Russophile
Heir Apparent
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2007
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Polly, where did you find that info. on Elizabeth Rex? That is very interesting!
The answer can be found in the Elizabeth I thread.Polly, where did you find that info. on Elizabeth Rex? That is very interesting!
Thanks for the info Polly, but where do you get the idea that the King actively despised Katherine of Aragon? Quite the contrary, in the early years of their marriage there is evidence that he was very happy with her. He rode in the lists wearing her colors, as her Sir Loyal Heart. He wrote to her father Ferdinand that even if he had been free to marry another, he would choose KATHERINE above all others. He and his gentlemen would disguise themselves as Robin Hood and his Merry Men and burst into her rooms to surprise she and her ladies. The Queen was an excellent rider and would accompany her husband during the hunt.I think that, in all fairness, there are one or two things about Henry VIII which should not be forgotten.
I'm not sure I understand you correctly. You have to remember that back in those times life was a lot harsher. Mortality rates were a lot higher. There is rumor that Great Harry had syphilis which led to (IMO) many miscarriages.I would like very much to know what is taught to english children at school about this king that Stefan Zweig considered a man without scruples in his biography of Mary Stuart.
And he did not invent anything, Reformation was in the european Zeitgeist (spirit of times) when he wanted so badly an annulment after 20 years of marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Either of his three children who reigned left descendants, not at all very successful genes according to the natural laws.
Henry's relationship with Elizabeth is quite unknown although in some books it says that he favored her...does anyone have any insight on it?
In that case, if as you suggest the wives were clever, how come Anne Boleyn & Catherine Howard were beheaded for Treason?At those time wives were much clever as well as poison was available to keep mistresses under control and in order.
Other people were cleverer in those cases, particularly for Anne Boleyn. The King had some powerful legal minds looking for ways to get rid of her, and I don't know if it's ever really been established that she was committing adultery or whether the confessions under torture by her alleged lovers were false.
Here I am in complete agreement with Jo of Palatine. The foreign wives (Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves) died naturally.I guess Henry would have thought twice if Anne and Catherine had been foreign princesses with a lot of relatives to support them. Just think of how long it took Elizabeth I. to sign the death warrant for Mary Stuart and she really was guilty of working against Elizabeth, which constituted High Treason back then and would still today.
... [snipped]
Mary Stuart wasn't one of Elizabeth's subjects so she couldn't have committed High Treason. She was a sovereign in her own right; that's why Elizabeth dawdled so long before signing her death warrant. Elizabeth weighed the danger that Mary Stuart raised against the dangerous precendence of beheading an anointed sovereign.
When it comes to Elizabeth vs. Mary Stuart, the case was that Mary claimed to be the rightful queen of England herself, because Elizabeth was a bastard. Such the Treason Act of 1351 could be applied.
You know when you read about historic figures and their lives seem like fairy tales? When I first visited the Tower of London and saw her grave, her whole life story and death, came alive.........
I would not mind if they lock me overnight at the room with the jewels and the silver centerpieces etc. Never got tired of looking at them.
I think they had their first lady Beefeater......Quite picturesques aren't they??