#meanwhile he was on the Tudors

[historyartthings]

Cromwell?? Actually styled in colour???? Not black???

[wonder-worker]

“Edward IV was never the sole, undoubted representative of the kingship before I47I. The crowned, anointed and, most important, de facto king of nearly forty years standing, was still alive, never abdicated and was never deposed; he was free until I465 and safe thereafter so long as his heir was beyond Edward's reach ... Barnet, Tewkesbury and the prompt murder of Henry VI, the moment it was safe to do so, alone changed all this and secured Edward's de facto kingship at last. The 'first reign' was in fact the road to the throne.”

- B.P Wolffe, review of “Edward IV” by Charles Ross

[llyfrenfys]

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT Y DDRAIG TRAWS!

Certainly! I'm more than happy to oblige.

First though I'm gonna need to tldr: the history of Y Ddraig Goch before we get onto the (accidentally) canonically trans part.

A brief history of Y Ddraig Goch:

(The modern Welsh flag)

Y Ddraig Goch first appears in the tales of the Mabinogi (Charlotte Guest version) in the tale of Lludd and Llefelys where it is fighting a white dragon. The fight is also described/expanded upon in the c. 829 AD text Historia Brittonum (attributed to Nennius) - where the red dragon represents Wales and the white dragon represents the Anglo-Saxons. In the story the red dragon triumphs over the white. Of course, Geoffrey of Monmouth also covers the story c. 1136 in Historia Regnum Brittaniae in which he introduces the concept of the red dragon heralding the arrival of King Arthur.

Geoffrey of Monmouth claims Arthur used a banner featuring a golden dragon. But we also know the accuracy of Monmouth can be questionable at times. Owain Glyndŵr did use a banner with a golden dragon called Y Ddraig Aur - raised in 1401 at Caernarfon - Glyndŵr chose this banner as a nod to the supposed banner of Arthur and his father.

Later on the Tudor monarchs (being a Welsh family) adopted a red dragon on a white and green background in their heraldry. Eventually Y Ddraig Goch on a white and green background became the official badge of Wales in 1800. The design became the official flag of Wales in 1959.

Y Ddraig Traws:

Now for the thing you're all here for -

So, as outlined, the history of the dragon as a national symbol of Wales goes back a long way. If we're just talking post-1959, there's some interesting implications for Y Ddraig Goch's depiction.

This is what the Welsh flag (and Y Ddraig Goch) looked like in 1959 when it was officially adopted as the flag of Wales. It looks broadly the same as the first flag and has some common features - such as not having a penis (or, as in the correct heraldic terminology - a pizzle). Meanwhile, in the arms of the Tudors (specifically Henry VII)

(Tudor dragon with pizzle) vs (dragon on the flag of Cardiff - pizzleless)

the penis is almost always included. So much to the point that the present royal family still includes the penis. While pretty much 0 depictions of the dragon in Wales include a penis. So you could interpret this as the dragon is seen as male only by the British royal family and as female everywhere else (which kinda implies that at some point the Tudor dragon had an mtf transition in Wales and she keeps getting misgendered by the royal family every time she is depicted in (mostly) England).

So much to the point that in 1995 this pound coin was made by the Royal Mint featuring the pizzle on the dragon with all four feet touching the ground as opposed to standing up (passant rather than rampant).

But in Wales you'd be hard pressed to see a pizzled dragon anywhere. Ergo, we can only conclude Y Ddraig Goch is trans and she transitioned in Wales and keeps getting misgendered in England.

[note: This is mostly tongue in cheek - but I do think it's fun to extrapolate that the Welsh dragon is trans because of the differences in depiction between Wales and England. Like many things Welsh, it is misrepresented by England and the idea of the Welsh dragon being misgendered only in England is, I think, a good metaphor for a whole lot of English treatment of Wales.]

Unrelatedly, there is a gay Welsh flag held at the National Museum of Wales which has a very wonky dragon which I find very endearing.

(cleaned up version I made)

So much so I made it an emoji in my Welsh bilingual LGBTQIA+ Discord (requirements for joining are - be 16+, either speak or are learning Welsh and identify as LGBTQIA+ in some way. Dm for link!).

(triaist ti 'you tried' emoji)

~ Completely unrelatedly ~ never forget the time someone was trying to homophobic to me by suggesting that I was disrespecting all the soldiers who died 'for the Welsh flag' by making it rainbow colours and not red - arguing that any change of colour of the dragon was disrespectful. Reader, my bus pass at the time for Mid Wales Travel had a purple dragon on it.

[jbaileyfansite]

Review of Richard II by The Standard

Jonathan Bailey gives the best performance I’ve ever seen of Shakespeare’s flawed monarch, an erratic tyrant who gains dignity once deposed. This might sound like faint praise since major London productions of the play are rare. But the two other Richards I recall are David Tennant and Fiona Shaw, so props to the star of Bridgerton and Wicked.

Bailey inhabits and humanizes the king in a clean, clear, martial staging from Nicholas Hytner that feels right for our times. Altogether this is a winningly bold combination of casting, programming and cultural curation to follow the Bridge’s joyful post-Covid moneyspinner, Guys and Dolls.

There the actors rubbed shoulders with the audience. Here we make up a horseshoe of spectators around an oblong stage thrusting into the auditorium; at one point, we become witnesses at a show trial. Bailey swaggers on to Succession-style music, in a simple crown but with a bespoke frock coat and sockless feet in velvet slippers, setting him apart from courtiers in suits or jeans. A saturnine beard gives an impish frame to his imperious behavior.

In short order Richard exiles his troublesome cousin and potential rival Henry Bullingbrook (striking newcomer Royce Pierreson) and seizes Bullingbrook’s late father John of Gaunt’s estate to undertake a foolish war in Ireland. Where he loftily believes his divine right justifies any caprice, Bullingbrook is more plain-spoken and pragmatic in courting nobles’ favour.

Yet when he challenges Richard – in this case, by training a massive field gun on the theatre’s balcony where Bailey stands spotlit in a white shift – he becomes a traitor. Richard, meanwhile, is transformed through grief over the loss of his kingdom into a kind of Christ figure, a metamorphosis Bailey achieves with great skill. As Hytner has said, he speaks Shakespeare’s verse as if born to it.

The play has some of Shakespeare’s finest poetry (including Gaunt’s “This England” speech, delivered well by an understudy at the performance I attended due to the indisposition of Clive Wood). There are echoes of Hamlet in Richard’s reflective soliloquy on landing back in Wales, and of King Lear in his character arc. The ruthless plotting and politicking – opponents here are dispatched with a bullet to the back of the neck - spark associations with Shakespeare’s other Tudor history plays: it’s boggling to remember he wrote them in seemingly random order over two decades.

Still, Richard II, with its rigid structure and strict double-narrative about two different styles of kingship, is never going to be a crowd-pleaser unless it’s by star casting. Hence Bailey. He commands the stage and even allows a little camp to seep into the character (Richard’s marriage to his shopaholic wife may be transactional). He doesn’t sugar the king’s brattish reluctance to cede the crown but in later speeches attains a stricken grandeur.

Hytner’s production brims with top-notch character actors, including Michael Simkins as a dogged Duke of York and Christopher Osikanlu Colquhoun as a suave Duke of Northumberland. It also has a future star in Royce Pierreson. Bullingbrook is only his third professional stage role: he brings to it a great sense of command. At the end, Bailey quite rightly called him on stage to share his join his solo curtain call.

Source

[bstag]

The Starks and the Boltons = The Percys and The Nevilles

GRRM is known to draw inspiration from real life history for ASOIAF. He confirmed that houses Lannister and Stark are inspired by Lancaster and York, the two Plantagenet branches that waged war for the english crown in the 15th century. But I think another inspiration (and way closer parallel) that tends to be missed is that of House Percy, and how they were basically the english Starks.

The Percys were at the heart of northern identity and politics. They held the Earldom of Northumberland and Bamburgh Castle, a land and seat that were bathed in a very, very long history of anglo-saxon kingship, as Northumberland was once the capital of the Kingdom of Northumbria, ruled by the House of Bebbanburg from Bamburgh Castle, and Northumbria's territory was composed of basically all of northern England! Because of this symbolic holding and their land power, the Percys were almost seen as Kings in the North (unoficially of course). I should point out that the northern medieval english were closer to their anglo-saxon roots ethnically and genetically, unlike the south which adopted more Norman customs and blood when William the Conqueror did his thing in 1066. So, a signicant connection to that past mattered a lot in the North.

There was even a phrase in northern England, which was this:

'The North knows no Prince but a Percy'.

I don't think I need to say which phrase this one inspired in the world of ASOIAF.

I would also like to add that the Percy sigil was a wild animal of a cold color, here it is:

Now, let's look at the Nevilles. They were also a northern family that rose to prominence when they became the Earls of Westmorland. This was okay at first for the Percys since they were older and held Bamburgh Castle, but the Nevilles were grasping and soon they started gaining more lands through strategic marriages, absorbing two Earldoms in the south of England and gaining many lands in the North as well, some of which were under Percy domain. But things got even worse when Cecily Neville was married to the Duke of York, cousin to the King of England, and her nephew Richard Neville installed her son, Edward IV, as the new King after the first stages of the Wars of the Roses (York vs Lancaster) took place. The new royal family became the House of York, whose King was half Neville, the House also mainly responsable for the yorkist victory.

Meanwhile, the Percys were lancastrians, and they payed the price for that. Edward IV stripped the Percys from the title of Earls of Northurmberland and gave it to a Neville man, making this family (for a time) the new main power in the North.

So we have a northern family taking the north of England with support from the royal family, and so, the southern political regime in general. Now take a look at the sigil of House Neville:

Looks familiar? Red? A cross? GRRM really is a history buff, pouring it into his books and making it cuntier in the process. I mean a bloody flayed man is way cooler for a sigil than a boring white cross.

But to be fair, the Nevilles weren't brutal tyrants like the Boltons, they were just very scheming and opportunistic, favoring southern intrigue rather than northern warring. Taking this into account, and taking into account how independent and wary of southron interference the northern englishmen were, it would be interesting to think about how would have the Nevilles faired if the successfully managed to take the North in a permanent way (they lost Northumberland pretty quickly because of the backlash of the northern nobility to them replacing the Percys and the defeat of House York at the hands of the Tudors).

[gulnarsultan]

Hii, i have a writing request about the tudors :) Reader is henry 8’s first n true love but couldn’t marry that time cuz of family. He meets the reader again after Anne’s execution n break up with Jane to marry the reader who is now a widow with a small child. Reader is horrified and disgusted at how he treated his wives n fears for her life, she no longer wants to be near the man she once wholeheartedly loved. Henry tries to win back her love n remind her of the time they were deeply in love but she refuses. He desperately tries to reassure he would never treat her like her predecessors, he can’t even imagine hurting her. Reader’s child is scared of him too n he tries to win over the child to win back readers love and trust. He wants reader to marry him out of love not fear

Hello darling. I love writing about the Tudors. Thank you for sharing this beautiful idea with me. I hope you like it. 💫

"Scenario"

The love between Henry and the reader goes back to their childhood. They both always promise each other that they will get married when they grow up. However, the changes brought by fate cause this promise to be broken. Years pass, Henry's three daughters marry. Meanwhile, the reader had been married once and became the mother of a son. However, her husband died years ago. After his third divorce, Henry turns to his first and only love, the reader. He wants to marry the reader and make your reader Queen. But now the reader is disgusted and afraid of the man she fell in love with years ago. Frankly, it is not surprising that he is afraid. Henry's first move is to try to gain the boy's approval. Because the child is also afraid of Henry. After a few months, Henry finally gains the boy's trust and approval. But the reader is very insistent on not getting married. However, Henry is not a man who will give up easily. There are a few alternatives for the ending of the scenario. (In my opinion.)

1.Henry really gets the reader's approval.

Henry forces his reader to get married.

Henry respects the reader's decision. He keeps his love in his heart. It leaves your reader alone.

[gingersnaptaff]

Nest of Deheubarth and Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan

Lemme talk about two fabulous Welsh women who deserve to be yelled about more because they occupy fascinating roles in Welsh history and also they were SISTERS-IN-LAW. If they'd met I do think they would have a very Morgan Le Fay and Guinevere relationship (without the casual murder? Hmm.)

Anyways, Nest of Deheubarth (Also known as Nesta, or Annest, was the 'Helen of Wales,' which, seriously, we gotta stop appellating Helen of Troy to women whose beauty starts wars. It is a handy metric, but, like, neither were THEIR FAULT.) daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr - yes, as in the Tudors. They have links to them through Rhys' son, Gruffudd - and Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys. (Said it before will say it again intermarriage between Gwynedd, Deheubarth, and Powys is super common.)

(This is Nest with Henry II. Note how they both have crowns on in bed. Like, I know it's to telegraph they're royal but like imagine them kissing. *clang* sorry, my crown keeps slipping off my head *clang* sŵs.)

Anyways, born in about 1085 (give or take) Nest was Princess of Deheubarth. Normally, this would entail being married to another Welsh royal family - and possibly your cousin, yeesh - but, sadly (or happily depending on your view) this was not to be the case for Nest.

Her father, Rhys, was King of Deheubarth until 1093. Deheubarth had largely been left untouched by the Normans thanks to a peacy treaty brokered by Rhys and thr King of England William Rufus but, sadly, Henry I soon put a stop to that after his brother, William Rufus' death. (For those wondering he got shot in an arrow in the New Forest. Some say Henry did it so he could assume the throne)

Rhys perished in battle at Breacon against Bernard de Neufmarche's forces, with him being beheaded at Penrhys in Rhondda Cynon Taf (Penrhys literally means Rhys' head.) Brut Y Tywysogion records: 'Rhys ap Tewdwr, king of Deheubarth, was slain by the Frenchmen who were inhabiting Brycheiniog, and with him fell the kingdom of the Britons' His death allowed the Normans to take Deheubarth unopposed and they wouldn't even begin to break their yoke until Gwenllian.

Anyways, Nest, her mother, her half-brothers, and her sisters were captured by the Normans once they'd murdered Rhys and were sent to either prison or the Anglo-Norman court to live as hostages to prevent any further rebellions. Meanwhile, Nest's younger brother, Gruffydd, was spirited away to Ireland (more about him later!).

But even there Nest wouldn't exactly be allowed to fly under the radar. She grew into a beauty - don't all captured foreign historical women, honestly? Like, grim - and caught the eye of Henry I, becoming his mistress, bearing him a son -- also called Henry* as it goes. See, having the same name as your dad is just a Welsh trait, ngl.

Soon after, in around about 1102 but possibly later, and once Henry I had dealt with some rebellions from his subjects (namely Robert de Bellême) he married Nest off to Gerald FitzWalter who was the constable of Pembroke Castle, purely cuz he sided with him. Nest's feelings are not recorded in history, but I'd imagine she was both delighted to be going home to Wales and distraught that she was married to a Norman lord who'd had a hand in subjugating her country.

Either way, with her marriage to Gerald she was both seen as a Norman - as were her sons, collectively known as the Geraldines, famous for subjugating Ireland, and nephew, Gerald of Wales - and as a figurehead for Welsh resistance.

And it's this that gives her the claim for being the Helen of Wales. Now, various reports of how shit went down are given but the facts are thus: in either 1106 or 1109 her cousin, Owain ap Cadwgan, Prince of Powys, kidnapped Nest and her sons. Gerald escaped either by escaping down the latrine (smelly toilet pit) or fighting his way out. Some say this was during an Eisteddfod given by Owain's dad, some say this was at Cilgerran Castle, a Norman castle that Gerald had built. Idk. Either way, she was once again, a hostage. Kari L. Maude says Owain was 'overcome by her [Nest's] charm,' but, equally, he could've been making a point of raiding the castle to spite a Norman and carrying off his cousin to try and force the Welsh to rebel. 'What is clear,' Maund further writes, 'Is that Owain was engaged on a consistent campaign against the Norman colonies in Wales.'

(OR, Nest had engineered the whole affair deliberately cuz she and Owain were lovers. There is talk that Owain was gonna be betrothed to Nest before everything that occurred but that is spurious speculation so idk. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.)

ANYWAYS. The earliest account of this shenaniganery we have is by Caradoc of Llancarfan which relates that: 'At the instigation of the Devil, he [Owain] was moved by passion and love for the woman, and with a small company with him...he made for the castle by night.' Once he'd done this he took Nest and her kids to a hunting lodge by the Eglwyseg Rocks north of Llangollen, presumably to live in what he thought was relative peace.

Hoo boi, he was WRONG. The abduction of Nest, done with her consent or not, aroused the wrath of both the Normans (for obvious reasons those HEIRS ARE NORMAN-BLOODED GIVE THE SONS BACK) and the Welsh (I guess because this was seen as a Welshman abducting a Princess of Deheubarth? Unsure.) Either way, the Normans bribed Owain's Welsh enemies to attack him which they did. (Pls remember that the Powysians hated Deheubarthians and Gwyddelians hated them both ect, etc.)

Owain's dad throughout all of this desperately tried to persuade his son to give Nest back ('Pls, pls, pls, Owain, your himbo arse has gotten us into SO MUCH SHIT!' I can imagine him saying. This does, however, ignore the fact that Cadwgan himself was sanctioning his son's raids.) With Owain just brushing him off. Nest, once again, saves a man's life and entreats Owain: 'If you would have me stay with you and be faithful to you, then send my children home to their father.'

Owain did so, but before long, both he and his dad were then obliged to seek safety in Ireland lest further attacks were made on them. Nest was also returned to her husband. Whether willingly or not idk but yeah.

Now, by this time (1112), her brother Gruffudd had returned from his sojourn in Ireland and was trying to drum up support to get Deheubarth back under his rule, particularly with the aid of the King of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Cynan, who would ultimately become Gruffydd's father-in-law when Gruffydd married his daughter, Gwenllian 🥳🥳🥳. It's interesting to imagine that Nest was giving her brother a hand in this but we have no textual support to say so. Tbf, perhaps she did and she was just so good at doing it that it's just remained undetected for hundreds of years. 🤷🏻‍♀️

War broke out between Gruffydd and the Normans. Gruffydd, expecting to have his inheritance given to him and no liking to hear the word 'NO' yelled at him Henry I with a fuckin megaphone, fuckin burned Carmarthen and then destroyed Arberth in 1115, alongside 'members of the younger nobility'. (As he should, in all honesty.)

Owain ap Cadwgan who had, by this time, tootled back from Ireland, been PARDONED BY THE KING (Henry I, that is.), and became prince of Powys after his dad was ASSASSINATED (Assassin's Creed: Powys edition when?) Obliged by Henry I to rendezvous with a Norman force to proceed against Gruffydd, Owain found himself meeting up with Nest's husband, Gerald.

( Sjdjxjxjddkxj Could not make that up. Sounds like a Hollyoaks episode.)

Gerald, wanting to fuckin Murk Owain for what he did to his kids and wife, proceeded to Murk Owain. I do honestly feel like Gerald also thought 'If he kills my bro-in-law my wife will fuckin KILL ME.' so I respect this for being In Fear of his wife.

Gerald himself died in 1135, yet Nest delightfully, was still going. She married Robert FitzStephen, having another kid to the five she'd already had with Gerald, including the mother of my arch-nemesis Gerald of Wales, Angharad.

It isn't known when she died but it's estimated that it was about 1135/1136, thus allowing her to see the start of her brother and sister-in-law's rebellion that would eventually put the land that the Normans had so cruelly taken from the back into the hands of their family.

A note:

*Henry would later be killed in Ynys Môn during a battle against Nest's brother-in-law Owain Gwynedd, coincidently led by Owain's son - and my fuckin pookie - Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd. Apparently, again according to the Brut, Henry died 'by a shower of lances.'

Up next: Gwenllian!!!!!!!

Sadly we have no drawings of Gwenllian, but that's okay cuz artists are more than up to the challenge. Also, idk why but the fact that she has red hair is generally accepted even though we don't know how she looked. I guess it's because bravery is telegraphed as red, or at least fieryness which, ngl, she defo was.

Born in about 1097, Gwenllian was the daughter of the King of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Cynan, and his wife, Angharad ferch Owain.

Gwynedd, at this time, was perhaps the most stable of the Welsh kingdoms, although Gruffudd ap Cynan HAD had to battle like fuck to free Gwynedd from the Normans before he could even sit on the throne. (He got thrown in Chester for a time and had to be rescued by a very tall man called Cynwrig. Will do a post on him because he's FUN) so rebellion is very much in Gwenllian's blood. We don't know much about her childhood although we can assume it was happy and filled with the various activities of a Welsh Princess.

Still, that would soon shift.

Gwenllian, at around about thirteen /fourteen or so (remember girls became women when they reached 14 under Welsh law), soon became involved with Gruffydd ap Rhys after her father hosted him when Gruffydd was hoping to summon up aid for his Getting Rid of the Normans scheme.

Unfortunately for Gruffydd - who I will now call Griff so as not to confuse with Gruffudd ap Cynan - this place at the Gwyddelian court became tenuous. Gruffudd ap Cynan, unwilling to further inflame tensions with the Normans after he'd just recovered Ynys Môn (Anglesey) from them and now ruled kinda peacefully, elected to hand Griff over to them. Somehow - probably through Gruffudd ap Cynan's nobles - news of this rescued Griff and he once again left for Deheubarth.

Only he wouldn't travel alone.

Gwenllian, unwilling to let the man she loved slip away, eloped with him and became his wife. They soon became 'the Robin Hood's of Wales' as Philip Warner writes and set about killing the Normans. Griff, emboldened by his and his wife's success hastened to meet with his father-in-law, Gruffudd ap Cynan, in an effort to get troops.

So, Gwenllian was left to helm her husband's forces by herself. To be fair to her SHE DID. AND honestly, this is why she's compared to 'Buddug' or Bouddica. Normans led raids a just as she and Griff had done against them- and she was compelled to rise an army for Deheubarth's defense.

The Great Revolt of 1136, as it was known, was to be Gwenllian's last conflict for she and two of her sons, Maredudd and Maelwgyn were beheaded by the Normans after their forces were routed at Cydweli Castle. Yet Gwenllian would not be forgotten. Her youngest son, the Lord Rhys, would become Prince of Deheubarth and recover much of the territory that had once been their family's. And Nest? Well, Griff had sent time in her and Gerald's castles as he went about letting how to get Dejeubarth back. It's tempting to think that she and Gwenllian met.

Also, Dr Andrew Breeze HAS argued that Gwenllian is the author of the Mabinogi because much of the action takes place in Gwynedd and Deheubarth where Gwenllian was based. Might it have been a tract to inspire people to rebellion? Or for women to know their worth? It's tempting but we'll never know. We can only guess. All we can say is 'Dial Achos Gwenllian!'

(That's Revenge for Gwenllian btw. Long may she reign, as it were.)

[queer-ragnelle]

Camelot (2011) | Created by Michael Hirst & Chris Chibnall

Arthurian Film List | Arthurian Show List | Movie review below the cut ⤦

Star Rating: 10/10

Content Warning: graphic nudity & sexuality, heavy gore, torture, rape

Overview: Full disclosure, I'm hella biased. I watched this every week while it aired back in 2011. But having re-watched the series again numerous times since then, I stand by my love for it. If there was anything I would add, it would be dogs. Where are the puppies?! The costume designer for this show went on to win awards for her work on The Tudors, all the acting is prenominal, the set designs, the score and sound design, the writing is just insanely good. Even when I don't agree with all narrative choices, I'm convinced to appreciate them here. Eva Green is by far my favorite Morgan and James Purefoy my favorite Lot. I wasn't born queer, their intense sex scenes with blood oaths and body hair queerified me. Who said that. Anyway the biggest thing to praise about this show is how abundantly and well it centers women's stories. Igraine, Guinevere, Morgan, Vivian, Sebile, Bridget. You're all really amazing. I support women's rights and women's wrongs.

Synopsis: Morgan returns from her many years at the nunnery and is immediately rejected by Uther and her step mother Igraine. She vows vengeance and returns to the castle later in the guise of a child to secretly poison the king. As Uther lays dying, Merlin gets him to sign over his kingship to the son he never met. The show then transitions to Arthur, who has been raised along side foster-brother Kay by their loving parents in ignorance they are not fully brothers. Merlin shows up and spills the beans, taking Arthur and Kay with him to Camelot, an old crumbling castle they need to rebuild as the center of a great city. There, Uther's old knights, including Lancelot Leontes and his fiancée Guinevere, wait for them. Meanwhile Morgan turns castle Pendragon inside out to remake it for her own liking, including bringing on Vivian as her messenger and handmaiden, and Sebile the nun as her advisor. She also allies herself with King Lot intending to claim the throne of Britain for herself. Morgan and Arthur must battle for the right to take their father King Uther's place.

Final Thoughts: This show really has it all. It's a tragedy it was cancelled after a single season. There was so much set up that will never get pay off. I cry every day. The homoeroticism between Kay and Gawain going unfulfilled haunts me. Read Exiled From Camelot by Cherith Baldry to get your fix but damn I'm so sad we didn't see more of them in a second season. HUGE SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING but it set up that Guinevere was pregnant with Galahad and would take the bloody seat of the Round Table where Leontes was meant to sit, meanwhile Morgan was pregnant with Mordred in a last bid for power after she was finally revealed to Arthur as a threat. GO WATCH!!!!!!!

[heather123fan-blog]

My Lady Jane 2024

I just finished episode 1 of My Lady Jane with my mom. I usually can't get her to watch Tudor historical dramas with me and she thought this one was pretty bizarre. I'm loving it so far though. It's an action-packed adventure. Love the fantasy setting! The actor playing Guildford Dudley is adorable. Edward Bluemel looks so much like Jacob Avery who portrayed him in Becoming Elizabeth. He's getting the hot, sexy, romantic male hero treatment. Meanwhile, Jane Grey is the sassy, book smart, rebellious princess. I'm just crushed Robert hasn't appeared yet.

[lehdenlaulu]

Leverage 3x12

...I may have just image-searched the stock footage to make sure that really is the Logan International Airport. I have trust issues after the whole "Moscow as Kyiv" thing, okay? 😜

Okay, jumping back into the main plot, I see.

Looking good, boys!

...I wonder what would happen if Eliot actually had to fly a passenger plane.

Those identical maintenance overalls sure are handy, eh?

Would be funny if they never even changed the name tags.

Polyglot Eliot and Friend To All Children Eliot at the same time? I feel spoiled. 🥰

Arabic, I think?

I already hate this guy.

Hah, the young couple snoozing on the sofa is a nice touch.

Wow, Sophie's taking this personally. Huh.

Gotta love it when British swearing flies under the radar, but oh dearie me, what a scandal if someone says 'fuck'. 😆

Or imagine if someone just said 'jerkoff' instead of 'wanker'.

Whoo, change of scenery!

"Possibly steam-powered, which would be cool." ILY Hardison.

But yeah, that's like... Windows 3.1.? Sheesh.

Yeah, I don't think "believing in tradition" explains using ~25-year-old OS...

Ooh, Parker looks cute.

ILU Parker, never change.

We're also getting quite a lot of cleavage from her, I see. 👀

Nate, do I even want to know what you're up to now?

Oh Hardison.

Cromwell! That's Cromwell from Tudors! That's why he was so familiar.

Huh, interesting.

I see Hardison decided to balance out Parker's cleavage. I don't mind. 🤭

Meanwhile, Eliot's dressed like he's trucking across Canada. 😂

Again?? What am I forgetting?

Also, I'm way too ill for the constantly spinning arc shot.

Aaand Sophie joined Team Cleavage!

Huh, that's cool. I need to look into that.

Poor Hardison. You can do it, though, don't worry.

Shut up, Nate.

Hmm, I may not be super well-versed in British royalty, but wasn't George III famous for not having a mistress, ever? Or wait, is this George IV?

Okay, okay, I know. Whatever. This is AU. We'll roll with it. This is a pretty cool plot.

Oh boys. 😆 Hmm, has he called Eliot 'E' before? I don't think so? But Eliot doesn't seem to mind.

Oh Hardison, even if your boos don't appreciate your impressive work, I do. ❤

Shut up, Nate. I know you're not saying anything, but shut up.

Eliot 'Distinctive' Spencer strikes again!

Right, so that's what we're doing, eh? Ugh.

Poor Sophie.

Okay, Eliot, that was new. 👀

Yeah, fuck you dude.

Again Eliot saying something complimentary "sarcastically", aww.

Bless. ❤

Also, Parker's boots. 😍

This was fun. Nice change of scenery, more backstory for Sophie (whether she's really British aristocracy or not), and Hardison gained enough XP to add another class to his repertoire: forger. So, yeah, he'd totally be Artificer in D&D.

[fideidefenswhore]

it is funny that everytime you get to the thomas seymour part of any tudor biography every author is invariably is like oooo, thomas was so handsome and charming, all women found him sooooooo irresistible........meanwhile, real ones know that he proposed to mary howard fitzroy thrice and she rejected him...thrice <3

[dragoneyes618]

Curtains were not for windows, they were for beds. The owner of a curtained bed as  lucky indeed. A room within a room - warm, dark, and private -a four-poster, curtained and canopied bed was one of the most sought after and highly prized household items in Tudor times. After bequests of landholdings and cash, eds were often the very first thing upon the minds of those making their wills. Shakespeare's famous bequest of his second-best bed to his wife, Anne, is sometimes seen as a slight, a symbol of a broken relationship, but I doubt that Anne or anyone else in the family saw it like that. Although his best bed went to his married daughter, he made sure that his wife would be warm and comfortable in her later years.

Many people have spent a night in a four-poster bed at a hotel, and some may have one at home, but they are unlikely to have got the full benefit from it within a modern building. Think instead of a Tudor room, which would have been draughty even if there was glass in the window frame. Tudor houses rarey had corridors, and access to rooms was generally through other rooms, so people would wander through now and again, and servants and children would be asleep on other beds within the same room. Even within larger, wealthier homes, few people had a room to themselves. With no separate servants' quarters (that was a later architectural development), some of the largest houses had the most crowded bedrooms. A house's occupants were more likely to be divided according to sex rather than social class, with male children and servants in one room and female children and servants in another. You, meanwhile, are tucked up inside your own private tent of thick, usually woollen, curtains, which muffle the sounds of other people's snores, allow a fug of warmth to build overnight, and keep away prying eyes and ears.

- How To Be A Tudor, Ruth Goodman, pages 2-3

[scotianostra]

On May 28th 1503 a Papal Bull was signed by Pope Alexander VI confirming the marriage of King James IV and Margaret Tudor and the "Treaty of Everlasting Peace" between Scotland and England.

From an early age, Margaret was part of Henry VII’s negotiations for important marriages for his children and her betrothal to James IV of Scotland was made official by a treaty in 1502 even though discussions had been underway since 1496. Part of the delay was the wait for a papal dispensation because James’ great-grandmother was Joan Beaufort, sister of John Beaufort, who was the great-grandfather of Margaret Tudor. That made James IV and Margaret Tudor fourth cousins, which was within the prohibited degree. Patrick Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, acted as a proxy for James IV of Scotland for his betrothal to Margaret Tudor at Richmond in January 1502 before the couple was married in person.

James was dashing, accomplished, highly intelligent and interested in everything, James IV of Scots enjoyed himself with mistresses while manoeuvring to secure a politically useful bride, so the marriage was not just an "English thing".

Our King was 30, his bride was what has been described as "a dumpy 13 year old".

I'll dip into the "newspaper" of the day in Grafton's chronicle the following was written....

"Thus this fair lady was conveyed with a great company of lords, ladies, knights, esquires and gentlemen until she came to Berwick and from there to a village called Lambton Kirk in Scotland where the king with the flower of Scotland was ready to receive her, to whom the earl of Northumberland according to his commission delivered her." he went on "Then this lady was taken to the town of Edinburgh, and there the day after King James IV in the presence of all his nobility married the said princess, and feasted the English lords, and showed them jousts and other pastimes, very honourably, after the fashion of this rude country. When all things were done and finished according to their commission the earl of Surrey with all the English lords and ladies returned to their country, giving more praise to the manhood than to the good manner and nature of Scotland."

Not exactly flattering words!

The wedding finally took place for real (after several proxy marriages) on 8 August, 1503 at Holyrood House in Edinburgh. Margaret was officially crowned Queen in March 1504. The Scottish poet William Dunbar wrote several poems to Margaret around this time, including “The Thistle and the Rose”, “To Princess Margaret on her Arrival at Holyrood”

Now fayre, fayrest of every fayre,

Princes most plesant and preclare,

The lustyest one alyve that byne,

Welcum of Scotlond to be Quene!

Margaret was apparently homesick and not happy in her early days in Scotland, but the couple settled down to married life, there first child, James was born four years later, he died within the year, their second, a daughter fared little better she never survived a day. In 1309 another son only lived to be nine months old, such was the difficulties of trying to produce and heir, it's a wonder the human race survived, what with mortality rates being so high in the nobility, one only wonders how high it would have been for the ordinary citizen of Scotland?

Meanwhile Margarets father passed away and Henry VIII took the throne.

Margaret’s next child was born on April 11, 1512 at Linlithgow and named James. He survived childhood and was to become King James V and father of Mary.

As for "Treaty of Everlasting Peace" it lasted around 10 years, in the first few years of Henry VIII’s reign, the relations with Scotland became strained, and it eventually erupt in 1513, when Henry VIII went to France to wage war, this invoked The Auld Alliance and James IV, Henry VIII's brother-in-law marched his army into England only to be disastrously cut down on September 9th at Flodden Field, with too many of our Scottish Knights to count. The Queen gave birth to another son, Alexander the following April, but things would turn sour for her.

Margaret, then regent, remarried into the powerful Douglas family, the Scottish Parliament then removed her as Regent a pregnant Margaret fled Scotland in 1515, her sons were taken from her before she left. She was given lodgings by her brother at Harbottle Castle, where she gave birth to daughter, Margaret Douglas, who herself played a big part in Scottish history, becoming mother to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

That wasn't the last we had seen of Margaret Tudor though, she returned to Scotland with a promise of safe conduct in 1517 but her marriage to Douglas was a disaster, he had taken a mistress while she was in England.

In 1524 Margaret, in alliance with the Earl of Arran, overthrew Albany's regency and her son was invested with his full royal authority. James V was still only 12, so Margaret was finally able to guide her son's government, but only for a short time since her husband, Archibald Douglas, came back on the scene and took control of the King and the government from 1525 to 1528. This would all come back to bite the ambitious Douglas family in the bum

In March 1527, Margaret was finally able to attain an annulment of her marriage to Angus from Pope Clement VII and by the next April she had married Henry Stewart, who had previously been her treasurer. Margaret's second husband then arrested her third husband on the grounds that he had married the Queen without approval. The situation was improved when James V was able to proclaim his majority as king (he was 16 at the time) and remove Angus and his family from power. James created his new stepfather Lord Methven and the Scottish parliament proclaimed Angus and his followers traitors. However, Angus had escaped to England and remained there until after James V's death.

Margaret's relationship with her son was relatively good, although she pushed for closer relations with England, where James preferred an alliance with France. In this, James won out and was married to Princess Madeleine, daughter of the King of France, in January 1537. The marriage did not last long because Madeleine died in July and was buried at Holyrood Abbey. After his first wife's death, James sought another bride from France, this time taking Marie de Guise (eldest child of the Claude, Duc de Guise) as a bride. By this same time, Margaret's own marriage had followed a path similar to her second one when Methven took a mistress and lived off his wife's money.

On October 18th 1541, Margaret Tudor died in Methven Castl. probably from a stroke. Margaret was buried at the Carthusian Abbey of St. John’s in Perth. Although Margaret's heirs were left out of the succession by Henry VIII and Edward VI, ultimately it would be Margaret's great-grandson James VI who would become king after the death of Elizabeth.

[queenmarytudor]

Mary I's Fight For The Throne

19th July - Mary organises her army

After hearing of the Earl of Oxford's defection, Mary sends him a letter of thanks, with a commission to "make provisions for six days victualing and come through with a speed." 1 She also orders six days worth of food from Great Yarmouth 2, and 300 quarters of malt to be brewed in Ipswich 3.

Due to lack of money she cannot afford to pay all the wages for soldiers in her growing army, but orders "where captains in every band shall perceive any soldier lacking money, his captain shall relieve him with so much as his discretion shall think good, but in such sort that it appears not otherwise but to be of his own liberality." 4

Her army is slowly growing more disciplined under the instruction of the Earl of Sussex, but they need more bows and arrows. Mary and her council send to Norwich for them, promising the city "shall receive money presently" 5 for them.

After hearing the army is ready and eager to do battle, Mary sets a day "when she would come from the castle to view and muster her army, and gratify her soldiers, who deserved so well of her, with her presence. Consequently at the queen's command issued through a trumpeter, 20th July was assigned for the inspection." 6

Meanwhile...

Henry Neville, Lord Abergavenny and Sir Thomas Wyatt (of Wyatt's rebellion) write to the gentlemen of Sussex, requiring them to proclaim Mary queen and denouncing "the lady Jane, a queen of a new and pretty invention." 7

Jane Grey acts as godmother to Edward Underhill's child, a son named Guildford in honour of her husband. 8

The Privy Council meet in private and agree to proclaim Mary queen. 9

The Imperial ambassadors are visited by the Earl of Shrewsbury and John Mason from the Privy Council. They inform them that "Though it had been said that the late King Edward's devise touching the succession had received the assent of the Council, only three or four of them had given their willing consent, and the rest had been compelled and treated almost as if they were prisoners." 10 They reveal they are planning to proclaim Mary queen.

Around 4pm, Mary is proclaimed Queen of England, France and Ireland around London. 11

When the Duke of Suffolk hears what the Council have done, he "went to the Lady Jane, who was at supper, and tore down the canopy, saying no more than that it was not for her to use it, for her position permitted her not to do so. When the Lady Jane heard of the Council's determination, she replied that she would give it up as gladly as she had accepted it; she knew that the right belonged to Queen Mary." 12 The Duke then rushes to proclaim her himself on Tower Hill. 13

At nightfall, Northumberland retreats back to Cambridge. 14

Sources:

1. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

2. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

3. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

4. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

5. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

6. Vita Mariae Angliae Reginae of Robert Wingfield

7. A Guide to the Manuscripts in the Grenville Library

8. Tudor Tracts

9. Spanish State Papers, 19th July 1553

10. Spanish State Papers, 19th July 1553

11. Spanish State Papers, 19th July 1553

12. Spanish State Papers, 22nd July 1553

13. Chronicle of Queen Jane and Mary

14. Vita Mariae Angliae Reginae of Robert Wingfield

[idiotwithanipad]

OC Hot Take: Humphrey occasionally forgets that Amy (My OC) is NOT related to him by blood and sometimes remarks on how similar she is to his former wife, Sophie.

The Tudor will laugh along with something Amy is doing/saying and say something along the lines of:

“Your Mum would’ve scowled at me for laughing at that”

“You’re just like your mother sometimes, you are”

One of Amy’s biggest flaws is being overly judgmental when she first meets anybody, and she has a tendency to scowl a lot when in an uncomfortable setting or situation. Often prompting Humphrey to recall when he and Sophie would be dragged downstairs to attend events or situations neither of them really wanted anything to do with.

Humphrey would just smile through the pain, but not Sophie; her face would be as stale and as rock solid as steel. Causing the Tudor to make connections, pinpointing little details similar between the woman and the girl.

Meanwhile, Amy has no clue what he’s on about…

[gulnarsultan]

hiiii can you do yandere henry viii headcannons where the reader has the look of daenerys targeryan but is a peasant please ?  like she hides her hair and he finds her by a lake where she lets them out or the reader saves anna boleyn and henry falls in love with her.  NSFW AT THE END PLEASE

Perhaps reader is truly a Targaryen. She came to the Tudor universe by accident. Or Targaryen was the reader's descendant. Most likely the reader is Edward's mother.

"Scenario."

Reader always hides her beauty. Because she doesn't want to get himself into unnecessary trouble. Meanwhile, Henry notices the cabin while walking through the woods for a tour. He notices the reader when he pauses to catch his breath. By this time, Henry and Anna were already in bad shape. Henry's heart and mind go wild when he sees the reader's silver hair, violet eyes, and pale skin. He immediately takes the decision to take her reader to the Palace. But first it has to get the reader on. The reader becomes uneasy when Henry enters the garden.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

"What do you want from me, your majesty?"

Henry gets very close to the reader. He takes a lock of the reader's silver hair and brings it to his lips.

"To be mine."

"What if I don't accept it."

"Honey, I'm not a very patient man. Besides, you should accept this offer for everything you care about."

"Ok."

This obedient attitude of the reader pleases Henry. He begins to eagerly kiss the reader's lips. The reader gives a kiss to Herynin's kiss, causing a kissing session. He strokes the reader's body with his hands. The reader's face turns red with embarrassment. He carries the reader to the bed inside the hut and lays him down. He takes off his clothes and that of the reader. He plays with the reader's breasts as their lips meet once again. He massages the breasts and bites, sucks, squeezes and tugs at the nipples. The reader can only whine. Henry's hand goes between the reader's legs.

"You're wet for me."

One hand makes fun of the reader's clistoris, while the fingers of the other hand pump the reader's cunt. The reader ejaculates on Henry's fingers. Henry rubs his hardened penis against the wet lips of the reader's cunt. Henry bangs the reader's pussy in a fast rhythm. When they both reach orgasm, Henry ejaculates deep in the reader's cunt. He hugs the reader and rests. He will take the reader to the Palace and make him his mistress. After the divorce with Anne, he will marry the reader.