#would not bear this out; if they didn't fear anne then they certainly would've had reason to fear henry | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fideidefenswhore · 6 months ago

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[Henry] had asked Lady Shelton whether Mary [was] persisting in her obstinancy. Hearing that she was, Henry became certain that she was being encouraged by secret communication from Katharine. Lady Shelton thought the only possible messenger was Mary's chamber woman. In this she was correct. The maid had been smuggling letters in and out. She was dismissed, as was Mary's confessor, to be replaced by one whom Chapuys characterised as 'Lutheran'.

The King’s Pearl: Henry VIII & His Daughter Mary, Melita Thomas

#as i'm going through this refresher in tandem with reading weir's new novel...#she actually writes shelton as being the one that managed to get her mother's letters to her into her hands #even for fiction that feels...far fetched #ostensibly someone had to be getting her letters from chapuys as well; even chapuys reports at times #that he doesn't know how it's possible she's getting letters out to him #but i doubt it was either of the boleyn aunts here #nor margaret bryan; anne's maternal aunt #even the interpretation that anne was a nonentity by this point and had no clout; basically #would not bear this out; if they didn't fear anne then they certainly would've had reason to fear henry #and i doubt they would've circumvented what he ordered #until after jan 1536 (where shelton is allowing visitors from chapuys bcus she's been sent gifts) this just does not seem to be the case #melita thomas #(also had weir been more faithful to primary sources. then this interpretation would mean shelton threw this chamber woman under #the bus...which she did; but in her rendering it would be to save her OWN skin #rather than at great personal risk which is what she #portrays; for the construction a sympathetic character in lady shelton)#i also think there's a question of agency on this unnamed maid's part that i don't really ever seen given space...#insofar as the hierarchy of privilege etc #was she actually willing to risk her income to do this? that's generally how it's portrayed #but it's just as possible that she felt constrained to do so bcus mary; despite her demoted status; was obviously her superior #even if not her employer #not to mention after being dismissed for such a reason; it's not like she was going to get a reccomendation to another household #it's fair to talk about how both coa and mary were placed in these hostile environments but the hostility and tension #those placed as their servants (not those that had chosen to be there; like elizabeth darrell for coa)#is again...not given the same space; generally #it was probably very frustrating to serve two highly privileged women that refused to answer or look at or acknowledge them #because they were addressing them as the law required.#you can imagine the eye-rolls of the servants which coa called 'gaolers'. since. yk.#a person of a servant's status was likely to have a friend or relative that spent time in an *actual* jail cell. if not themselves .

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