Having just finished reading The Plantaganets followed by The Hollow Crown, I'm just flabbergasted with how commonplace having your head cut off actually was (only once for each person obvs.) - did people value their lives less, to play when the stakes were so high? The odds practically 50/50 for anybody at the top. Quite apart from wives, ministers etc., Henry (and his father before him) executed anyone who even vaguely reminded them of a Plantaganet.
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Have a care, Bbm* !!!Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View Post
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*One of the Sussex Plantagenets, for any Tudors who might not be in the know..."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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It's the practical side that gives me the chills. We probably all learned in school that the axe was an unsure method of decapitation and it could take several goes to sever the head. The Earl of Essex took three blows, I believe. I always thought that noblemen had the option of a sword so I don't know why he didn't get it. Also that Thomas More would have got the whole HDQ treatment, but Henry was 'merciful' and just lopped his head off. The thing that gives me the chills even now when I think of it is reading an account of the French Revolution; in a provincial town in France the guillotine was blunt and it took a couple of dozen goes to finish off one poor devil. I expect many of you have been to the Tower of London; the Yeoman who did the tour I was on was quite lyrical about the excellent job the headsman did on Anne Boleyn. He seemed to admire him rather more than I felt comfortable with.Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View PostComment
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Doesn't bbm claim descent from the Tudors as well? (or was it the Stuarts?)Originally posted by Caliban View PostComment
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I think we need to haul him before the Forum Assizes to account for his lineage!Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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It's from John of Gaunt via the wrong side of the blanket I think (we seem to have had a lot of those sort of blankets in our family as well)Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post
To get back OT, does anyone have a recommendation for a good, truthful, and accurate, biography of Thomas Cromwell?Comment
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Yes I do! Also the Norwegians, the Dukes of Burgundy and Lorraine, Queen Isobella of Casdtille(Catherine of Aragon's mum!), John of Gaunt....... Black Prince.......Originally posted by Flosshilde View PostDon’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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The leading authority on Cromwell and Tudor government when I was an undergrad in the late 60s was Geoffrey Elton...
and here http://www.academia.edu/2307733/A_Tu...is_Discontents - he changed the view of Cromwell from that point of view.Comment
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?!Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View Post[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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Erm Anna, the right side of the blanket!! :)Originally posted by Anna View PostDon’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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The new biog by Tracy Borman looks promising, Anna - haven't read it but good pedigree and reviews.Originally posted by Anna View Post
Yes they're all related one way or another - Henry Vll (Tudor)'s mother was a great grandaughter of John of Gaunt....they can all get back to William the Conq. The clean break comes with Victoria, the present lot probably have less claim than BBM, but that's another story
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I wouldn't trust anyone who could write The historical significance of the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) cannot be understated.Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View PostComment
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I don't think Elton wrote that!Originally posted by jean View PostIt isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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No, but somebody did, and that somebody is the person I wouldn't trust.
It's not clear from the link who it is.Comment
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