain. He closed his eyes and meditated, but to his consternation, that feeling would not leave him so soon...

***

Mary and Obi-Wan would not see each other properly until her return to East Anglia as he decided to occupy himself with overseeing the carriage and horses whilst the princess said goodbye from her sister and was accompanied from her trusted ladies and servants, joined by other men as they made their way back home.

Once there, each had their tasks to occupy themselves when news of a conspiracy reached their ears. Obi-Wan was once more requested to be at the princess’s side, though he wished to be in field in order to check the threat. Lady Mary told him he was not permitted to leave her side.

“I cannot risk be exposed to danger, Master Kenobi”, said she.”I understand my position is questionable right now. I must be preserved at all custs...”

He knew it was also a matter of pride. Her rights to legate the crown were in perilous game and so far Obi-Wan could tell she was a great player. There were more than saw the eyes, but he aquiesced to what he knew...and what he perceived.

“I will not question Your Highness’s decisions. I am not here to judge them, but I could be useful in defeating those conspiracists”, argued Obi-Wan.

But Mary could be very stubborn in letting go people that grew dear to her.

“Please, Master Kenobi. Your service will be more useful by staying here.”

“Of course, my lady. I am merely your servant.” He bowed.

Mary wished she could tell him otherwise, but instead she took hold of her scapulate and kept herself in silence. These weeks would test not only her patience but also her good will and faith. 

Obi-Wan eventually figured it out how the conservative party led by the Catholics who sought to remove Queen Katheryn out of her post as consort to King Henry were defeated. But it all seemed the result of something far deeper and dangerous than one might assume as confirmed by Master WIndu who later contacted him to tell about the whereabouts of Sith agents who were nearly successful in taking control of the realm of England.

“Short story cut, as you understand we have good loyalists here”, said Windu. “Even though they don’t agree with the monarchy system, they are here to defendi it.”

“Oh the irony”, mumbled Obi-Wan.

But the other male did not smile. “One more thing, Kenobi. I expect you to return soon. The princess is safe and sound, her position has been restaured and there are so far no threats to her life anymore.”

He understood it, of course, but somehow he felt his duties would break his heart again. 

“When should I leave?” 

“Before winter begins”, said Windu.

***

Mary was at the gardens reading Arthurian stories to her ladies when Obi-Wan showed up. The princess was quick to dismiss them, though her cousin Margaret Douglas was allowed to stay... which she did, though in secretive giggles, as she was well aware of the feelings the princess harboured to the handsome knight.

“Master Kenobi”, said she more cheerfully than intended. Obi-Wan could not help a smile. “I thought I’d not see you today.”

“Unfortunately I had been busier than I thought, my lady. Hence my abscence”, explained he. “I pray to find you well this day?”, he inquired.

Obi-Wan offered his arm for her to take and as she did, he noticed she was not wearing the frenchhood that day, taking notice how her locks were as red as his.

“You do, my lord, and I appreciate it for you to ask it. And yourself?”

He nodded his head slightly. Her presence was so alluring and mesmeraizing, though his pride would forbid him to acknowledge it even to himself.

“I am in good spirits today, yes. I notice you are reading a different novel today. What is it if I may ask?”

As she spoke fondly of this King Arthur and his noble knights, earning so far a comparison to Lancelot, Obi-Wan knew that, however he wanted to spend as much as time as he could with her, he had to deliver the news soon. Noticing he was not joining her in the brightest of moods, lady Mary inquired her friend if there was something wrong.

Once they deepened the pace in the gardens, Obi-Wan took her hands in his and finally told him he was expected to leave so soon. Mary reacted with shock as he expected. But it did not surprise him to see the attachment between them, however subtle, was suddenly exposed to his own heart to deny it now.

“I... I was not expecting it your mission to end so soon, Master Kenobi”, said lady Mary in an astonished whisper. 

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. It is what it is.”

She smiled, but sadness in it broke his heart. “My ancestor, king Edward III, had one of his mottoes with the same inscription. It is what it is. But I pray to receive news from you, my lord.”

He could not give her any promises, not when he knew the truth. “I will try”, was all he said.

Lady Mary understood well what this was meant, but being reasonable, could she expect otherwise?

“I got used to your presence”, was all she ever said.

Obi-Wan took her hand and allowed to slip his fingers in hers, giving a small squeeze.

“As I got used to yours, my lady.” He then took of his rings and placed in her right finger. “Please, wear this and remember of these moments spent together.”

She swallowed the tears, prompting a smile to grace her full lips.

“Of course.” With no one to see it, she inclined forward and pressed her lips against his. “And may this be the gift you carry to yourself when you depart, Master Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, enjoying the taste of her lips for the moments they sealed a secret promise in a chastise kiss. As he opened, his heart sank. 

“Duty is the death of love.”

Words that lady Mary would carry to her... And from that moment on, they followed different paths to never be seen again..

***

Epilogue.

Earth was once again involved in the catastrophic war between the Jedis and the Sith. Once more, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s mission led him there, to Tudor England. To his despair, England was broken than years before, when he left his protegée safe and sound.

As he moved to Palace St James in order to pursuit Darth Maul, Obi-Wan came to find a place close to mourning. Whispers reached him and he sensed a disturb in the Force. 

Disguised as a priest, Obi-Wan did not take so long to find out his lady Mary became queen and that was she the one to lay dying, abandoned by all those she cherished in life, though she was surrounded by her usual loyal ladies-in-waiting.

Usually, he’d not meddle. Usually, Obi-Wan would stay away. Matters as these were out of his reach, but the queen once possessed his heart, and her grasp he could never let go. Seeing in such pain brought him out of himself. 

“Mary!” he stepped in between the dames, not minding how he would be perceived. Not even the Siths and their chaos could distract him right now. He never thought... She was so young! And healthy! How on earth...? “Mary, please awake! Tell me you breathe!”

Mary had been in constant pain and grief with little moments in her life where she did not know misery. Yet, the Lord seemed to give her His mercy for when she was this close to lose conscience and dwell in what was long gone and could not be recovered, she heard his voice.

The voice of her beloved.

“Master Kenobi?” her voice came out almost as if his name choked out. “Am I in Heaven?”

But his hold to her was real. She grasped onto him as much as he did to her, both weeping. The scene moved all others who watched that strange reunion.

“No. I’m real. I’m here. I did not know I left you in such state... Please forgive me, Mary”, he let out a sob.

Hearing him speak to her granted the peace she always sought.

“I’m sorry for disappointing you, Obi-Wan”, she said in a painful voice. “I was a terrible queen. I was not made for happiness.”

His sobs grew louder, though sounded distant for her. 

“Do not say these things, Mary. I love you.”

Mary felt tears rolling out of her eyes. As they stared into each other’s eyes, they realized a little too late they belonged to each other. Much like Mary’s great-great grandmother Katherine de Valois belonged to her Welsh Knight, Owain Tudor. 

“I love you”, he said it again, holding her against him. 

“I love you too, Master Kenobi.” She smiled softly. “I will always love...”

And her breathing became too heavy to bear, suddenly overcame by the desire of rest, which soothed her pain. The remaining words were stolen by her last breath and Obi-Wan would never recover himself after losing his beloved princess.

Duty was the death of love, after all...

[ladiesoftheages]

The Children of Henry VIII and His Two Wives

Princess Mary Tudor (later Lady Mary Tudor, then Mary, Duchess of Palatinate-Neuburg and Countess Palatine) — born 18 February 1516; Mary was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. After her parents’ marriage was declared null and void in 1533, Mary was declared a bastard. She was expected to bend to her father’s will but decided to side with her mother instead. When her sister, Elizabeth, was born in 1533 she was sent to serve in Elizabeth’s household, but otherwise, was largely left alone by her father. She also rebuffed her step-mother’s attempts to reconcile her with her father as it meant having to recognize her step-mother as Queen. Things changed drastically for Mary once her half-brother was born in 1534. With the arrival of a legitimate prince, even more pressure was put on Mary. She continued to steadfastly refuse to acknowledge her illegitimacy which only infuriated her father more. The King had mostly left Mary alone, but now that she had a brother, he would no longer stand for her insolence. Shortly after Prince Edward’s birth, Mary was arrested on charges of treason and taken to the Tower of London. She remained in the tower for several weeks until her father got word of a Catholic plot to free her. Fearing civil war, Mary was soon released from the Tower but kept under house arrest away from court. Despite this harsh treatment, Mary refused to give way—in fact, she believed that it was actually her step-mother that was the cause of her imprisonment (unbeknownst to Mary, she was arrested on her father’s orders and her step-mother was actually working to get her released). Shortly after Mary was released from the Tower, she heard that her cousin, the King of Spain, had formally recognized her father and step-mother’s marriage and her younger siblings as legitimate. Feeling betrayed, as she believed wholeheartedly that her cousin was on her side no matter what, Mary considered submitting to her father. However, the Spanish Ambassador Eustace Chapuys, convinced her to remain strong, for her mother’s sake. She did, but this was all in vain when, in January 1536, her mother died. Mary’s step-mother had given birth to a second son three months before, so with two younger brothers and her mother dead, Mary realized she was out of options. She still had supporters in England, but ever since Spain decided to side with her father, she knew that support meant very little. Just a few short months after her mother’s death, Mary signed the Oaths acknowledging the Acts of Supremacy and Succession. She asked for papal dispensation to absolve her of her actions but was, unfortunately, denied. After signing the oath, Mary was welcomed back to court with open arms. Since she believed that it was her step-mother and not her father who was the cause of all her misery, she happily returned. Although, she still refused to acknowledge her step-mother as Queen. Mary didn’t hold anything against her younger siblings, though, and became rather fond of them. She enjoyed giving them gifts and playing with them whenever they visited court. Once Mary returned to court, her father negotiated several potential matches for her but they all came to nothing mostly due to the fact that Mary’s father feared that, if Mary was married to a powerful Catholic nation that would isolate England and she could potentially use that power to take the throne. In 1539, things changed when Phillip of Bavaria came courting. Although he was a Lutheran and proudly declared that he had never attended mass, Mary found herself to be very drawn to him and the two of them even shared a kiss. Shortly after the Duke’s arrival, marriage negotiations began. As part of the contract, Mary would’ve had to forfeit her right to the English throne. At first she wanted to refuse, but she knew that, realistically, she had very little chance of inheriting the throne anyway because, by this point, her step-mother had now given birth to three sons who were all strong and healthy. Mary agreed to the contract and she and Phillip were married on 25 March 1540 at the Palace of Placentia. Mary was now officially the Duchess of Palatinate-Neuburg and Countess Palatine. Shortly after the wedding, the couple settled in Phillip’s native Bavaria. The marriage was a happy one at first but, unfortunately, the marital bliss didn’t last long. Their diametrically opposed religious views began to take a toll and the couple quickly grew apart. They continued to act as husband and wife in public but, in private, they lived separate lives. Although the marriage was unhappy, the unhappiness didn’t last long as Phillip died only eight years later in 1548. Since the marriage never produced any children, Mary thought she would be able to return to England right away…but there was just one problem: Mary’s father had died the year before, in 1547, leaving Mary’s not-yet-thirteen year old brother as King. Mary’s step-mother, who had been made regent until Edward came of age, feared that Mary’s return would spark a Catholic uprising and Edward, still a child and unable to lead an army into battle, would be deposed. So before Mary could return, her step-mother wanted her to sign an oath of allegiance to her brother. Mary resented this, but also didn’t want to remain trapped in Germany at the mercy of her late husband’s Lutheran relatives, so she (begrudgingly) pledged her allegiance and, thereafter, was allowed to return home. When Mary returned to England, her brother initially barred her from attending court unless she agreed to convert to Protestantism. She refused, but her brother quickly changed his mind. He said that she would be allowed back at court and to maintain her Catholic faith so long as she didn’t practice it openly. Mary lived out the rest of her life in London. She witnessed the marriages of her younger siblings, her brother’s coming of age, and she even became an aunt. Mary died just ten years after her late husband on 17 November 1558 at the age of 42.

Princess Elizabeth Tudor (later Elizabeth, Countess of Leister) — born 7 September 1533; Elizabeth was the oldest child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Although Elizabeth was not the son her parents had hoped for, her healthy birth was still seen as a favorable sign from God. For the first few months of her life, Elizabeth was not considered legitimate by Catholic Europe, but this changed once her brother, Edward, was born when she was eleven months old. During her toddler years, Elizabeth was considered to marry Charles V’s son Phillip and also Francis I’s son Charles, however both potential matches fell through when her parents decided that they needed Protestant allies to increase the Reformation’s legitimacy. At the age of four she was betrothed to the Lutheran Prince Frederick of Denmark. Frederick was ten months younger than Elizabeth and only three at the time of their betrothal so their marriage contract stated that they would be wed once Frederick reached the age of sixteen (the contract originally wanted the marriage to happen once Frederick reached fourteen, but Elizabeth’s father didn’t want Elizabeth to go the way of her great-grandmother Margaret Beaufort so the contract was amended to make sure the two of them would be slightly older when they eventually married). With Elizabeth’s future as Queen of Denmark mapped out, she was free to sit back and relax…and fall in love. During the interim years, Elizabeth befriended Robert Dudley, the son of a Protestant Reformer named John Dudley. Over the years, their friendship deepened and the two fell in love and, as Elizabeth got older, she became less and less inclined to fulfill her duty and marry Prince Frederick. Once her father died in January 1547, Elizabeth saw her opportunity to marry the man she loved. Her brother, Edward, was now King and her mother was regent. Elizabeth was set to marry Prince Frederick shortly after he turned 16 in 1550. Instead, on Elizabeth’s own 16th birthday, she secretly married Robert Dudley. Elizabeth knew it was wrong to marry without her brother or mother’s permission, especially since Robert was the mere son of an Earl (and not even the oldest son at that), but she hoped that her close relationship with her brother would be enough to grant her leniency. Elizabeth and Robert managed to keep their marriage a secret until Christmas that same year. Once the news got out, Elizabeth’s brother was furious and promptly banished the two from court. Elizabeth tried to appeal to her mother, but her mother was also upset because of how this would affect the alliance with Denmark. Elizabeth did feel guilty about betraying her family and the Danish alliance, but with so many younger siblings, two of them being sisters, she knew that England wouldn’t be lacking in foreign alliances. She and Robert were banished from court for several months, but things cooled off when Elizabeth’s younger sister, Margaret, was betrothed to Prince Frederick in her place. Robert and Elizabeth were eventually allowed back to court and Robert was even made Earl of Leicester in his own right which made Elizabeth a countess. Elizabeth and Robert spent most of their time living at court and had 13 children together—Henry, John, Edward, Anne, Thomas, Jane, Edmund, Robert, Elizabeth, Eleanor, George, Margaret, and Katherine. Margaret died shortly after birth and Edward died of tuberculosis at the age of 14, but all eleven of their other children lived well into adulthood and had children of their own. Robert and Elizabeth lived happily at court and were both heavily involved in politics. Elizabeth’s brother, Edward, came to heavily rely on Elizabeth’s council and Elizabeth was even nicknamed “Queen Bess” due to her involvement in matters of state. Elizabeth’s beloved husband died on 4 September 1588 and Elizabeth remained in mourning for the rest of her life. Elizabeth continued living at court and being involved with politics while also making sure her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were taken care of. She herself died on 24 March 1603 at the age of 69.

Prince Edward Tudor (later King Edward VI) — born 2 August 1534: Edward was the second child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. As the longed-for son, Edward was welcomed into the world with great fanfare. Not only did his birth secure the Tudor succession but it also cemented his mother’s place as Queen. Edward was every bit his father’s son. He was confident and charismatic and he loved hunting and jousting and other sports. Although, he was kept quite protected for the first several months of his life, once his brother Arthur—the spare—was born, he was allowed much more freedom. As Edward got older, he also become very interested in politics and religion, but always maintained his boisterous and fun-loving side. After his birth, the nations of Europe began to accept him and his sister as legitimate and at the age of one he was formally betrothed to Princess Joanna of Spain, daughter of Charles V—Joanna, herself, was about 6 months old at the time of the engagement. Unfortunately, the engagement was short-lived as Edward’s father refused to raise him as a Catholic and Charles V didn’t want his daughter married to a Protestant. However, it wasn’t long before Edward’s parents started looking for another prospective bride; this time in the Protestant nations of Europe. With his older sister already engaged to the Prince of Denmark, Edward’s parents looked towards Germany and the Schmalkaldic League. Their sights were initially set on Barbara of Hesse, one of the daughters of Phillip of Hesse, however, Barbara had already been betrothed to someone else so instead, Edward was betrothed to Barbara’s younger sister, Elisabeth. Elisabeth was nearly five years younger than Edward and still only an infant at the time of the betrothal, but Phillip of Hesse—delighted at the prospect of his daughter one day becoming a Queen—assured Edward’s parents that he was willing to wait until the two children came of age. Unfortunately, before Elisabeth could come of age, Edward’s father had unexpectedly died on 28 January 1547, leaving Edward, who was not yet thirteen at the time, the new King of England. By his father’s will, his mother, Queen Anne, was made regent until he came of age and his grandfather, Thomas Boleyn, was made his Lord Protector. Edward had been raised Protestant since birth and was keen to continue his father’s efforts to reform the Church in England—efforts which were strongly encouraged by his mother and Privy Council. Edward cracked down even harder on Catholics—including his own half-sister Mary. He was also keen to continue his betrothal to Elisabeth of Hesse. Edward and Elisabeth were married by proxy on 8 July 1551, after which Elisabeth began her journey to England. Once Elisabeth finally arrived, the couple were officially married in person on 13 October 1551—at the time of the wedding, Edward was 17 and Elisabeth was 12. Due to Elisabeth’s young age the marriage was not consummated for several years—although some of Edward’s councilors encouraged him to disregard this and consummate right away to start producing heirs as soon as possible, but Edward refused having been warned by his father about the dangers of a girl getting pregnant too young. Once the marriage was finally consummated, it didn’t take long for Elisabeth to get pregnant and, in total, the couple had 8 children together, although unfortunately, only 3 survived to adulthood. Their children were: Anne, Elizabeth, Margaret, Henry, Christine, Edward, Phillip, and Mary. Elizabeth and Margaret both died within a year of birth while Mary and Christine both lived through infancy but died in early childhood (Christine at the age of 3 and Mary at 7). The youngest son Phillip died of a fever at the age of 11 which left only Anne, Henry, and Edward. Unfortunately, although Henry—the oldest and presumptive future King—did live to adulthood, he died at the age of 19 before his father, leaving his younger brother, Edward as the new heir apparent. Edward’s wife, Queen Elisabeth, died on 14 March 1582 at the age of 43 due to complications from a recurring illness. Since Edward was only 47 at the time and had lost all but 2 of his children, his council encouraged him to re-marry in the hopes of producing more heirs. Although Edward had grown to greatly admire and respect his first wife, he was very dynastically minded like his father and grandfather and agreed to re-marry. His choice fell on Catherine de Bourbon, daughter of Jeanne III of Navarre. Navarre had converted to Protestantism during Jeanne’s reign and that, combined with its proximity to France, made Catherine the perfect candidate to be Edward’s new bride. Edward and Catherine were married on 31 January 1584. Catherine had only just turned 24 a few months before the marriage so Edward and his councilors were confident in her ability to bear children. Their confidence proved well-placed as Catherine bore Edward four more children, all of whom, survived to adulthood. The children were Henry, William, Joan (the anglicized version of Catherine’s mother’s name), and Katherine. Edward died on 6 July 1603 (just three and a half months after his older sister) and his second wife, Catherine died just seven months later on 13 February 1604. Edward was succeeded by his oldest son from his first marriage who became King Edward VII.

Prince Arthur Tudor, Duke of York — born 20 September 1535: Arthur was the third child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Born on the same day as his father’s older brother, Arthur was named in his uncle’s honor. Although he was the ‘spare’, as Arthur’s father had once been the spare himself, he knew how important the birth of a second son was. Unlike Arthur’s older brother who was very outgoing, Arthur was shy and more prone to intellectual pursuits rather than sport. This often made him the butt of Edward’s jokes, but Arthur didn’t mind as he could make plenty of his own jokes about Edward. Arthur was raised mostly alongside his sisters and younger brother and didn’t have much of a relationship with his older brother until Edward became King. Arthur was especially close with his mother as they shared the same intellectual and religious interests (and, Arthur’s mother would later—secretly—admit, she found Arthur’s calm and quiet nature to be quite refreshing after dealing with his boisterous older brother). As the second son, when it came to marriage, rather than looking toward Europe to make a foreign alliance, his parents looked closer to home—specifically towards the other potential heirs to the throne. With three sons, Arthur’s parents weren’t concerned with the idea of one of Arthur’s cousins potentially staging a coup, but nevertheless, they thought it would be a good idea to tie the two branches of the family together to ensure a greater strength to the succession. Because of this, Arthur was betrothed to his first-cousin-once-removed, Jane Grey, eldest granddaughter of his Aunt Mary. Arthur and Jane were married on 25 May 1553. Arthur and Jane were no strangers to each other when they married. Jane was raised in close contact with her royal cousins and she and Arthur developed a strong friendship as children. That friendship only grew deeper as they got older and realized they had many similar interests, including religion. Although their marriage was arranged, it became a true love match and the couple had ten children together: Anne, Henry, Edward, Frances, Mary, Charles, Eleanor, Thomas, Grace, and Maud. Jane died on 12 February 1594 leaving Arthur deeply grief-stricken. He never re-married and he, himself died just three years later on 12 August 1597.

Princess Margaret Tudor (later Margaret, Queen consort of Denmark) — born 22 October 1536; Margaret was the fourth child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Margaret, known as ‘Meg’ by her family, was, like the rest of her siblings, very intellectual, but also very bubbly and outgoing. She was much more even-tempered than her older sister to the point where Elizabeth would sometimes express her jealousy at how ‘perfect’ Meg was. Of all her siblings, she enjoyed artistic pursuits the most and could play the most instruments. Her favorite pastimes were dancing, drawing, and embroidery—she was even known to make clothing for her servants. Meg did have a wild side though—she was a Tudor after all—she was known to play tricks on her brothers and father and even let a live mouse into her father’s chamber during a Privy Council meeting when she was eight. At a young age, Margaret was betrothed to the eldest son of John Frederick, Elector of Saxony—the future John Frederick II—however, after John Frederick I was arrested by Charles V in 1547 and stripped of his title and much of his land, the engagement was broken off. She remained un-betrothed for a few years while her mother and brother tried to find her a new husband. When her older sister secretly married Robert Dudley in 1549, thus breaking off her engagement with Prince Frederick of Denmark, it was decided that Meg would marry Frederick instead to maintain the Anglo-Danish alliance. Meg and Fredrick were married on 22 November 1550 and had seven children—Elizabeth, Anne, Christian, Henry, Augusta, Hedwig, and John. Meg didn’t speak any Danish when she first arrived and found it difficult to adjust and be so far away from home. However, she was able to exchange letters with her siblings and soon found contentment with her new life. Her and Frederick’s marriage was a diplomatic one, but they got along well and Meg was treated with kindness and respect. Frederick ascended to the throne of Denmark on 1 January 1559 and he and Meg were crowned as King and Queen consort, respectively, in a joint coronation on the 20th of August of the same year. Frederick died on 4 April 1588, leaving his and Meg’s oldest son, Christian, as King and making Meg Queen Dowager. Once she because Queen Dowager she was given a little more freedom and even got to make the occasional trip to England. Meg lived to see all of her surviving children marry and have children of their own and also lived to see her nephew become King Edward VII. She died on 15 June 1609, just a few months shy of her 73rd birthday in Denmark and was buried next to her late husband.

Prince William Tudor, Duke of Richmond and Somerset (later William, King consort of Scotland) — born 4 December 1537; the fifth child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. William was given the titles of Richmond and Somerset after the death of his older half-brother, Henry FitzRoy, in 1536. As the third son, William grew up with much more freedom than his older brothers—freedom which he took full advantage of. Although he had the same extensive education as the rest of his siblings, William preferred to focus on his hobbies. William was the best jouster and archer of his brothers—although his brother, Edward, liked to pretend otherwise. William was known as a bit of a show-off and a womanizer during his youth, even fathering three illegitimate children by three different women. The three children were William, Alice, and Dorothy. William never formally acknowledged any of them but still secretly made sure that they, and their mothers, were well taken care of. During his youth, his marriage prospects had been left much more open-ended than his siblings. All his sisters and oldest brother would be good for foreign alliances and his other brother’s marriage could help bring together the two main lines of succession, but as a third son, William’s marriage was less important. Because of this, William was left a bachelor while all his other siblings were getting married. Not that he minded, though, William actually preferred it that way because it meant he could maintain his freedom. All of this changed, however, when Mary, Queen of Scots was widowed and returned to Scotland. William’s brother Edward, who had long-since ascended to the throne by this point, was eager to make an alliance with England’s northern neighbor. Edward began negotiating with Scotland  to have William married to the Queen. Mary, a devout Catholic, was vehemently opposed to the marriage but was eventually forced into it by her mostly Protestant council. Once the marriage was agreed, William made his way up to Scotland. William was not happy about this arrangement as he would’ve preferred to remain a bachelor, but he could hardly say no to his brother. William and Mary were married at Holyrood Palace on 29 July 1565. Much to Mary’s shock—and Edward’s chagrin—William cared little for religious matters and even less for politics. To please his brother, William did the best he could to mediate between Mary and her Protestant council—with the secret help of his much more politically-minded sister, Elizabeth—but otherwise, he mostly stayed out of Mary’s way. Despite initially being opposed to the marriage, Mary fell victim to William’s charm and was quite attracted to him. Unfortunately, the feeling was not mutual although William was perfectly able to perform his duties as a husband and the two did manage to conceive a child together and their son, James, was born eleven months after their marriage on 19 June 1566. Mary’s attraction to William quickly disappeared when it became clear that William would make sure James was raised as a Protestant rather than a Catholic like Mary wanted—a decision which Mary’s own councilors supported. Shortly after James was born, Mary’s councilors began plotting to have Mary deposed and make James king with William and Mary’s half-brother, James Stewart, as co-regents. When William got word of this plot, he wrote to his brother and sister for advice. They encouraged him to support the council, as deposing Mary would be beneficial for England. William was still very uninterested in politics and the prospect of having to stay in Scotland to be regent for his son, but he had no feelings or affection towards Mary and his loyalty was always with his family in England. William didn’t do anything to actively help the rebels, but he also didn’t stand in their way. Not long after the plotting began, Mary was imprisoned and forced to abdicate, making her and William’s son the new King of Scotland, and William his co-regent. Mary eventually fled her prison in Scotland and escaped, however her escape plan went awry and she ended up in England where she was, once again, imprisoned in the Tower of London. Although King Edward threatened to have her executed, he didn’t have the necessary proof to do so. However, it didn’t take long before that changed. When word reached Edward that English and Scottish Catholics were banding together to free Mary, he had the proof he needed to have her (and a few other English Catholics that had been thorns in his side) executed. Edward’s sister, Elizabeth, encouraged Edward not to execute Mary as she was a fellow divinity appointed monarch, but Edward didn’t listen and Mary was executed on 8 February 1570. William suspected that Edward may have fabricated or, at the very least, forced the evidence against Mary just to have the excuse to execute her, but he wasn’t about to question his brother on such a matter. With Mary dead, William was left to manage his son’s upbringing. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before the Scottish nobles started becoming suspicious of William. Although William was a fellow Protestant, he was still English and the Scots became suspicious that he was serving England’s interests above Scotland. When the nobles found evidence of William’s correspondence with his brother and sister, the current co-regent, James Douglas, ordered him to be imprisoned. Edward threatened war against Scotland if any harm came to William and since England had better resources and more powerful foreign allies than Scotland, James Douglas agreed to send William back to England unharmed. In 1575, after ten years of living in Scotland and eight years serving as regent, William finally returned to England where he was reinstated as the Duke of Richmond and Somerset. William wasn’t allowed any contact with his son, James, as James Douglas distrusted an ‘English influence’ on the young King. James was also led to believe that, rather than being forced to leave, his father had abandoned him of his own free will. However, when James came of age he learned the truth and reached out to his father, even inviting him up to Scotland. William took up the offer and he and his son even managed to form a close bond. When William wasn’t visiting his son in Scotland, he remained in England, eventually dying there on 6 June 1597, at the age of 59, just two months before his older brother, Arthur. William’s son, James, grieved the loss of his father and vowed to not only make, but maintain, peace with his English relatives.

Princess Eleanor Tudor (later Eleanor, Duchess of Prussia) — born 25 December 1538: Eleanor was the sixth child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Eleanor was known as ‘Little Nell’ by her family. Unlike her siblings, Nell was very shy and introverted and preferred to stay in her chambers reading rather than attend the lavish court parties. She was so intelligent, her oldest sister, Elizabeth, considered her to be the smartest of all of them, although you would never know it because of how soft-spoken she was. At the age of 12, she was betrothed to Albert, Duke of Prussia but Albert wanted to wait until she was older to have the wedding. Albert had already been married before and was 48 years Nell’s senior, but he had no surviving sons from his first marriage and needed an heir to succeed him. Once Nell turned 18, she was sent to Prussia where she and Albert were married on 1 January 1557. Nell immediately became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter in October of that same year named Elisabeth. Eleven months later, she gave birth to a son, Albert Frederick, and it was her son that succeeded as Duke of Prussia when Nell’s husband died in 1568. Tragically, Nell never got to see the ascension of her son as she died only four days after his birth on 3 October 1558 due to complications in childbirth. She was not yet 20 years old. Her death was deeply mourned by her entire family back in England. She was never forgotten and her mother, Anne—who would outlive Nell by nearly three decades—would continue to honor Nell for the rest of her life.

Prince George Tudor — born 19 May 1541; George was the youngest child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Queen Anne was nearly 34 years old at the time of George’s birth which was considered to be quite dangerous. Because of this, there was much worry and anxiety that Anne or the baby (or possibly even both) could die. After a very short labor, George was born on the morning of the 19th of May. Unfortunately, the court’s anxieties were well placed. Although George was breathing, he was very week. Anne was also significantly weakened by the labor. Anne stayed in bed for five days, too weak to move. George’s christening was also hastened for fear that he might die. Although Anne would eventually recover, sadly, George would not. George clung onto life just long enough for his mother to be able to hold him in her arms one last time. Prince George died just six days after his birth. His parents were devastated by the loss, so much so that his mother remained in mourning for a full year.

[minervacasterly]

“Henry VIII was at Whitehall Palace when the Tower guns signaled that he was once more a free man. He then appeared dressed in white mourning as a token of respect for his late queen, called for his barge, and had himself rowed at full speed to the Strand, where Jane Seymour had also heard the guns. News of Anne Boleyn’s death had been formally conveyed to her by Sir Francis Bryan; it does not seem to have unduly concerned her, for she spent the greater part of the day preparing her wedding clothes, and perhaps reflecting upon the ease with which she had attained her ambition: Anne Boleyn had had to wait seven years for her crown; Jane had waited barely seven months.

It was common knowledge that Henry would marry Jane as soon as possible; the Privy Council had already petitioned him to venture once more into the perilous seas of holy wedlock, and it was a plea of the utmost urgency due to the uncertainty surrounding the succession. Both the King’s daughters had been declared bastards, and his natural son Richmond was obviously dying. A speedy marriage was therefore not only desirable but necessary, and on the day Anne Boleyn died the King’s imminent betrothal to Jane Seymour was announced to a relieved Privy Council. This was news as gratifying to the imperialist party, who had vigorously promoted the match, as it would soon be to the people of England at large, who would welcome the prospect of the imperial alliance with its inevitable benefits to trade.

Although the future Queen had rarely been seen in public, stories of her virtuous behavior during the King’s courtship had been circulated and applauded. Chapuys, more cynical, perceived that such virtue had had an ulterior motive, and privately thought it unlikely that Jane had reached the age of twenty-five without having lost her virginity, ‘being an Englishwoman and having been so long’ at court where immorality was rife. However, he assumed that Jane’s likely lack of a maidenhead would not trouble the King very much, ‘since he may marry her on condition she is a maid, and when he wants a divorce there will be plenty of witnesses ready to testify that she was not’. This apart, Chapuys and most other people considered Jane to be well endowed with all the qualities then thought becoming in a wife: meekness, docility and quiet dignity. Jane had been well groomed for her role by her family and supporters, and was in any case determined not to follow the example of her predecessor. She intended to use her influence to further the causes she held dear, as Anne Boleyn had, but, being of a less mercurial temperament, she would never use the same tactics. 

Jane’s well-publicized sympathy for the late Queen Katherine and the Lady Mary showed her to be compassionate, and made her a popular figure with the common people and most of the courtiers. Overseas, she would be looked upon with favour because she was known to be an orthodox Catholic with no heretical tendencies whatsoever, one who favoured the old ways and who might use her influence to dissuade the King from continuing with his radical religious reforms.

Jane was of medium height, with a pale, nearly white, complexion. ‘Nobody thinks she has much beauty,’ commented Chapuys, and the French ambassador thought her too plain. Holbein’s portrait of Jane, painted in 1536 and now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, bears out these statements, and shows her to have been fair with a large, resolute face, small slanting eyes and a pinched mouth. She wears a sumptuously bejeweled and embroidered gown and head-dress, the latter in the whelk-shell fashion so favoured by her; Holbein himself designed the pendant on her breast, and the lace at her wrists. This portrait was probably by his first royal commission after being appointed the King’s Master Painter in September 1536; a preliminary sketch for it is in the Royal Collection at Windsor, and a studio copy is in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Holbein executed one other portrait of Jane during her lifetime. Throughout the winter of 1536-7, he was at work on a huge mural in the Presence Chamber in Whitehall mural no longer exists, having been destroyed when the palace burned down in the late seventeenth century. Fortuitously, Charles II had before then commissioned a Dutch artists, Remigius van Leemput, to make two small copies, now in the Royal Collection and at Petworth House. His style shows little of Holbein’s draughtsmanship, but his pictures at least give us a clear impression of what the original must have looked like. The figure of Jane is interesting in that we can see her long court train with her pet poodle resting on it. Her gown is of cloth of gold damask, lined with ermine, with six ropes of pearls slung across the bodice, and more pearls hanging in a girdle to the floor. Later portraits of Jane, such as those in long-gallery sets and the miniature by Nicholas Hilliard, all derive from this portrait of Holbein’s original likeness now in Vienna, yet they are mostly mechanical in quality and anatomically awkward. 

However, it was not Jane’s face that had attracted the King so much as the fact that she was Anne Boleyn’s opposite in every way. Where Anne had been bold and fond of having her own way, Jane showed herself entirely subservient to Henry’s will; where Anne had, in the King’s view been a wanton, Jane had shown herself to be inviolably chaste. And where Anne had been ruthless, he believed Jane to be naturally compassionate. He would be in years to come remember her as the fairest, the most discreet, and the most meritorious of all his wives.

Her contemporaries thought she had a pleasing sprightliness about her. She was pious, but not ostentatiously so. Reginald Pole, soon to be made a cardinal, described her as ‘full of goodness’, although Martin Luther, hearing of her reactionary religious views, feared her as ‘an enemy of the Gospel’. According to Chapuys, she was not clever or witty, but ‘of good understanding’. As queen, she made a point of distancing herself from her inferiors, and could be remote and arrogant, being a stickler for the observance of etiquette at her court. Chapuys feared that, once Jane had had a taste of queenship, she would forget her good intentions towards the Lady Mary, but his fears proved unfounded. Jane remained loyal to her supporters, and to Mary’s cause, and in the months to come would endeavor to heal the rift between the King and his daughter.

-          Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII

“A story of a later date had Queen Anne finding Mistress Seymour actually sitting on her husband’s lap; ‘betwitting’ the King, Queen Anne blamed her miscarriage upon this unpleasant discovery. There was said to have been ‘much scratching and bye-blows between the queen and her maid’. Unlike the King’s invocations of the divine will, however, there is no contemporary evidence for such robust incidents; the character of Jane Seymour that emerges in 1536 is on the contrary chaste, verging on the prudish. As we shall see, there is good reason to believe that the King found in this very chastity a source of attraction; as he had once turned to the enchantress Anne Boleyn from the virtuous Catherine. Yet before turning to Jane Seymour’s personal qualities for better or for worse, it is necessary to consider the family from which she came … The Seymours were a family of respectable and even ancient antecedents in an age when, as has already been stressed, such things were important. Their Norman ancestry – the name was originally St Maur – was somewhat shadowy although a Seigneur Wido de Saint Maur was said to have come over to England with the Conquest. More immediately,  from Monmouthshire and Penbow Castle, the Seymours transferred to the west of England in the mid-fourteenth century with the marriage of Sir Roger Seymour to Cecily eventual sole heiress of Lord Beauchamp of Hache. Other key marriages brought the family prosperity. Wolf Hall in Wiltshire, for example (scene of Henry’s autum idyll with Jane if legend is to be believed) came with the marriage of a Seymour to Matilda Esturmy, daughter of the Speaker of Commons, in 1405. Another profitable union, bringing with it mercantile links similar to those of the Boleyns, was that of Isabel, daughter and heiress of Mark William Mayor of Bristol, to a Seymour in 1424. Sir John Seymour, father of Jane, was born in about 1474 and had been knighted in the field by Henry VII at the battle of Blackheath which ended a rebellion of 1497. From this promising start, he went on to enjoy the royal favour throughout the next reign. Like Sir Thomas Boleyn, he accompanied Henry VIII on his French campaign of 1513, was present at the Field of Cloth of Gold, attended at Canterbury to meet Charles V; by 1532 he had become a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. Locally, again echoing the career of Thomas Boleyn, he had acted as Sheriff of both Wiltshire and Dorset. It was a career that lacked startling distinction – here was no Charles Brandon ending up a duke – but one which brought him close to the monarch throughout his adult life. Sir John’s reputation was that of a ‘gentle, courteous man’. That again was pleasant but not startling. But there was something outstanding about him, or at least about his immediate family. Sir John himself came of a family of eight children; then his own wife gave birth to ten children – six sons and four daughters. All this was auspicious for his daughter, including the number of males conceived at a time when women’s ‘aptness to procreate children’ in Wolsey’s phrase about Anne Boleyn, was often judged by their family record. It was however from her mother, Margery Wentworth – once again echoing the pattern of Anne Boleyn – that Jane Seymour derived that qualifying dash of royal blood so important to a woman viewed as possible breeding stock. Margery Wentworth was descended from Edward III, via her great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Mortimer, Lady Hotspur. Indeed, in one sense – that of English royal blood – Jane Seymour was better born than Anne Boleyn, since she descended from Edward III, whereas Anne Boleyn’s more remote descent was from Edward I. This Mortimer connection meant that Jane and Henry VIII were fifth cousins. But of course neither the Wentworths nor the Seymours were as grand as Anne Boleyn’s maternal family, the ducal Howards. The Seymours may not have been particularly grand, but close connections to the court had made them, by the generation of Jane herself, astute and worldly wise. Sir John Seymour was over sixty at the inception of the King’s romance with his daughter (and would in fact die before the end of the year 1536); even before that the dominant male figure in Jane’s life seems to have been her eldest surviving brother Edward, described by one observer about this time as both ‘young and wise’. Being young, he was ambitious, and being wise, able to keep his own counsel in pursuit of his plans. Contemporaries found him slightly aloof – he lacked the easy charm of his younger brother Thomas p but they did not doubt his intelligence. Edward Seymour was cultivated as well as clever; he was a humanist and also, as it turned out, genuinely interested in the tenets of the reformed religion (unlike his sister Jane) … The vast family of Sir John Seymour began with four boys: John (who died), Edward, Henry and Thomas, born in about 1508. A few years later the King would speak ‘merrily’ of handsome Tom’s proverbial virility. He was confident that a man armed with ‘such lust and youth’ would be able to please a bride ‘well at all points’. Then came Jane, probably born in 1509, the fifth child but the eldest girl. After that followed Elizabeth, Dorothy and Margery; two sons who died in the sweating sickness epidemic of 1528 made up the ten. Apart from her presumed fertility, what else did Jane Seymour, now in her mid-twenties (the age incidentally at which Anne Boleyn had attracted the King’s attention), have to offer? Polydore Vergil gave the official flattering view when he described her as ‘a woman of the utmost charm both in appearance and character’, and the King’s best friend Sir John Russell called her ‘the fairest of all his wives’ – but this again was likely to loyalty to Jane Seymour’s dynastic significance. From other sources, it seems likely that the charm of her character considerably outweighed the charm of her appearance: Chapuys for example described her as ‘of middle stature and no great beauty’. Her most distinctive aspect was her famously ‘pure white’ complexion. Holbein gives her a long nose, and firm mouth, with the lips slightly compressed, although her face has a pleasing oval shape with the high forehead then admired (enhanced sometimes by discreet plucking of the hairline) and set off by the headdress of the time. Altogether, if Anne Boleyn conveys the fascination of the new, there is a dignified but slightly stolid look to Jane Seymour, appropriately reminiscent of English medieval consorts. But the predominant impression given by her portrait – at the hands of a master of artistic realism – is of a woman of calm and good sense. And contemporaries all commented on Jane Seymour’s intelligence: in this she was clearly more like her cautious brother Edward than her dashing brother Tom. She was also naturally sweet-natured (no angry words or tantrums here) and virtuous – her virtue was another topic on which there was general agreement.

 ... Her survival as a lady-in-waiting to two Queens at the Tudor court still with a  spotless reputation may indeed be seen as a testament to both Jane Seymour’s salient characteristics – virtue and common good sense . A Bessie Blount or Madge Shelton might fool around, Anne Boleyn might listen or even accede to the seductive wooings of Lord Percy: but Jane Seymour was unquestionably virginal. In short, Jane Seymour was exactly the kind of female praised by the contemporary handbooks to correct conduct; just as Anne Boleyn had been the sort they warned against. There was certainly no threatening sexuality about her. Nor is it necessary to believe that her ‘virtue’ was in some way hypocritically assumed, in order to intrigue the King (romantic advocates of Anne Boleyn have sometimes taken this line). On the contrary, Jane Seymour was simply fulfilling the expectations for a female of her time and class: it was Anne Boleyn who was – or rather who had been – the fascinating outsider.

-          Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII

“Whilst Jane was always denied a political role, her political interests are clear. She favoured Mary, attempted to save the monasteries and sympathized with the rebels during the Pilgrimages of Grace. Jane’s politics were largely conservative. Her strong character is visible both by her ruthlessness in watching the fall of Anne Boleyn and in the way in which she ruled her household. Jane could have been a queen as strong and influential as Catherine of Aragon or Anne Boleyn had been in the early years of their marriages. Unfortunately for Jane, when the opportunity finally arose with the birth of her son, she did not survive. Had Jane lived, as the mother of the king’s heir, she could have asserted her authority safe in the knowledge that her position was finally secure. After Henry’s death, when Jane’s son was only nine years old, she would have had a very strong claim to the regency as the mother of the king. Jane Seymour could have been so much more and, whilst it is possible to glimpse her potential, much of what she could have achieved will forever be speculation. Jane did not live to take on the political role that would have been open to her as the mother of the heir to the throne and her real legacy is her son, Edward VI, and the prominence of her brothers, Edward and Thomas Seymour. Although Henry would go on to have another three wives after Jane’s death, Edward was his only son and, on Henry’s death in January 1547, he became king aged nine as Edward VI Edward was hailed by many in England as a future great king and Jane would have been proud of her son. Edward’s tutor, Sir John Cheke, for example, wrote of the king that ‘I prophesy indeed, that, with the lord’s blessing, he will prove such a king, as neither to yield to Josiah in the maintenance of the true religion, nor to Solomon in the management of the state, nor to David in the encouragement of godliness’. Roger Ascham, the tutor of Edward’s sister, Elizabeth, also sang the youth king’s praises, writing that ‘he is wonderfully advanced of his years’. Edward was raised to be a king and received a formidable education, writing very advanced letters even in early childhood (even if is clear that he must have received some assistance in the earlier letters). In one letter to his father, Edward wrote: In the same manner as, most bounteous king, at the dawn of day, we acknowledge the return of the sun to our world, although by the intervention of obscure clouds, we cannot behold manifestly with our eyes that resplendent orb; in like manner your majesty’s extraordinary and almost incredible goodness so shines and beams forth, that although present I cannot behold it, though before me, with my outward eyes, yet never can it escape from my heart. Edward was raised to be king in the manner of his father but in his appearance, with his pale skin and fair hair, he always resembled Jane. Jane’s greatest regret, when she came to realize that she was dying, was that she would not live to see her son grow up … 

Jane’s legacy is also her own reputation and her relationship with Henry VIII. Jane never inspired the deep obsession in the king that he felt for Anne Boleyn or the admiring love that he, at first, felt for Catherine of Aragon. Instead, he married her almost on a whim. She was the woman best placed at the perfect time. There is even some evidence that Henry came to regret his haste in marrying Jane after seeing some other beautiful ladies at his court. Jane never raised the passion in Henry that some of his other wives did. Throughout their marriage, it is clear that Henry did not entirely view his marriage to Jane as permanent. It was essential that Jane fulfilled her side of the bargain and that was to bear a son. Until that time, as Jane was very well aware, she was entirely dispensable. In spite of this, with her death in giving him the son he craved, Henry’s feelings towards Jane entirely changed and he came to look back on their marriage through rose-tinted spectacles. A commemoration to Jane was written some time after her death and perhaps best sums up how Henry came to view her: Among the rest whose worthie lyves Hath runne in vertue’s race, O noble Fame! Persue thy trayne, And give Queene Jane a place. A nymphe of chaste Dianae’s trayne, A virtuous virgin eke; In tender youth a matron’s harte, With modest mynde most meeke.

Jane spent her entire marriage trying to prove to Henry that she was his ideal woman and, posthumously, she succeeded.

-      Elizabeth Norton, Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s True Love

“How a woman like Jane Seymour became Queen of England is a mystery. In Tudor terms she came from nowhere and was nothing. Chapuys confronted the riddle in his dispatch of 18 May 1536, which was addressed to Antoine Perrenot, the Emperor’s minister, rather than to the Emperor Charles V himself. Freed from the decorum of writing to his sovereign, the ambassador expressed himself bluntly. ‘She is the sister’, he began, ‘of a certain Edward Seymour, who has been in the service of his Majesty [Charles V]’; while ‘she [herself] was formerly in the service of the good Queen [Catherine]’. As for her appearance , it was literally colourless. ‘She is of middle height, and nobody thinks she has much beauty. Her complexion is so whitish that she may be called rather pale.’ This is a neat pen-portrait of the woman whose mousy, peaked features and mean, pointed chin, are denred by Holbein with his characteristic, unsparing honesty.  So much Chapuys could see. But when he turned to her supposed moral character he gave his prejudices full rein. ‘You may imagine’, he wrote Perrenot, man-to-man, ‘whether, being an Englishwoman, and having been so long at Court, she would not hold it a sin to be virgo intacta.’ ‘She is not a woman of great wit,’ he continued. ‘But she may have’ -and here he became frankly coarse- ‘a fine enigme.’  ‘Enigme’ means ‘riddle’ or ‘secret’, as in ‘secret place’ or the female genitalia. ‘It is said’, he concluded, ‘that she is rather proud and haughty.’ ‘She seems to bear great goodwill and respect to [Mary]. I am not sure whether later on the honours heaped on her will to make her change her mind.’ Whatever was there here -a woman of no family, no beauty, no talent and perhaps not much reputation (though there is no need to accept all of Chapuys’s slanders)- to attract a man who had already been married to two such extraordinary women as Catherine and Anne? But maybe Jane’s very ordubarubess was tge oiubt, Anne had been exciting as a mistress. But she was too demanding, too mercurial and tempestuous, to make a good wife. Like the Gospel which she patronised, she seemed to have come ‘not to send peace but the sword’ and to make ‘a man’s foes ... them of his own household’ (Matthew 10.34-6). Henry was weary of scenes and squabbles, weary too of ruptures with his nearest and dearest and his oldest and closest friends. He wanted his family and friends back. He wanted domestic peace and the quiet life. He also, more disturbingly, wanted submission. For increasing age and the Supremacy’s relentless elevation of the monarchy had made him ever more impatient of contradiction and disagreement. Only obedience, prompt, absolute and unconditional, would do. And he could have none of this with Anne. Jane, on the other hand, was everything that Anne was not. She was calm, quiet, soft-spoken (when she spoke at all) and profoundly submissive, at least to Henry ...”

-          David Starkey, Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII

Images: Jane Seymour painted by Hans Holbein the Younger. Variousa actresses from costume dramas that have played Henry VIII’s third consort. Elly Condron from the documentary drama Secrets of the Six Wives documentary presented by Lucy Worsley. Anne Stallybras from the BBC miniseries The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970). Jane Asher from the BBC film Henry VIII & his Six Wives (1972). Lastly, Kate Phillips from Wolf Hall (2014).

[apho-sappho]

Does anyone know if Gertrude Courtenay was actually Elizabeth I's godmother? I've seen absolutely none of that in the actual records, even by someone who was legitimately Elizabeth's godfather. Hell, theres no mention of it even by Eustace Chapuys, who no doubt would've flaunted it around saying that Anne Boleyn made one of Katharine's most trusted ladies be the godmother of the little bastard

[marriageandthecrown]

All I know is Anne needs a cuddle

The countdown to her death is really not helping, thank you

Oh yaye "deformed baby" alert

Jane Boleyn's evil looks 🙄

Norfolk being... A human being. And cowering in front of Anne. I think I'm having an out of body experience.

Anne talking smack about Fitzroy 😂

Ummm they are too young to consummate the marriage

Anne doing charity work and bathing poor folks' feet - amazing

Well it was until some random went to attack her and now she's to be strung up as an example via Anne's orders

That pregnant woman smiling at Anne... I couldn't tell if she was being sincere or sarcastic.. OK I think she was being sincere

ELIZABETH

"she hardly knows me" (RUDE)

"I wasn't aware that fucking a king was such a chore!" okaaaay then o.O

They're determined to make everyone hate Anne aren't they, concerning how they've got her speaking to everyone right now

MARY

Can Anne and Mary just hug (I know. I'm dreaming, but never mind).

Ohh that's Madge's mum! (sorry, I just caught up on that one)

"Henry's bastard." 🙄

Cromwell and Anne talking about the fifty-faced alliance.

Anne getting in Cromwell's face again - always fun 👍🏻

Not for the first time I wish the relationship that Anne has with (I still can't remember her name!) George's mistress could have been with Jane B instead.

Well that's one way to make George a father

Henry looks like a Polly Pocket version of himself in that room whilst Anne sits all regal and large on the throne

Even sitting down he looks like a short-arse next to her 😂

Anne still playing Henry 😁

"that Spanish bastard!" Did he just shout that about his daughter??! o.O

Oh careful George, you could be talking to your wife there 🙄 O.O

"I'm not sure the court could cope with another Boleyn woman."

CHAPUYS (oh joy)

Cromwell looks like the missing member of The Moody Blues and Chapuys looks undead

Oh Henry trying to get his balls up and ready and Cromwell being a pissy bitch

Anne faking sympathy for Cromwell in a super sarcastic way 😂😂😂

George smirking at Cromwell being smacked down. Clearly the bell has rung for break time.

Is Jane B capable of smiling or are they making her save it til the inevitable conclusion

Jane S and Anne sparring for Henry's attention while Jane B basically just sits there marinating in smug glee

Jane S is really going all in

"Get her on her back and she'll still be as sour as you see her now." NICE 🙄🙄

"Dead man's shoes" moment

I do like Jane's green dress though

Poor Norris

This scene is.... A choice. O.O (But least she got to slap him ahaha). Oh, and "You're pathetic. Perfect match for the little mouse." LOL.

Umm you're SUPPOSED to be at the "queen's beck and call night and day" cos you SERVE A QUEEN (what am I missing here)

Here is Anne in Bitch Mode

"It's over, your grace." "You're too late, madam, he's gone." Jane B really is the messenger of Doom.

"your grace, you're bleeding." "So I am." "Be careful, your grace. It is cold out." Subtle as ever.

Still can't get over Norfolk being human. Not since Anne of the Thousand Days.

ARREST

Soooooo out of the blue

Push Cromwell out of the boat, luv.

[peremadeleine]

♕ Henry VIII & Elizabeth I ♔

She is “her father’s daughter”. This phrase is first used about her at the age of six, and constantly thereafter. [...] She looked like Henry, with her father’s hair, skin-colour, nose and lips. She had much of Henry’s character as well: his intelligence, his force of personality, his eloquence, and his ineffable star-quality that made her, like him, the automatic centre of attention. (David Starkey) 

“[Elizabeth] was triumphantly taken to church to the sound of trumpets and with great display. Then, after dinner, the King...at last went into his own apartments, took the little bastard, carried her in his arms, and began to show her first to one, then to another, and did the same on the following days.” (Eustace Chapuys, 1536)

He saw Elizabeth seldom, but he was kept aware of her progress. [...] For the last five years of the king’s life, Elizabeth was given increasing signs that he loved and cherished her, and she reciprocated with a proud and powerful affection which endured in her as queen. (Lisa Hilton)

“The King is very affectionate to her. It is said he loves her much.” (Anonymous, 1536)

[E]ven at a distance, Henry had succeeded in capturing her imagination. She was thrilled by his power and magnificence. [...] All her life she revered Henry’s memory...and...she never once forgot that she was also “her father’s daughter.” (Anne Somerset) 

“[H]is Highness desired to hear of her health and sent her his blessing. She gave humble thanks, enquiring again of his Majesty’s welfare...If she be no worse educated than she now appeareth to me, she will prove of no less honour to womanhood than shall beseem her father’s daughter.” (Thomas Wriothesley, 1539)

[S]he had a place in the succession, at court and, increasingly, in her father’s affections. She rejoiced in them all, especially the last. Which is why her memory of her father...was so benign: for her, he was not a wife-murdering monster, but a loving parent, a formidable ruler and model to which she aspired. (David Starkey)

“She prides herself on her father and glories in him; everybody saying that she also resembles him more than the Queen [Mary] does; and he therefore always liked her and had her brought up in the same way as the Queen.” (Giovanni Michiel, Venetian Ambassador, 1557)

[latristereina]

As you may know, I'm not particularly into the Tudor dynasty, however, the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth, actually, has always interested me. I'm glad there's a new book that focuses on the sisterly relations. While looking through the book, I stumbled upon the information about Katherine of Aragon visiting Mary in 1534, which busts the myth about them seeing each other for the last time in 1531.

Yet despite her outward bravado, each time Mary was visited by her father’s commissioners, she was weaker. During the summer of 1534, she could hardly withstand the psychological pressure, and her health deteriorated dramatically. “The Princess has been very ill”, Chapuys wrote on 27 September 1534. He believed she fell ill because she was obliged to remove from her lodgings “and follow the Bastard when a little indisposed”. Mary’s condition was so serious that the King sent his own physician to treat her and allowed Katharine of Aragon to come and see her; this is often overlooked by historians who state that Katharine and Mary never met after 1531.[32] This sudden change in Henry VIII’s treatment of Mary reflects his love for his elder daughter and, perhaps, a personal disappointment. That summer, Anne Boleyn was not by Henry’s side. She had given birth to a stillborn child, dashing the King’s hopes for a male heir yet again.

- Sylvia Barbara Soberton, Rival Sisters: Mary & Elizabeth Tudor 

[fideidefenswhore]

"She was a ruthless woman who injured many, myself and my sainted mother included. She was quite capable of playing the King false, I promise you. My advice to you, Sister, is to forget you ever had a mother like that." Elizabeth caught the note of obsessive grievance in Mary's voice. She knew instinctively that it would be unwise to provoke her further by arguing with her. "Forgive me, Sister, but I had heard otherwise," she said simply. "Then you heard wrongly. She had me sent to wait upon you when you were a baby, and she told those that had charge of me to beat me for the little bastard I had become. How could you think such a one innocent?" "I am very sorry for your afflictions, Sister," Elizabeth whispered, aware more of the need to be diplomatic than of the desire to defend her mother. "They were not of my making, nor my desire." "How could you think her innocent?" "I heard things," she answered, then grew a touch defiant. "The whole world does not think my mother guilty."

The Lady Elizabeth [Chapter 8: 1544], Alison Weir

[scotianostra]

On 14th December 1542, James V died at the age of 30.

James V was just over 1 year old when his father was killed at Flodden field and he inherited the throne. Once again the Scottish nobles fought for power during the King’s period of infancy. Albany returned from exile and was offered power but was vigorously opposed by James’ mother Margaret and her second husband Douglas Earl of Angus who took control and held James a virtual prisoner.

When he escaped from his step father’s authority, James ruled with authority but was sympathetic to the needs of the poor of Scotland. He is said to have like travelling incognito in his kingdom disguised as the ‘Gudeman  o’Ballengeich’. He brought the Borders under control and the Highlands and islands. It was a time of the rise of Protestantism in Europe and England, but James did not tolerate ‘heresy’ and strongly supported the Catholic Church. Patrick Hamilton a leading Protestant reformer was burned at the stake in St Andrews in 1528.

James twice married French women - Madeleine de Valois daughter of King Francis of France who brought a large dowry but she was of frail health and died a few months later, and secondarily Marie of Guise mother of Mary who was to become Queen of Scots.

The death of his mother Margaret Tudor removed his allegiance to England, and he refused, when invited to meet Henry VIII at York in 1541, citing his wife, Marie de Guise was pregnant. Mary had already given birth to two boys, James, Duke of Rothesay, born in May 1540, and Robert, Duke of Albany born in April 1541, both sadly died on the same day on 21st April 1541, when James was nearly one year old and Robert was nine days old. A nurse has been blamed for their untimely deaths, said to have "overfed" the infants, but surely Marie would still have been nursing the younger child herself? I can find nothing else on this, the bairns are said to have been buried at Holyrood Abbey, any trace of there tombs probably destroyed in the tumultuous years that were soon to follow during the Rough Wooing.

James V wasn't an anti-English Monarch, at one point he took steps to suppress the circulation of slanderous ballads and rhymes against Henry VIII, Henry sent an envoy to Scotland o give thanks and to make arrangements for the present of a lion for James's menagerie of exotic pets. But after his boys died you can see why he would not want to leave his wives side on a journey to England that would have taken weeks.

Henry, said to be disgusted at the snub, and the Scots good relations with France resolved to invade Scotland, "both by sea and land." and  "appointed a very considerable army to rendezvous upon the borders, under the command of Sir Robert Bowes, one of his wardens"  

The battle that ensued has been overshadowed somewhat, The Earl of Huntly, in charge of the Scottish army, acquitted himself admirably and completed an easy victory. According to an account written many years later

"Above 2,000 of the English were killed, and 600 taken prisoner among their General Bowes, Sir William Mowbray, and about sixty of the most distinguished northern barons,; the Earl of Angus escaped by the swiftness of his horse. The loss of the Scotch was so inconsiderable that it is not mentioned"

The Imperial ambassador in London, Eustace Chapuys,an intermediary between the two countries,  wrote on 2nd October that the Scottish ambassadors ruled out a conciliatory meeting between James and Henry VIII in England until the pregnant Mary of Guise delivered her child. Henry would not accept this condition and mobilised his main army against Scotland.

King James is said to have joined his army at the end of October at Lauder in preparation to lead them into England, but his generals were reluctant to do this. He returned to Edinburgh, on the way writing a letter in French to his wife from Falahill in the Moorfoots, mentioning he had three days of illness, he continued on to recuperate in Falkland Palace in Fife.

Meanwhile James had left one of his favourites, Sir Oliver Sinclair de Pitcairnis, with his standard, basically meaning he was in charge of the Scottish army, Lord Maxwell, who would usually be at the head of the Borders army is said to have been unhappy with this, and infighting amongst the Scots is said to have been a major factor in losing the Battle of Solway Moss against a smaller English army. Sinclair and the Standard were easily captured, the Scots capitulated with such ease that not many are said to have died at the battle.

James, already sickly is said to have been so humiliated that he "fell into a delirium" at Falkland. The king was talking but delirious and spoke no "wise words." According to George Douglas he lamented the loss of his standard,  this is said to have been one of the worst things to happen in a battle.

Now the dates vary slightly on this, but through the night, December 14/15th King James was told his wife had given birth to a daughter at Stirling, the King, according to legend, said "it came wi a lass, it'll gang wi a lass" (meaning "It began with a girl and it will end with a girl"). He died soon afterwards.

James V  King of Scots was buried at Holyrood Abbey beside his first wife Queen Madeleine.

A wee footnote on this, you should know I like to quote from sources of  the time, and in January, 1683 James V tomb was rediscovered and reported as such by John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, one of Scotland's leading jurists and historians of the era.......

‘In this moneth of Januar[y] 1683, was discovered accidentally, by the removing some seats in the Church of Halirudhouse, the vault on the south-east end of the Church, wheir the body of King James 5t lyes buried. Skeen and others, in ther Chronologies of the Scots Kings, tell us, he was buried at Halirudhoufe, but the lenth of tyme and negligence had worne the particular place out of the memory of men. It was knowen to be him by the inscription on his leaden coffin.

I had the curiositie to goe and view the relics of that gallant Prince. In the pend or cell ther are six lead coffins. The first is King James the 5t. who dyed in the year 1542; but Drummond of Hawthornden (yes the same one from yesterdays post) in the very end of his life, tells us, this is not the place wher he was first interred, but that King Henry the 8t. of England’s army having defaced his tomb and monument, he was transported into this vault by King James the 6t. and reimbalmed; which appears by the freschnesse of his body and the liquor about him.

The second is his first Quean,Magdalen, daughter to Francis the 1st King of France, The third is Henry, Lord Darnley, father to King James the 6t. and Quean Marie’s husband, who was [blown up by gunpowder and] strangled in 1567: by his body he appears to have been a very tall proper man; others call this bodie Seigneur David Rizio's, the Italian Musitian’s.

The 4t. is Ladie Jean Stewart, bastard daughter to King James the 5t. and Countesse of Argile, who dyed in 1587. The other 2 are some of their children. [Possibly James V’s sons by Mary of Guise James, Duke of Rothesay, and Robert, Duke of Albany, the elder brothers of Mary, Queens of Scots, died in infancy in 1541.] This was a humbling mortifieng sight, and a great instance and document of mortality, and vanity of the world; all the glory of that sprightly Prince being crouded into this lowly cell, Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat: Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regnumque turres: Et sic transit gloria mundi. Many ordinary persons have better buriall places now, then what this magnanimous restles Prince hes got. If our thoughts deschended ofter unto the charnel house and sepulchres of our ancestors, their dust […] would serve to lay the peacok feathers of our vain proud aspiring projests, which we lay in such a train as if we ware immortall. […] And it might have the same effest on us, which Virgil […] tells us, the sprinkling a little dust on bees hes. […] All the inhabitants of that dark valley have lean and pale cheeks, hollow eyes, fallen noses, and none of them wear the Jewells and other deckings, with which they glistred when they ware on life: but notwithstanding of this dissolution, we most all rise again at the great day of accounts.’

Pics are James V, by an unknown artist but labelled as ": "Probably contemporary" the others are of the tomb at Holyrood.

[snapheart1536]

Random Irritations

5. AGAIN!

• If it's not Elizabeth being blamed for her own sexual abuse, it's Kat Ashley.

Apparently she was 'infatuated' with Seymour.

That's right, because it was her holding down a teenage girl so she could have her dress torn off.

• Mary I starving herself at Hatfield as a political protest being deliberately misreported as Anne having her starved.

• The lazy reiteration of Jane Seymour being so sweet, so kind, so perfect and generally Too Good For This World, with no evidence provided, because there is none.

• The union of Charles Brandon and Princess Mary treated as a great romance, despite how quickly the oaf remarried after her death, and the youth of his new bride.

• Describing killing Anne with a sword as an 'act of mercy'.

So 'merciful' was Henry he sent for the executioner before the trial.

• Anne Askew being tortured to the point she was crippled and needed to be carried to her own burning deserves to be better known, and those responsible need vilification.

• The praise Thomas More offered to Anne is ignored in favour of the myth that she bayed for his blood.

• Katherine Howard's kindness to Elizabeth overlooked to make room for the usual line about her being a worthless bimbo.

• Historians and novellists caring little for Margaret Tudor in comparison to fawning over her sister as beautiful and perfect.

• Chapuys always referred to Anne as 'the Concubine' and Elizabeth as 'the little bastard', and regretted Elizabeth wasn't scalded to death as her christening bath was 'hot, but not hot enough'.

Nevertheless, his Anne has been the official Anne down the centuries.

He wouldn't lie!

[queenmarytudor]

The day before yesterday, being at Richmond with the King's little daughter, there came the Lady, Anne herself, accompanied by the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk and others, and by a party of ladies, on pretence of visiting her own daughter, but in reality to see and salute the Princess - a great novelty no doubt. The Princess, however, would not leave her room until the Lady had actually taken her departure from the house, so that she might not see her. Instead of the sedan chair covered with leather, in which the Princess travelled when, in the first instance, she was taken to the residence of the King's bastard daughter, this time, on her journey back from the More to Richmond, she had one exactly the same as the first, but covered with velvet. Arrived at Richmond, not to follow the bastard's own chair and that she might have a peep at me on her passage, the Princess allowed the little one to go by land, whilst she herself came by water. On the very evening of her departure, she settled with the bargemen as to what bank of the river she wanted them to follow. That being done, she quickly sent me word to be at a certain place on the riverside, between Greenwich and this city, in front of a detached house destined as a refuge in case of the plague; for she said she wanted to see me, and take her revenge for my having gone to Greenwich to see her off. She, therefore, managed her affairs so well with the help of the bargemen, that, instead of following the right side of the river, they followed that on which I myself stood, near enough for the Princess to see me. She then caused the barge to be uncovered, and, mounting the forecastle, did not come down until she had actually lost sight of me. She is now in pretty good health, thank God - handsome and plump - and, as far as I can judge, gay, and in good spirits.

Eustace Chapuys, 24th October 1534

[ofprincessesandqueens]

Could you tell me some cool facts about mary i, please? I don't know much about her :)

Here we go!!

She was the only surviving child of Catherine of Aragon. After her birth Henry said that  it was a girl this time but boys would follow. Catherine would have only one more unsuccessful pregnancy.

She was named after Henry’s sister, Mary.

She was a precocious child. She played the virginals at age four. She could read and write latin at age nine. 

She had an stellar education. Katherine (who already was highly educated) put a lot of effort on it. She studied French, Spanish, music, dance, and perhaps Greek. She’s got the education of a Prince, renaissance style.

At 2 years old she was promised to Francis I of France, but the contract ended a few years later. At age 6 she was promised to her cousin, Charles V, but the contract ended a few years later too.

Henry would boast about Mary to the ambassadors. (”This girl never cries”).

As a young princess she was beloved and cherised by everybody, including her father. He used to call her, “the greatest pearl in the kingdom”.

In 1525 she was sent to Wales as the heirs usually were. She was the Princess of Wales in everything except the name. There, she would learn how to rule. Everything went downhill from here.

Mary did something very brave for a girl at her time. She refused to accept, like his father said, that her parents’ marriage was invalid and she a bastard. Girls in the Tudor time owed obedience to the male figures in their lives. Mary was not only refusing her father, she also was refusing her King. She truly was her mother’s daughter and her gradmother’s granddaughter.

Mary and Katherine were sent away from Court. They would never see each other again.

Her title was taken away from her and from now on she was known as the Lady Mary. Her favourite companions were sent away too, and her servants were unkind to her.

Henry started to say awful things about Mary to Chapuys, knowing he would tell them to Mary.

By the time Anne was crowned, Mary’s health was deteriorated. The King sent doctors who would tell him it was nothing serious and the King dismissed it thinking she was only trying to get his attention.

After Elizabeth was born, Mary was sent to serve her as a maid. I don’t know what Henry was trying to achieve. Perhaps a bad reaction from Mary towards Elizabeth that would put the people against her, but the truth is that Mary adored Elizabeth. She spent hours with her, sewing her clothes, singing to her.

The fact that she loved Elizabeth didn’t mean she accepted her status as a princess and her own as a bastard. She almost starved herself by refusing to eat in a lower table than Elizabeth. She was taking a political stance here.

To Anne’s credit she really tried to be in Mary’s good graces but Mary refused all her gestures. Lady Shelton was instructed to even beat Mary if necessary. Anne wrote a letter asking her to not put preassure on Mary. Anyways, Lady Shelton was not unkind to Mary. The rest of the ladies in the house, however, abused her.

Then, it came the Oath of Supremacy, which Mary, of course, refused to sign.

Mary was forbade to attend Katherine’s funeral.

Anne died shortly after Katherine. Mary, who thought everything that had come from her father those past years was Anne’s fault must have been relieved. At Anne’s death, Henry throwed himself to his bastard son, Henry Fitzroy, telling him that Anne was planing to poison him and Mary. Surely, things would improve, right?

Wrong. Henry sent various nobles to threaten Mary to sign the Oath. He even wanted to throw her into the Tower of London. In 1536, after Chapuys told her he (and the emperador) could not grant her safety, she signed the Oath.

Despite Queen Jane’s best efforts it took months for Henry to invite Mary back to Court. Once there, Henry told his nobles: “Some of you were desirous I should put this jewel to death“. Jane added that it would  have been a shame to lose England’s chief jewel. But Henry patted Jane’s belly and replied: “Nay, Edward”. Mary fainted.

By Christmas, Jane got Mary a diamond ring.

In July, the King and Jane went to Richmond to visit Mary. Henry gave her a ring with 3 miniature portraits of Jane, Henry and Mary. It was a present from Cromwell that impressed Henry, so he insisted to give it to Mary himself.

After Lady Bryan was transferred to Edward’s household, Mary took care of Elizabeth.

Mary was Edward’s godmother.

When Jane died, Mary was the chief mourner.

In 1540 Cromwell was arrested for treason and one of the charges was that he had wanted to marry Mary himself.

Catherine Parr was so impressed at Mary’s translations of Erasmus’ Paraphrases that she wrote her a letter full of praises suggesting that she should have it published.

While his father was unmarried and if she was a Court, Mary acted as a hostess.

Mary still found time to pamper Edward. I think I read somewhere that he wrote her a letter saying she was his favourite person.

In 1544 Mary and Elizabeth returned to the line of sucession, but they remained bastards.

After Henry’s death, Mary inherited estates in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, and was granted Hunsdon and Beaulieu.

The relationship with Edward ended up badly. In 1550, at Christmas, they had a tremendous discussion that had them both reduced to tears. Edward insisted that Mary had to abandon Catholicism. He went as far as trying to remove Mary and Elizabeth from their place as his sucessors.

At his death Mary gave Edward an appropiate Protestant funeral.

After deposing Jane, when Mary rode to London, Elizabeth was with her.

Mary was not keen of having Jane Grey executed as she thought she was a pawn in Dudley’s plot. Jane was only executed after Wyatt’s Rebellion.

Mary was the godmother of Jane’s mother, Frances.

Elizabeth and Anne of Cleves were both present at Mary’s coronation.

Mary was very caritable and would go under disguise to give charity to the poor.  

La Peregrina was a present from Philip to Mary. He had it back after Mary’s death.

Mary expected more of her marriage. Some people said she was in love with Philip. I’m not that sure. She was so inclined to love and be loved that she probably felt like she was. But Philip was not receptive. He left her in England most of the time of their marriage. Plus, the union was highly unpopular amongst the people.

She had two phantom pregnancies. She truly wanted a little family of her own. Who would love her as unconditionally as her own children? I think this is probably, one of the saddest parts of her life. She had a lot of love to give, but nobody to place it properly,

Mary’s first Parliament declared the marriage of her parents valid.

Contrary of what it seems to be the popular belief, she didn’t start burning people right away. She tried a more educational aproach first, promoting the catholic church. But Protestantism continued to grow.

She truly was broken at the end of it. Her relationship with Elizabeth went downhill. She lost Calais, her nerves got the best of her. She was utterly depressed and unhappy. She became more paranoid believing that all the bad things that were happening were a sign of God’s displeasure with her.

Some policies of fiscal reform and colonial exploration and expansion that were later declared as Elizabethan accomplishments were started in Mary’s reign.  

Her motto was Veritas Temporis Filia (Truth, the Daughter of Time).

She died in 1558 at 42 years old in St. James Palace. The Court had abandoned her. They went to Elizabeth. Elizabeth never forgot that.

Elizabeth didn’t spare money on her sister’s funeral and ordered the highest of respects to be payed to her. She even let if clear she would not be happy if the Court didn’t attend the funeral.

Mary said in her will that she wanted to be buried with her mother. As you may know she is buried in Elizabeth’s tomb, her caskett under Elizabeth’s. (THE DISRESPECT).

This is so long, sorry!