Queen Mary I as a Single Lady

Hello five day weekend! I am so happy to have the next five days off of my day job so I can concentrate on my writing! I am being a little to loose with the explanation marks, so let me get them all out of the way!!!!!!!!!! Okay. It is time to start Mary's reign as queen! (One slipped in and I can't be held responsible! Drats.)

Mary as Queen 

Mary had her coronation on October 1st, 1553 at Westminster Abbey. No one can say she wasted any time learning the ropes of being queen, for she got involved in political matters only days after becoming official.  Her first act that she wanted passed was one that made the marriage between her mother and father valid. No one disputed this act and it passed relatively quickly. I doubt many people ever truly believed that the marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon wasn't valid. The king's reasoning behind declaring it invalid was full of cracks, in an almost comical way. But Mary wasn't going to stop at this simple victory, she wanted to help bring her subjects back into the Church of Rome.

Westminster Abbey

Now there is perhaps nothing more annoying, then someone trying to force their beliefs on you. I live in a state where this type of shenanigans are happening all the time. What one must try to remember, while your contemplating punching a religious fanatic in the face, is that they truly believe that they are doing what is 'best' for you. Mary was doing what she thought was the best for her subjects, she wanted to save their souls for all eternity--the problem was that many of them didn't want to travel that road to salvation, but another. The second act that Mary wanted to pass would discontinue all religious reforms made during her younger brothers reign. Unlike the act revolving her parents, this act met with some resistance. Eventually, however, the act passed.

Edward Courtenay

The next thing that Queen Mary needed to do was find a husband--'stat'. An unmarried queen would never be able to rule, or so people thought, before Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth I took the throne. The people of England largely wished for Mary to wed Edward Courtenay, an interesting choice as he had been imprisoned in the Tower for most of his life. He was the popular choice because he was one of the last living members to the house of york, making him an englishman and not a foreigner. Mary, however, fell in love with the portrait of another man--Phillip of Spain. Going against the wishes of her subjects, not the best choice since she was already unpopular at the time, she would marry Philip.

Phillip II of Spain

Next post we will go through the ups and downs of their marriage, if you can even call it that, and end with Mary's death--making our first study complete. Be thinking about who you would like to hear of next, and if you have any opinions feel free to comment!

Happy Journeys,
Lady Thiessen
    

Edward VI and The Nine Day Queen

Edward VI

Edward, son of Henry and Jane Seymour, became king when he was nine years old. He would become Edward VI and his reign would be very short. Edward was a supporter of the new church that his father established and Mary tried but failed to get him to see what she thought was the errors of his ways. Because Edward was so young a lord protector was needed and that job fell to Jane Seymour's brother Edward Seymour. Later Edward Seymour was overthrown by John Dudley. During Edwards short reign the Act of Uniformity was passed which abolished Catholic mass. Mary openly defied this act and continued to practice her religion. Edward would soon grow sick, at only 15 years old, with what many believe to be tuberculosis. The nation was set into a panic because many feared what Mary would do if she was to become queen. They believed she would take away the protestant religion and return England back to the church of Rome. And where there is fear, there are plots, and where there are plots, innocent parties usually pay the price.

John Dudley

Edward and his advisors drew up a new line of succession in which Edward named Lady Jane Grey (his cousin), as his next heir and left both of his sisters completely out of the document. And thus when Edward died Jane took the throne. This was to be an even shorter reign than her cousins had been. Jane was young, either 16 or 17, when she was declared queen and most likely had no desire to take the throne from Mary I. Her parents, Frances Brandon and Henry Grey, were the ambitious ones and wanted to rule the country through her daughter. It didn't help matters that Jane's husband's parents were just as ambitious. Her husband was Guilford Dudley, son of John Dudley who had become lord protector after Edward Seymour. This put John Dudley in a good position to move the plot to put Jane Grey on the throne.

Jane's Signature as Queen

Unfortunately there are no confirmed portraits of Jane, probably because her life was so short and she was only in the lime light for little over a week. Anyways Jane accented the throne on July 10th 1553. Mary meanwhile was building up supporters for her cause. Mary took quite the risk in staying in the country, her life was in danger if she was caught by the wrong hands, but she believed strongly in her right to become the next queen of England. Mary went to Farmlingham Castle for protection and watched as her support grew. She sent a proclamation across the land proclaiming herself as the rightful queen and within nine days the Privy council placed their support in Mary and she was able to come to london and claim the throne.

Farmlingham Castle 

 
This is when we start to see Mary's true colors. Mary was wronged, her right to the throne was clearly stated by her father in his line of succession. Obviously someone had to be punished for committing treason. John Dudley was executed rather quickly for his acts in the plot, and many wanted Jane to share her fathers fate. Mary however, who in my belief had a soft heart and a good head on her shoulders, refused to execute either Jane of her husband Guilford. Mary understood that these children were pawns in the adult's treason and she could not bring herself to order their execution. Unfortunately less then a year later another plot was hatched to put Jane back on the throne, which had nothing to do with her because she was imprisoned in the tower, and thus Mary could no longer leave the young girl alive if she was ever going to feel secure in her throne. Jane was executed on February 12th 1554 at the Tower of London.

Me Gleefully Exploring The Tower of London

Thats all for this post. Next time we will finally learn about Mary as she was as a queen. Im looking forward to it!

Happy Journeys,
Lady Thiessen  

 

Wives 4, 5, and 6

For those of you thinking of the Henry the 8th song and wondering why I won't be talking about wives 7 and 8 that is because they did not exist. It is a common misconception that he had eight wives when in reality he "only" had six. You can best remember what happened to each wive by remembering this saying, 'divorced beheaded died, divorced beheaded survived.' Catchy isn't it? When you go to Hampton Court in England there is a room where this saying is said over and over in a creepy child's voice in the back ground, which frankly I thought was awesome.  With that being said lets delve into the last three wives of Henry and their relationship with our dear Mary.

Anne of Cleves 

Poor Anne of Cleves was chosen to follow Jane Seymour but she would not be around for long. Anne was picked for various reasons but one was because she was raised as a Protestant and many people wanted to ensure that England continued to move towards the beliefs of the protestants rather than revert back into catholicism. It is said that Hans Holbein, a painter in the Tudor days, misrepresented Henry's bride-to-be in the painting he did of Anne of Cleves. Almost as soon as the couple was married in January of 1540 Henry wanted a divorce. He famously called his newest wife a horse, and their marriage would end six months later in July. But even though his fourth marriage was rather short, and Anne was a Lutheran, Mary would become great friends with her fathers disregarded wife. Anne was a source of support to Mary and would be until her death.

Kathryn Howard 

Anne of Cleves didn't get to bad of a settlement in hindsight--at least she was able to keep her head and live comfortably. Henry VIII's next wife would not be so lucky. Enter Kathryn Howard, Henry's "rose without a thorn". At the time of their marriage, which was only sixteen days after Henry's divorce to Anne Kathryn could not have been older than 19. Henry was 49 at the time. Mary wasn't a fan of her father marrying a girl younger then herself and many fights broke out between Kathryn and herself, but Kathryn would not be around for long. Perhaps Henry was looking for his youth when Kathryn started to pull at his heart strings, and an ambitious family members helped to push Kathryn into his arms. Ambition seemed to sun in the family because Kathryn Howard was a first cousin to Anne Boleyn and ironically would share her same fate. Perhaps the poor girl just was to young to understand that you don't 'play' behind a king's back, but enough evidence soon piled up about her promiscuous behavior that she was tried and convicted of adultery. She was beheaded in February of 1542.

Katherine Parr

And with that we drive at the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr. Katherine was older than Kathryn Howard but she still seemed to attract the attentions of both Henry and Thomas Seymour (brother to Jane Seymour, Henry's Third wife). In reality Katherine wanted to mary Thomas but she wisely did not think that refusing Henry his wishes would be a wise decision. So Katherine married her third husband that she would out live. Mary and Katherine did get along even though she was a supporter of the new church of England. At this time all of Henry's children were invited to court and the wedding, meaning that bonds were being mended. When Henry was dying he produced a will that put the two princesses back into the line of succession stating that Edward would get the crown first, Mary second if Edward produced no heirs, and finally Elizabeth third if Mary too did not produce an heir.

So there we have it! The part of Mary's life when her father was around. Very exhausting and time consuming, but I believe that this information is all relevant to analyze Mary's actions later in life that would give her such a villainous name. Next time we will talk about Edwards reign and one of my personal favorites, Lady Jane Gray the nine day queen.

Happy Journeys,
Lady Thiessen

Wives one, two, and three...

Hello!

Sorry I have been MIA the past couple of days, the husband and I have just been lounging and not doing much of anything. But I am back and ready to delve into more historical fun! We left off with Mary losing her title of princess and being separated from her mother, well things don't look very bright for Mary in the near future either. Lets analyze her life through each of Henry's consecutive wives and that of her brother Edwards reign!

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn, the woman who replaced Mary's mother, obviously did not have much of a chance in building a friendship with Mary. Anne always felt that she never could truly be queen while Catherine was still alive but Henry refused to do more then banish Catherine to a castle out of the way of most human interaction, including that of her daughters. Mary was not even allowed to go to her mother when she was dying and thus extreme distain built up within Mary for Anne. And when Anne gave birth to Elizabeth I, Mary was forced to attend the 'new' princess. However Mary didn't have to do this for long because Elizabeth herself would be declare a bastard shortly and fall into the same position Mary held. The difference perhaps being that Elizabeths mother was beheaded on charges of incest, adultery, and witchcraft.

Jane Seymour

Out with the old and in with the new! That seemed to be King Henry's motto because he hardly waited for Anne's head to hit the ground before he married his third wife Jane Seymour. Jane set out to reunite Henry with he two daughters and finally Mary was allowed to return back to court after she signed a letter that stated that her mothers marriage with King Henry was not valid. Later she would send a secret letter claiming she was forced to write the previous one, which I believe would be quite true.

Edward Tudor 

 It is said that Jane was the only true love of Henry VIII but I am not sure I believe that. Love is to hard to analyze and I am sure he had love for a lot of his wives, but Jane did the thing no other wife succeeded in--she gave Henry a son. The happy couple named the boy Edward but that happiness was met with sorrow when Jane died due to complications with the birth.

Now in an effort to keep these posts short I will leave wives 4-6 and Edward for the next post (hopefully tomorrow).

Happy Journeys
Lady Thiessen

No Son for Henry

Henry VIII

Our dearest bloody Mary was born in the year 1516 to Henry Tudor and Catherine of Aragon at Greenwich Palace.  Even at her birth Mary was already looked down upon as a problem. Mary was a girl, and what Henry VIII needed was a boy. Henry desired a son who could carry on the succession and avoid another civil war like the War of the Roses. But alas Mary carried two X Chromosomes and was the only child to survive the coupling between Henry and his first wife. I have a strong opinion, that is based on very little fact, that there was something wrong with Henry's sperm. So many of his children were miscarried or still born. It did not matter the woman, this sad fate seemed to always be the case. And thus Mary carried two X Chromosomes and was the only child to survive the coupling between Henry and his first wife.

Catherine of Aragon

Greenwich Palace

Instead of the reality of the situation, that the man's reproductive contribution determines the sex of the child, Henry blamed his wife for the lack of a son. It was Catherine's job to give him a son and soon Henry became so frustrated that he saw his lack of heir as a punishment from God. While these thoughts were swimming around in the kings head along came a dark haired lady, Anne Boleyn, and she claimed she would be able to give him his hearts desire, a son. But Henry needed a son that was legitimate and that meant that Catherine was in the way. Henry started his lawyers on a quest to get an annulment from his first wife on the grounds that her previous marriage to his older brother had been consummated, which would have made their marriage null and void. Catherine would deny this consummation for the rest of her life and I happen to believe her, she was so religious it was surprising she even consummated her second marriage. Life perhaps would have been kinder to Catherine if she was not born to a royal family and had entered a nunnery. Her God was her truest love.

The Catholic church refused to grant Henry VIII his divorce and so to make a long story short: Henry designed his own church. Once Catherine was out of the way, and their marriage deemed null, Mary too had to be declared a fraud and was stripped of her princess title. From the time of the annulment Mary would thus be referred to as 'The Lady Mary'. I can't imagine being the most important child in all the kingdom, the bell of a court such as Henry held, a princess one day and then being told that she was  a bastard the next. In order to deal with this sense of abandonment she did what her mother had taught her to and turned towards the church for comfort and reassurance. This strong bond with the church, perhaps the only stable thing in her life (stable for her, not the rest of the country that was split between the new church of England and the Catholic church of Rome), would latter be a big driving force towards the deaths she ordered that gave her the moniker 'Bloody Mary'.

Next time we will speed through the five other wives of Henry VIII and their relationship with Mary, along with her younger bother Edward's short reign.

Happy Journey's
Lady Thiessen

"Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary"

Shall we begin? Because this is my first go at this, I'm going to start with a family I am absolutely crazy about. And in truth, I have an awful cold and thus want to stay inside instead of heading to the library to do any new research, because yes, I still think the library holds value. I'm a historian what can I say? I know, being sick is a lame excuse, but it's true and can you really blame me when in happy valley, Salt Lake City, it is currently only 16 degrees.

Anyways, thanks to the HBO show 'The Tudors' and the book/movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" (both of which I highly recommend--beautiful people recreating history is always a good thing--hello Jonathan Rhys Meyers!) Henry VIII's story has become very popular in the past decade. I just can't seem to get enough, but for the record I was reading about his screwed up family as a ten year old, something I am sure caused some concern for my mother. But don't worry, I won't beat a dead horse (an expression brought to you from mary old England when John Bright was trying to make parliament care about The Reform Act of 1867, but was failing to rouse any interest. Thus he said moving parliament forward on the issue was like flogging a dead horse in order to make it pull a loaded cart. Random history tangent #1).

Though I love my dear relative Henry (thats right, royal blood flows within me-- be jealous) I want to concentrate on Bloody Mary. Oh my dear Mary, how cruel the world is to you! People spew off her name paired with the dreaded bloody and know little to nothing about why she decided to order the killings of what is believed to be 287 protestants. Warning! What I am about to say will sound offensive--287 people is nothing. Im not saying those lives meant nothing but I am saying that throughout history a monarch killing less then 500 people in their reign over something as hot headed as religion is very few. 

But I get ahead of myself. We must start at her beginning to understand her end. Tomorrow, Friday January 3rd, I will be diving into her early childhood, up to the point where she was disowned by Henry and her world changed forever. Good Stuff!

Mary I of England

Happy Journeys, 

Lady Thiessen         

What is Villainous History

Villainous History is a journey into the dark side of humanity, because let's face it, that's where all the most interesting stuff is found. Throughout the world of historical literature there is a clear protagonist fighting against an established antagonist--one is right, and the other is simply wrong. Of course the wonderful cliche that, 'the winners write history', can help us understand the issue with this outlook on the past. Cliches, however, become cliches for a reason people--they relay a lot of truth in catchy little snip-its. But surely by now, anyone reading this has lived long enough to have realized that there are always two sides to a story, or that goodness can be found in anyone (I apologize if I am bringing around nostalgia for your elementary school years.)

Each week I will pick one villain of history and write their story. We will look into how they are perceived by the world, what hardships the world didn't know they had to face, and, of course, what actions these people took to forever establish themselves as 'bad'. I will also choose a juxtaposed hero that fits into the villains story and try to find any 'dirty' details ignored, hopefully drawing some of them onto an equal playing field with one another.

I like to think of myself as a nice woman, I use manners and spend a good amount of my days around other peoples kids without causing them bodily harm, but I have a dark side. I love beheadings and betrayals, psychopaths and promiscuity, and above all I have a dangerous fondness for alliterations. Knowing that people hold heroes and villains dear to their heart, I imagine that many of my posts will offend one person for some reason and another for the completely opposite. I am not setting out to ruin your belief systems, or to offend anyone. I grant you full permission to ignore anything I write and clench onto your pre-conceived notions of any historical figure, no one will ever be able to change my views on certain historical characters either.

Happy Journeys,
~Lady Thiessen